Thomas Berkley Cleveland: The Story and Business Journey of CSM Collective’s Founder

Thomas Berkley is a Cleveland, Ohio-based entrepreneur whose business career has been shaped by military service, sales, marketing, and a sustained focus on client retention. As the founder of CSM Collective, Berkley has built his current work around a problem he repeatedly encountered while running and advising businesses: companies often invest heavily in acquiring customers but give far less attention to keeping them.

His professional path did not begin in traditional business circles. Berkley spent a decade in the United States Air Force, where he developed the discipline, structure, and accountability that later influenced his approach to entrepreneurship. According to his official website, he began studying business, sales, and marketing while still serving and started building companies in 2018.

From Cleveland to Entrepreneurship

Berkley grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and joined the U.S. Air Force at the age of 18. His military career lasted ten years, giving him an early foundation in leadership, consistency, and operational discipline.

Rather than waiting until his military service ended to explore entrepreneurship, Berkley began learning about business while still on active duty. His early interests included sales, marketing, business systems, and the factors that influence customer retention.

That experience eventually became part of the operating philosophy behind his businesses. Berkley describes discipline and consistent execution as more valuable to long-term growth than relying on bursts of motivation.

His background also provides context for the way he approaches business operations today. The emphasis is not simply on generating revenue but on establishing processes that allow a company to deliver consistently.

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Building Companies and Reaching Eight-Figure Sales

Berkley’s entrepreneurial career expanded significantly from 2018 onward. His official biography states that he built and scaled multiple companies that collectively generated more than $10 million in sales. He also received two notable ClickFunnels recognitions: the Two Comma Club Award and the 10X Award.

The Two Comma Club recognition is associated with generating more than $1 million through a single ClickFunnels funnel. Berkley’s profile also identifies him as a recipient of the 10X Award for surpassing $10 million in sales.

These milestones became part of a broader education in direct-response marketing, sales systems, and business growth. Rather than treating sales as an isolated function, Berkley’s later work increasingly focused on what happens after a customer makes a purchase.

That distinction became central to his business philosophy.

Experience Working With Kevin Harrington

Another notable part of Berkley’s career was his work with Kevin Harrington, the original Shark associated with ABC’s Shark Tank and an established figure in direct-response marketing.

Berkley’s website states that he worked directly with Harrington, managing marketing campaigns for clients in the home services sector.

The experience exposed him to another side of business growth: the systems and customer relationships that must support an effective acquisition strategy.

For Berkley, generating a sale was only one stage of the customer relationship. A company also has to onboard customers properly, communicate with them, deliver the promised outcome, and create a reason for them to remain with the business.

That perspective would later influence the creation of CSM Collective.

The Business Problem That Led to CSM Collective

Berkley’s work across different businesses led him to identify a recurring operational weakness.

Businesses often devote significant resources to advertising, lead generation, sales teams, and conversion systems. Once a customer signs up, however, the level of attention can change. Poor onboarding, inconsistent communication, weak fulfilment, and a lack of follow-up can contribute to dissatisfaction and churn.

Berkley built his current business around addressing that gap.

CSM Collective focuses on Client Success Managers, or CSMs, whose responsibility is to help paying clients achieve the results they were promised. The role can include onboarding, communication, engagement, progress monitoring, retention, and identifying appropriate opportunities for continued business relationships.

The model reflects a shift in Berkley’s entrepreneurial focus. Instead of concentrating primarily on acquiring more customers, his work emphasizes the value of retaining and serving existing customers effectively.

What CSM Collective Does

CSM Collective operates as a training and placement program for Client Success Managers. Berkley’s website states that the organization trains and certifies CSMs and places them with online businesses, particularly companies operating in coaching, consulting, and digital services.

The business addresses two sides of the market.

For business owners, the objective is to provide trained professionals who can take responsibility for the client experience after the sale. A CSM can help establish onboarding procedures, maintain communication, monitor client progress, and identify problems before they become reasons for cancellation.

For professionals, CSM Collective offers training around a remote career path centered on client success rather than traditional commission-based sales.

The company states that it has trained, certified, and placed more than 100 Client Success Managers.

Why Client Retention Became Berkley’s Focus

Retention is one of the central ideas behind Berkley’s current work.

His perspective comes from observing the financial and operational consequences of customer churn. A business can have an effective sales process and still struggle if customers leave shortly after joining.

That makes the post-sale experience a business function rather than simply a customer-service responsibility.

A Client Success Manager can serve as the link between the business’s promise and the customer’s actual experience. Strong onboarding gives clients a clear starting point. Regular communication creates accountability. Tracking milestones makes it easier to identify whether a customer is progressing toward the expected outcome.

Berkley’s approach places these activities inside a structured system rather than leaving them to chance.

His own writing on client success has repeatedly emphasized onboarding, scheduled check-ins, renewals, and customer outcomes as important components of retention.

The Philosophy Behind His Work

Three principles stand out in Berkley’s description of his entrepreneurial approach.

Retention Is a Business Metric

Berkley argues that companies should pay closer attention to how long customers stay and the value they generate over the duration of the relationship.

This changes the way a founder views growth. New sales remain important, but acquisition alone does not provide a complete picture of business health.

Systems Create Consistency

His decade in the Air Force influenced his belief in structure and accountability. Berkley applies the same principle to business operations, emphasizing repeatable processes instead of relying entirely on individual effort.

For growing companies, systems can define responsibilities, establish expectations, and make performance easier to measure.

Ordinary Professionals Can Develop Valuable Skills

Another theme in Berkley’s work is the idea that client success can provide a practical career path for professionals who do not want to build their careers around sales.

CSM Collective’s training model is built around developing skills that businesses need after a customer has already been acquired. The company’s current website promotes training, certification, and placement for remote Client Success Manager roles.

Thomas Berkley Cleveland and His Current Role

Today, Thomas Berkley Cleveland, Ohio, and continues to operate as the founder of CSM Collective. His official website identifies Cleveland as his base and describes his current focus as helping businesses improve client retention while creating career opportunities in client success.

The transition from military service to entrepreneurship, followed by years of company building and marketing experience, gives his current work a distinct foundation.

His career has moved through several stages: military service, entrepreneurial experimentation, business growth, direct-response marketing, and finally a more specialized focus on customer retention and client success.

CSM Collective represents the latest stage of that progression.

A Business Career Built Around the Post-Sale Experience

Thomas Berkley’s story is closely tied to a simple observation: acquiring a customer is not the same as creating a successful customer relationship.

His early years in Cleveland and the Air Force provided a foundation built around discipline and execution. His subsequent business ventures gave him experience with sales and marketing. Recognition from ClickFunnels marked milestones in his ability to generate significant revenue, while his work with Kevin Harrington added further exposure to direct-response marketing.

The creation of CSM Collective brought these experiences together around client success.

Rather than treating retention as an afterthought, Berkley’s current business makes it a central operating function. Through CSM Collective, he works with companies that need stronger post-sale support while training professionals to take on dedicated client success roles.

That focus defines the current chapter of his entrepreneurial journey and the business philosophy associated with his name.

Author Bio

Thomas Berkley is a Cleveland, Ohio-based entrepreneur, business builder, and founder of CSM Collective. He is a 10-year United States Air Force veteran who began developing his business and marketing experience while serving in the military. Berkley has built and scaled multiple companies, generated more than $10 million in sales, and received ClickFunnels’ Two Comma Club and 10X Award recognitions. His current work through CSM Collective focuses on training and placing Client Success Managers while helping online businesses improve client retention, reduce churn, and increase customer lifetime value.