Thomas Berkley | Entrepreneur & Founder of CSM Collective | Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio · Air Force Veteran

Thomas
Berkley

Entrepreneur. Founder of CSM Collective. A decade of building companies past eight figures — now focused on what most business owners overlook: keeping the clients you work so hard to win.

$10M+
In Sales Generated
10
Years Air Force
100+
CSMs Placed
CSM Collective My Story
Thomas Berkley entrepreneur and founder of CSM Collective based in Cleveland Ohio
✦ ClickFunnels Two Comma Club
✦ 10X Award — $10M in Sales
✦ US Air Force Veteran
✦ Founder, CSM Collective
Thomas Berkley Cleveland Ohio entrepreneur Thomas Berkley with Kevin Harrington original Shark Tank investor
About Thomas Berkley

Built From Service.
Driven by Results.

My name is Thomas Berkley. I'm an entrepreneur and business builder based in Cleveland, Ohio. My path didn't start in a boardroom — it started in uniform. I served ten years in the United States Air Force, and the discipline, structure, and accountability I learned there became the foundation of everything I've built since.

"Businesses don't realize how much the lifetime value of their clients matters — and that's exactly where the right person can come in and help a six-figure business grow and scale."

After leaving the military, I built and scaled multiple companies past eight figures. I earned the ClickFunnels Two Comma Club Award for generating over $1 million through a single funnel, and the 10X Award for surpassing $10 million in total sales. Along the way I had the opportunity to work directly with Kevin Harrington — the original Shark from ABC's Shark Tank and one of the pioneers of direct response marketing. Those conversations and that experience shaped how I think about business fundamentally.

What I kept seeing, across every company I built and every business I consulted with, was the same blind spot: businesses pour money into getting clients and almost nothing into keeping them. That's a structural problem — and it's fixable. CSM Collective is the answer I built for it.

Philosophy

What Thomas Berkley Believes
About Building a Business

Retention Is the Real Metric

Most businesses track acquisition costs obsessively and ignore churn entirely. Thomas Berkley built CSM Collective around the idea that the business that keeps its clients longest wins — not the one that signs the most new ones.

Discipline Scales. Hustle Doesn't.

Ten years in the Air Force taught Thomas that systems and consistency beat motivation every time. The businesses that outlast everyone else aren't the most excited — they're the most disciplined.

Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Businesses

Thomas Berkley started with nothing but discipline and a willingness to learn. He believes the average person — given the right skill and the right positioning — can help six-figure businesses grow and get paid well to do it.

Background & Achievements

The Track Record
Behind the Work

10
Years of Service
United States Air Force veteran. The principles from a decade of service form the backbone of how Thomas Berkley builds and operates every business.
$10M+
In Sales Generated
ClickFunnels 10X Award recipient — recognized for generating over ten million dollars in sales across his companies since 2018.
2CC
Two Comma Club
ClickFunnels Two Comma Club Award winner — recognized for surpassing one million dollars through a single funnel. Awarded at Funnel Hacking Live.
100+
Professionals Placed
Over one hundred Client Success Managers trained, certified, and placed into online businesses through CSM Collective.
8+
Years in Business
Building and scaling companies since 2018 — starting his entrepreneurial journey while still in the military and going full-time in 2026.
KH
Kevin Harrington
Worked directly with Kevin Harrington — original Shark on ABC's Shark Tank and pioneer of the infomercial — managing marketing for his clients.
Recognition

Awards & Recognition

Thomas Berkley has been recognized by ClickFunnels — one of the world's largest marketing software platforms — for building companies that generate real, measurable revenue.

Thomas Berkley receiving ClickFunnels Two Comma Club Award at Funnel Hacking Live
ClickFunnels · Funnel Hacking Live
Two Comma Club Award
Awarded to entrepreneurs who generate over $1,000,000 through a single ClickFunnels funnel. Thomas Berkley earned this recognition for building a high-converting sales system from the ground up.
Thomas Berkley holding ClickFunnels 10X Eight Figure Club Award for generating over 10 million dollars in sales
ClickFunnels · Eight Figure Club
10X Award — Eight Figure Club
Membership into ClickFunnels' Eight Figure Club — recognition for surpassing $10,000,000 in total lifetime sales. One of the highest distinctions available to ClickFunnels users.
The Full Story

From the Air Force
to Eight Figures

Thomas Berkley grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and joined the United States Air Force at 18 years old. Over the next decade, he served his country while quietly developing an entrepreneurial mindset that most of his peers didn't share. The military taught him something that would define his entire business career: the difference between people who execute consistently and people who execute when it's convenient.

Starting While Still in Uniform

Thomas didn't wait until he got out to start building. He began learning about business, sales, and marketing while still on active duty — studying what worked, what didn't, and why most businesses fail to hold onto the customers they spend so much money to acquire. By the time he left the military, he had a framework in his head and the discipline to execute it.

Building to Eight Figures

From 2018 onward, Thomas built and scaled multiple companies — generating over $10 million in verifiable sales and earning two of ClickFunnels' highest recognition awards: the Two Comma Club and the 10X Award. He also had the opportunity to work directly with Kevin Harrington — the original Shark on ABC's Shark Tank — managing marketing campaigns for Harrington's clients in the home services space. These weren't titles on a resume. They were results he built from scratch.

Identifying the Gap

After years of building companies and watching others build theirs, Thomas kept seeing the same problem. Businesses were spending enormous resources acquiring clients and almost nothing on keeping them. Churn was bleeding revenue that nobody was tracking carefully. The client success function — the person responsible for making sure a paying customer actually got results and stayed — was either nonexistent or handled poorly. That gap became the foundation for CSM Collective.

Thomas Berkley speaking about entrepreneurship and client success management

"The military showed me what it looks like when a team operates at its best — with clear roles, accountability, and a genuine commitment to the outcome. That's exactly what I try to build in every company I touch."

— Thomas Berkley

Current Focus

Founder,
CSM Collective

CSM Collective is a training and placement program built around one insight Thomas Berkley kept running into as a business operator: the businesses that grow fastest aren't necessarily the best at getting clients — they're the best at keeping them.

A Client Success Manager (CSM) is the person inside a business whose job is to make sure clients get results, stay engaged, and continue paying. Most online businesses doing $35K per month or more don't have one — and that gap is exactly where CSM Collective operates.

Thomas Berkley built CSM Collective to solve two problems at once: give growing businesses the client retention support they need, and give motivated remote professionals a clear, in-demand skill set they can get paid well to use — no sales experience required.

  • Train and certify remote Client Success Managers
  • Place certified CSMs inside online businesses doing $35K/month or more
  • Help business owners increase retention, reduce churn, and increase lifetime value
  • Create high-income remote career opportunities for everyday professionals
Visit CSM Collective →
Thomas Berkley founder CSM Collective teaching client success management
100+
Professionals Placed
Knowledge

What Is a Client Success Manager — And Why Do Businesses Need One?

A Client Success Manager is a professional responsible for ensuring that a company's paying clients actually achieve the outcome they were promised. In the online business world — coaching, consulting, agencies, SaaS — this role is the difference between a business that grows through referrals and one that churns through clients as fast as it can acquire them.

Most business owners know their close rate. Almost none of them track their 90-day retention rate. Thomas Berkley noticed this pattern repeatedly across his own companies and the businesses he consulted with: the acquisition engine was running, but the back door was wide open.

Why Retention Matters More Than Acquisition

It costs five to seven times more to acquire a new client than to retain an existing one. A business doing $50K per month with a 20% monthly churn rate is losing $10K in recurring revenue every 30 days — and usually replacing it with an acquisition cost that's even higher. A single trained Client Success Manager focused on onboarding, engagement, and milestone delivery can dramatically reduce that number.

This is why Thomas Berkley built CSM Collective around placement, not just training. Teaching someone a skill matters. Putting them inside a business that needs that skill — and making sure both sides win — is where the real impact happens.

Who CSM Collective Is For

For business owners: If you're running an online business doing $35K per month or more and your clients aren't hitting their goals consistently — or you're seeing churn you can't fully explain — a certified CSM from CSM Collective may be exactly what you need. These are trained professionals who know how to onboard, manage, and retain paying clients at scale.

For professionals: If you're looking for a high-income remote career that doesn't require you to be in sales, CSM Collective gives you the skills, certification, and placement support to land a role with a real company — typically earning $5,000 to $10,000 per month. No prior experience in client success is required.

Learn More at CSM Collective →
Frequently Asked

Questions About
Thomas Berkley

Who is Thomas Berkley?

Thomas Berkley is an entrepreneur and business builder based in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a 10-year United States Air Force veteran, ClickFunnels Two Comma Club and 10X Award recipient, and the founder of CSM Collective — a training and placement program for Client Success Managers.

What is CSM Collective?

CSM Collective is a training and placement program founded by Thomas Berkley that certifies remote Client Success Managers and connects them with online businesses doing $35K per month or more. The program is designed both for business owners who need client retention support and for professionals who want a high-income remote career.

What awards has Thomas Berkley received?

Thomas Berkley has received the ClickFunnels Two Comma Club Award for generating over $1 million through a single funnel, and the ClickFunnels 10X Award — also known as the Eight Figure Club award — for surpassing $10 million in total lifetime sales across his companies.

Did Thomas Berkley work with Kevin Harrington?

Yes. Thomas Berkley worked directly with Kevin Harrington — the original Shark from ABC's Shark Tank and one of the founders of the modern infomercial industry — managing marketing campaigns for Harrington's home service business clients through American Entrepreneur.

Where is Thomas Berkley based?

Thomas Berkley is based in Cleveland, Ohio, where CSM Collective and his other business operations are headquartered. His business address is 850 Euclid Ave, Suite 819, Cleveland, OH 44114.

How can I connect with Thomas Berkley?

You can connect with Thomas Berkley through CSM Collective at csmcollective.com, or reach out directly via the contact page at thomasberkley.com. He is available for business inquiries related to client success, CSM placement, and entrepreneurship.

Let's Connect

Whether you're a business owner looking to improve retention or a professional ready to build a remote career in client success — the right place to start is CSM Collective.

Visit CSM Collective