Customer success

Customer Success Patterns

CS Playbook Structure

Onboarding Playbook (Days 0–90)

Day 0–7: Kickoff

Actions:
  - Send welcome email with CSM introduction within 1 hour of signing
  - Schedule kickoff call within 48 hours
  - Provision access and share credentials
  - Share onboarding plan with milestones + owner

Kickoff Call Agenda (60 min):
  1. Introductions + relationship goals (10 min)
  2. Review signed scope + success criteria (15 min)
  3. Technical setup walkthrough (15 min)
  4. First 30 days plan with their input (15 min)
  5. Communication cadence agreement (5 min)

Day 8–30: Activation

Goals:
  - First meaningful use of core feature
  - 3+ team members active
  - Integration with their primary system

Weekly check-in (30 min):
  - Progress against activation milestones
  - Blockers and support tickets
  - Training needs

Success = Time to First Value (TTFV) < 14 days

Day 31–90: Adoption

Goals:
  - 80%+ of licensed seats active
  - Core workflow embedded in their process
  - Customer can articulate value in their own words

Milestone review at Day 60:
  - Adoption metrics vs target
  - Value realization (measurable outcomes)
  - Expansion opportunities identified

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Health Score Design

Scoring Model (0–100)

Component           Weight  Signal
Product Usage         35%   DAU/MAU, feature breadth, recency
Relationship          25%   Exec engagement, sponsor stability, sentiment
Outcomes              20%   Goals achieved, ROI documented
Support               10%   Ticket volume, severity, resolution time
Financial             10%   On-time payment, contract growth

Score Bands:
  80–100 = Green  (Healthy — focus on expansion)
  60–79  = Yellow (At Risk — intervention required)
  40–59  = Orange (Danger — escalation plan)
  0–39   = Red    (Critical — save the account)

Leading vs Lagging Signals

Leading (predict future churn):
  - Login frequency drop > 30% WoW
  - Key user deactivated or departed
  - Support tickets spike
  - Missed QBR or executive disengagement
  - Champion left the company

Lagging (confirm past churn):
  - Cancellation notice
  - Renewal not signed by due date
  - Non-payment

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QBR Template (Quarterly Business Review)

Slide Structure

1. Executive Summary (1 slide)
   - "Since we last met..." highlights
   - Health score trend

2. Usage & Adoption (2 slides)
   - Active users vs licensed
   - Core feature usage trend
   - Power users identified

3. Value Delivered (2 slides)
   - Outcomes vs goals set at kickoff
   - Case study / testimonial
   - ROI quantification

4. Roadmap Preview (1 slide)
   - Upcoming features relevant to them
   - Input request for product feedback

5. Goals for Next Quarter (1 slide)
   - 2–3 specific, measurable objectives
   - Owner on each side

6. Mutual Action Plan (1 slide)
   - Action items with dates and owners

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Churn Prediction Playbook

Churn Risk Indicators (Score each 1–3)

Signal                           | Low Risk | Med Risk | High Risk
---------------------------------|----------|----------|----------
Login frequency vs prior quarter |  > 90%  |  60–90%  |  < 60%
Champion status                  | Stable   | Changed  | Left
Executive engagement             | Monthly  | Quarterly| None
Support ticket sentiment         | Positive | Neutral  | Negative
Renewal date proximity           | > 90d    | 30–90d   | < 30d
Budget changes communicated      | None     | Reduction| Freeze
NPS score                        | 8–10     | 6–7      | 0–5

Total score > 12 = Launch save campaign immediately

Save Playbook

Week 1: Discovery
  - CSM + CS Manager call (understand root cause)
  - Executive outreach from your VP/CEO
  - Identify what success would look like to them

Week 2: Diagnosis
  - Usage audit (where did adoption drop?)
  - Stakeholder map (who is unhappy and why?)
  - Competitor intelligence (who are they talking to?)

Week 3: Recovery Plan
  - Written remediation plan with milestones
  - Assign dedicated support
  - Offer: training session, feature workshop, roadmap briefing

Week 4+: Monitor
  - Weekly check-in with sponsor
  - Health score review
  - Escalate to executive sponsor if not improving

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Expansion Playbook

Identifying Expansion Signals

- Usage approaching license limits (> 80% of seats used)
- New team or department asking about access
- New use case mentioned in calls
- Positive NPS + champion enthusiasm
- Company announced growth / funding / new market

Expansion Motion

1. Quantify current value (ROI document)
2. Map expansion use case to new team's pain
3. Introduce to new champion internally
4. Mini-discovery with new stakeholder
5. Proposal: expansion license or new module
6. CS + Sales handoff if deal > threshold

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NPS Action Plan

Score Interpretation

9–10 = Promoter   → Ask for referral, case study, G2 review
7–8  = Passive    → Discover what would make them a 9; expand adoption
0–6  = Detractor  → Call within 24 hours; root cause; escalation path

Follow-Up Protocol

Detractor (0–6):
  - CSM call within 24 hours
  - Root cause documented in CRM
  - Remediation plan created within 1 week
  - Follow-up in 30 days to confirm resolution

Passive (7–8):
  - Email response acknowledging feedback
  - Specific action offered (training, feature request logged)
  - Check-in in 60 days

Promoter (9–10):
  - Thank you email within 48 hours
  - Reference request or case study ask
  - G2/Capterra review request
  - Referral program introduction

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Escalation Process

Escalation Triggers

Level 1 (CSM handles):
  - Negative NPS response
  - Missed milestone
  - 2+ open critical tickets

Level 2 (CS Manager + Product):
  - Champion departed
  - Formal complaint
  - Health score drops to Orange
  - Churn risk explicitly stated

Level 3 (VP CS + Exec Sponsor):
  - Renewal at risk > $50K ARR
  - Legal threat
  - Health score drops to Red
  - Competitor evaluation started

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CS Metrics

Metric	Formula	Target
GRR	(Start ARR - Churn - Contraction) / Start ARR	> 90%
NRR	(Start + Expansion - Churn - Contraction) / Start	> 110%
CSAT	Avg satisfaction score (post-support)	> 4.5/5
NPS	% Promoters - % Detractors	> 40
Time to Value	Days from sign to first meaningful outcome	< 30d
Renewal Rate	Renewals / Up for Renewal	> 90%
CSM:ARR Ratio	ARR managed per CSM	$1.5M–$3M