customer-success-playbook

name	customer-success-playbook
version	0.1.0
description	Use this skill when building health scores, predicting churn, identifying expansion signals, or running QBRs. Triggers on customer success, health scores, churn prediction, expansion signals, customer QBRs, onboarding playbooks, NRR optimization, and any task requiring customer success strategy or operations.
tags	["customer-success","health-scores","churn","expansion","nrr","retention","strategy","performance"]
category	operations
recommended_skills	["account-management","support-analytics","customer-support-ops","saas-metrics"]
platforms	["claude-code","gemini-cli","openai-codex"]
license	MIT
maintainers	[{"github":"maddhruv"}]

Key principles

1. Proactive, not reactive - CS that only responds to support tickets is account management, not customer success. Intervene before customers feel pain. The best save is the one that never needed saving.

2. Health scores drive action - A health score that lives in a dashboard but never triggers a workflow is decoration. Every health band must have an associated motion: what the CSM does, when, and how. Score without action is noise.

3. Onboarding determines lifetime value - The first 30-90 days set the trajectory for the entire customer relationship. Customers who reach their first "aha moment" quickly retain at 2-3x the rate of those who struggle. Invest disproportionately in time-to-value.

4. Expansion is earned, not sold - Upsells from customers who haven't achieved their desired outcomes produce churn, not growth. Expansion should follow proven value, not quota pressure. The signal to expand is the customer asking for more, not the CSM pitching more.

5. Segment by value and risk - Not all customers deserve the same coverage model. High-ARR accounts need white-glove, human-led success. Low-ARR accounts need scalable, tech-touch programs. Mismatching coverage to tier burns CSM capacity on accounts that can't justify the cost and underserves accounts that need attention.

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Core concepts

The CS lifecycle

Every customer moves through predictable phases, each with distinct success criteria:

Phase	Duration	Goal	Key risk
Onboarding	Days 1-90	First value realization	Slow time-to-value, scope creep
Adoption	Months 3-12	Broad, deep usage across team	Shallow single-user adoption
Renewal	90 days before renewal	Confirmed ROI, signed renewal	Surprise objections at renewal
Expansion	Post-renewal or milestone	Upsell based on proven value	Premature pitching
Advocacy	Ongoing	Reference, case study, promoter	Neglect after expansion

Health score components

A well-designed health score is a weighted composite of leading indicators that predict renewal probability. Common dimensions and typical weights:

Dimension	Signal examples	Typical weight
Product usage	DAU/WAU, feature adoption depth, seats used/licensed	30-40%
Engagement	CSM touchpoint frequency, sponsor responsiveness	20-25%
Outcomes	Goals achieved vs. committed, ROI metrics	20-25%
Support	Ticket volume, CSAT, unresolved critical issues	10-15%
Relationship	Executive sponsor status, champion stability, NPS	10-15%

See references/health-score-model.md for the detailed weighted model and threshold design.

Churn indicators

Leading indicators (intervene now):

• Login frequency drops >30% week-over-week for 2+ consecutive weeks
• Champion or executive sponsor changes roles or leaves
• Support ticket volume spikes with CSAT below 3/5
• Renewal conversation not started within 90-day window
• Customer misses two consecutive scheduled CSM touchpoints

Lagging indicators (harder to reverse):

• Customer requests data export
• Customer asks about contract termination clauses
• NPS drops to detractor (0-6) territory

Expansion signals

• Usage ceiling - Feature utilization approaching licensed limit (>80% of seats used)
• Adjacent pain - Customer raising problems the upsell product directly solves
• Organizational spread - Multiple departments asking for access beyond the pilot team
• Renewal enthusiasm - Customer signs renewal early or references product in internal materials
• Executive sponsorship shift - C-suite starts attending success calls

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Common tasks

Build a customer health scoring system

Design a weighted, multi-dimensional model that produces a single score (0-100) and a color-coded band (Red / Yellow / Green) with automatic CSM action triggers.

Step 1 - Define dimensions and weights. Select 4-6 dimensions relevant to your business. Product usage should carry the highest weight (30-40%) because it is objective and hardest to fake.

Step 2 - Normalize each dimension to 0-100. Map each raw metric to a 0-100 sub-score using thresholds. Example for usage:

• <20% of seats active in last 30 days = 0
• 20-49% = 40, 50-74% = 70, 75-100% = 100

Step 3 - Apply weights and compute composite. health_score = (usage * 0.35) + (engagement * 0.25) + (outcomes * 0.20) + (support * 0.10) + (relationship * 0.10)

Step 4 - Define bands and mandatory actions.

Band	Score range	CSM action
Green	75-100	Expansion motion, reference request
Yellow	50-74	Scheduled check-in within 7 days, risk assessment
Red	0-49	Executive escalation within 48 hours, save plan

Step 5 - Build a feedback loop. Compare health score 90 days prior to renewal against actual renewal outcome. Tune weights until model achieves >75% predictive accuracy for churn.

See references/health-score-model.md for the full scoring template.

Design an onboarding playbook

Onboarding ends when the customer achieves their first committed outcome, not when technical setup is complete. Structure around milestones, not calendar dates.

Milestone 1 - Technical kickoff (Days 1-7)

• Stakeholder alignment: map goals to product capabilities
• Technical setup complete: integrations, SSO, data imports
• Success plan signed: 3-5 measurable goals with target dates

Milestone 2 - First value realization (Days 14-30)

• Core use case live with real data
• At least 3 active users beyond the champion
• Customer can demonstrate the product unaided

Milestone 3 - Team adoption (Days 30-60)

• 60% of licensed seats active

• Secondary use case identified or live

Milestone 4 - Outcome confirmation (Days 60-90)

• At least one success plan goal achieved or measurably progressing
• EBR scheduled with executive sponsor
• Expansion signals documented for account plan

Predict and prevent churn - early warning system

Tiered alert triggers:

Alert level	Trigger criteria	Response
Watch	Health score drops from Green to Yellow	CSM schedules check-in within 7 days
Warning	Yellow for 21+ days, or any single dimension at 0	CSM escalates, builds risk mitigation plan
Critical	Health score Red, OR champion departs, OR formal complaint	Executive engagement within 48 hours, save plan

Save plan template:

1. Root cause analysis - what drove the score down?
2. Executive alignment - is there internal will to stay?
3. Remediation actions - concrete steps with owners and dates
4. Success criteria - what does "saved" look like at 30/60/90 days?
5. Go/no-go checkpoint - if criteria not met, prepare graceful offboarding

Identify expansion opportunities - signals and timing

Qualification criteria before starting an expansion motion:

• Health score Green for at least 60 consecutive days
• At least one success plan goal achieved with documented ROI
• Champion actively engaged
• Renewal is not within 60 days

Expansion conversation framework:

1. Anchor to achieved value - reference a specific metric
2. Surface the adjacent pain - ask about problems the expanded product solves
3. Quantify the gap - help the customer estimate the cost of not solving it
4. Propose a pilot or phased expansion
5. Involve the AE for formal commercial motion; CSM does not own the close

Run effective QBRs - agenda

A QBR is a strategic alignment meeting, not a product demo. Target audience is executive sponsors; goal is confirming strategic value and setting next-quarter direction.

QBR agenda (60 minutes):

Time	Section	Owner
0-5 min	Welcome and objectives	CSM
5-20 min	Results: goals vs. actuals from last quarter	CSM + Customer champion
20-30 min	Value realized: ROI story with business metrics	CSM
30-40 min	Challenges and open risks (honest)	Both sides
40-50 min	Goals and success criteria for next quarter	Customer executive
50-60 min	Product roadmap alignment + asks from customer	CSM + AE

Preparation checklist: Pull 90-day health score trend, document 2 quantified ROI data points, prepare 3 success plan status updates, know the renewal date, brief your exec sponsor, identify one expansion opportunity (if Green health).

Segment and tier CS coverage

Tier	ARR range	Coverage model	CSM ratio	Touchpoint cadence
Enterprise	>$100K	Named CSM, white-glove, proactive	1:10-20	Bi-weekly syncs, quarterly EBRs
Mid-Market	$20K-$100K	Named CSM, pooled for scale	1:40-80	Monthly syncs, semi-annual EBRs
SMB / Long Tail	<$20K	Tech-touch: automated email, in-app, community	1:200+	Automated lifecycle sequences

Measure CS team performance - metrics

Lagging metrics:

Metric	Definition	Target benchmark
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)	Revenue retained excluding expansion	>90% for SaaS
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)	Revenue retained including expansion, minus churn	>110% signals healthy growth
Logo Churn Rate	% of customers lost in a period	<5% annually
Renewal Rate	% of renewals closed on time	>95%

Leading metrics:

Metric	Why it matters
Time-to-First-Value	Predicts long-term retention
Health Score Distribution	Portfolio risk visibility
QBR Completion Rate	Measures strategic engagement
Expansion Pipeline Coverage	Expansion predictability

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Anti-patterns

Anti-pattern	Why it fails	What to do instead
Health score theater	Score exists in Salesforce but drives zero workflow	Tie every health band to a mandatory CSM action with SLA
One-size-fits-all coverage	Named CSMs on $5K accounts burns capacity; $500K accounts get neglected	Segment by ARR; build tech-touch for the long tail
Renewal-only QBRs	Signals the relationship is purely transactional	Run QBRs on a calendar cadence regardless of renewal timing
Premature expansion	Pitching upsells before first outcome produces churn, not revenue	Gate expansion on Green health (60+ days) and one achieved goal
Champion dependency	Single champion leaves and account collapses	Map at least two stakeholders; involve exec sponsor from onboarding
Vanity NPS	Sending surveys without acting on detractors	Close the loop on every detractor within 5 business days

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Gotchas

1. Health score with no action trigger is decoration - A health score that lives in Salesforce and gets reviewed once a month during pipeline calls is not driving behavior. Every health band must have a mandatory CSM action with a defined SLA. Green without an expansion motion and Red without an escalation protocol are both failures of the system.

2. Champion departure is not always visible in usage data - Product usage can remain stable for 30-60 days after a champion leaves, because the remaining users keep using the product out of habit. The champion departure is a leading indicator that usage will decline. Monitor LinkedIn/CRM for job changes on key contacts, not just product telemetry.

3. Premature expansion pitches accelerate churn - Attempting to upsell a customer who has not yet achieved their primary success plan goals communicates that you care more about revenue than their outcomes. It damages trust, poisons renewal conversations, and produces contraction, not expansion. Gate expansion motions strictly on Green health for 60+ days and at least one documented ROI milestone.

4. QBR attendance without executive preparation - A QBR where the customer executive shows up cold (no agenda sent in advance, no pre-read, no briefing with the champion) quickly turns into a status update that could have been an email. Send the agenda and ROI data 5 business days in advance and pre-brief the champion on what you want the executive to walk away thinking.

5. Onboarding completion measured by setup, not value - Marking onboarding complete when technical setup is done (SSO configured, data imported) does not indicate the customer has achieved any business value. The real onboarding milestone is first value realization: a user has completed a meaningful workflow with real data and can demonstrate it unaided.

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References

• references/health-score-model.md - Detailed weighted health score model with dimension definitions, normalization tables, and threshold calibration guidance

Only load the reference file when the task requires designing or auditing a health scoring system in detail.

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Companion check

On first activation of this skill in a conversation: check which companion skills are installed by running ls ~/.claude/skills/ ~/.agent/skills/ ~/.agents/skills/ .claude/skills/ .agent/skills/ .agents/skills/ 2>/dev/null. Compare the results against the recommended_skills field in this file's frontmatter. For any that are missing, mention them once and offer to install:

npx skills add AbsolutelySkilled/AbsolutelySkilled --skill <name>

Skip entirely if recommended_skills is empty or all companions are already installed.