Build customer success systems. Covers onboarding workflows, health scoring, renewal automation, churn prevention, support escalation, and knowledge base design.
Build systems that retain customers, drive expansion, and turn users into advocates.
Define: What is the first "aha moment" customers experience? (e.g., first integration connected, first report generated, first sale made)
Target: Reach aha moment within 72 hours of signup.
Day 0: Welcome email + single next action (not a checklist)
"Your one task: [connect integration / invite team / run first X]"
Day 1: Check-in (automated) — "Did you complete [action]? Here's what's next."
Day 3: Human touchpoint (for high-value accounts) — brief call or personalized email
Day 7: "You've been with us a week" — share what they've accomplished, suggest next step
Day 14: Case study from similar company — reinforce value, seed expansion
Day 30: Success check-in — are they hitting their goals?
Score each customer weekly (0–100):
USAGE (40pts)
- Active users / seats purchased: 80%+ (20pts), 50–79% (10pts), <50% (0pts)
- Feature adoption: using 3+ core features (20pts), 1–2 (10pts), 1 only (0pts)
ENGAGEMENT (30pts)
- Logged in last 7 days (10pts)
- Opened last 3 emails (10pts)
- Attended training/webinar (10pts)
BUSINESS (20pts)
- Contract renewal >90 days away (20pts), <90 days (10pts), <30 days (5pts)
- NPS score >8 (20pts), 7–8 (10pts), <7 (0pts)
SUPPORT (10pts)
- No open critical tickets (10pts)
- Open non-critical tickets only (5pts)
- Open critical ticket (0pts)
Health status:
- Green: 70–100
- Yellow: 40–69 (at-risk, needs attention)
- Red: 0–39 (churn risk, escalate immediately)
Day 1: CS automated email — "We noticed you haven't [specific action]. Here's a quick guide."
Day 3: CS manual check — review account, identify specific adoption gap
Day 5: Personalized email with 1 specific recommendation
Day 10: Offer: free training session or success call
Day 14: Executive touch for >$10K ARR accounts
Immediate: Alert account owner + manager
Day 1: Discovery call — understand root cause (usage? ROI? alternative?)
Day 3: "Save the account" plan — propose changes, new use case, pricing adjustment
Day 7: Executive call (for high-value accounts)
Day 14: Decision point — commit to save or accept churn gracefully
180 days before renewal:
- Send: Annual review report (usage stats, value delivered, ROI)
- Action: Schedule QBR (Quarterly Business Review)
90 days before renewal:
- Send: Renewal reminder + upsell recommendation
- Action: CS creates renewal opportunity in CRM
60 days before renewal:
- Send: Case study from similar company that expanded
- Action: Present new features/tier to justify upgrade
30 days before renewal:
- Send: Final reminder with clear renewal CTA
- Action: Escalate non-responders to manager
14 days before:
- Send: "Your subscription renews in 14 days" — confirm payment method
- Action: Legal sends contracts for manual renewals
Tier 1 (self-service):
- Knowledge base article exists
- In-app help widget
- Response: immediate (bot)
Tier 2 (support team):
- Bug or configuration issue
- Response SLA: 4h (paying), 24h (free)
- Owner: Support rep
Tier 3 (CS escalation):
- Repeated issue, customer frustration
- Feature request blocking renewal
- Response SLA: 2h for any-tier
- Owner: Customer Success Manager
Tier 4 (executive escalation):
- Churn threat from high-value account
- Legal/security/compliance issue
- Response SLA: 1h
- Owner: VP CS or CEO
Structure:
├── Getting Started
│ ├── Quick start guide (5 min to first value)
│ ├── Setup checklist
│ └── Video walkthrough
├── Core Features (one article per feature)
│ ├── [Feature 1] — what it does, how to use, examples
│ └── [Feature 2] — ...
├── Integrations
│ └── [Integration name] — setup + troubleshooting per integration
├── Troubleshooting
│ └── Common errors + fixes
└── FAQs
└── Billing, plans, permissions, data
Article quality rules:
| Metric | Target | Action if below |
|---|---|---|
| Net Revenue Retention (NRR) | >110% | Improve expansion motions |
| Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) | >90% | Focus on churn prevention |
| Time to first value | <72h | Simplify onboarding |
| CSAT / NPS | >50 NPS | Interview detractors |
| Support ticket volume / customer | Decreasing | Improve self-service |
| Onboarding completion rate | >80% | Remove friction from steps |