Customer Success Playbook

Customer Success Playbook

Build and run a customer success operation for B2B SaaS. Covers the full lifecycle: onboarding, health scoring, QBRs, churn prevention, and expansion revenue.

When to Use

Setting up a CS function from scratch

Designing onboarding flows for new customers

Building health score models

Preparing QBR templates and cadences

Creating churn intervention playbooks

Planning expansion and upsell motions

Workflow

1. Assess Current State

Ask the user:

Company stage (seed, Series A, growth, scale)

Current ARR and customer count

Average contract value (ACV)

Current CS team size (or zero)

Primary churn reasons if known

2. Design Lifecycle Stages

Map the customer journey:

| Stage | Duration | Owner | Key Metric | |-------|----------|-------|------------| | Onboarding | Days 0-30 | CS Lead | Time to First Value | | Adoption | Days 30-90 | CSM | Feature adoption % | | Retention | Ongoing | CSM | Health score, NRR | | Expansion | Trigger-based | CSM + AE | Expansion MRR | | Renewal | T-90 days | CSM | Renewal rate | | Advocacy | Post-renewal | CS Lead | NPS, referrals |

3. Build Health Score

Weight these signals (0-100 composite):

Product usage (25%): DAU/MAU ratio

Feature breadth (15%): Features used vs available

Support load (15%): Ticket volume and sentiment

Executive engagement (15%): Meeting frequency

Satisfaction (10%): NPS or CSAT

Growth signals (10%): Seat/usage expansion

Payment (10%): On-time history

Thresholds: 80+ healthy, 60-79 monitor, 40-59 at-risk, <40 critical.

4. Create Onboarding Checklist

Week 1: Foundation (kickoff, tech setup, admin training, define 3 success outcomes) Week 2-3: Activation (user training, configure workflows, first quick win) Week 4: Handoff (retrospective, baseline metrics, ongoing cadence)

TTFV target: <14 days SMB, <30 days Enterprise.

5. QBR Template

45-minute agenda: 1. Results recap with ROI numbers (10 min) 2. Usage insights and underused features (10 min) 3. Roadmap preview — relevant items only (5 min) 4. Their priorities and business changes (15 min) 5. Action items with owners and dates (5 min)

Rule: Never present a QBR without a quantified ROI number.

6. Churn Prevention Tiers

Tier 1 (score 60-79): Automated nudges, CSM alerted

Tier 2 (score 40-59): Personal outreach within 48h, 30-day recovery plan

Tier 3 (score <40): Executive escalation within 24h, concession options ready

Early warnings: usage drop >30%, champion departure, competitor mentions, missed calls.

7. Expansion Playbook

Signals: health >80, seats >85% utilized, new use cases in QBRs, champion promoted.

| Play | Trigger | Approach | |------|---------|----------| | Seat expansion | >85% utilization | Right-size conversation | | Feature upsell | Repeated workarounds | Demo the real solution | | New department | Champion referral | Joint intro meeting | | Tier upgrade | Hitting plan limits | Show per-user savings | | Multi-year | Healthy + renewal due | Discount for commitment |

CSM expansion target: 20-30% of new ARR. NRR target: 110-120%.

8. CSM Capacity Model

Enterprise ($100K+ ACV): 10-15 accounts, high-touch, monthly QBRs

Mid-Market ($25-100K): 25-40 accounts, medium-touch, quarterly QBRs

SMB ($5-25K): 50-80 accounts, tech-touch + pooled, semi-annual QBRs

Self-serve (<$5K): Automated digital-only

9. Output Deliverables

Generate for the user:

Customer lifecycle map

Health score model with weights

Onboarding checklist (customized to their product)

QBR template and prep checklist

Churn intervention playbook with escalation tiers

Expansion signal list and plays

CSM capacity plan

Metrics dashboard spec (NRR, GRR, TTFV, health coverage, QBR rate)

Key Metrics

| Metric | Target | |--------|--------| | Net Revenue Retention | >110% | | Gross Revenue Retention | >90% | | Time to First Value | <14d SMB / <30d Enterprise | | Health Score Coverage | 100% | | QBR Completion | >85% | | NPS | >50 |

Resources

Industry-specific AI agent context packs: https://afrexai-cto.github.io/context-packs/

AI Revenue Leak Calculator: https://afrexai-cto.github.io/ai-revenue-calculator/

Agent Setup Wizard: https://afrexai-cto.github.io/agent-setup/