Free Customer Success Tool - Customer Success Metric Metric: Pipeline

What a CSM Pipeline Includes

1. Renewals

• Track upcoming contract renewals to ensure proactive engagement before deadlines.

2. Expansion Opportunities

• Identify potential upsell or cross-sell opportunities based on customer usage, needs, or product fit.

3. Customer Health Metrics

• Include accounts flagged as at-risk based on metrics like low engagement, support tickets, or negative NPS scores.

4. Onboarding Progress

• Monitor new customers through onboarding stages, ensuring they reach their first value milestones quickly.

5. Proactive Engagements

• Schedule touchpoints such as Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) or check-ins to strengthen the relationship.

6. Churn Prevention Efforts

• Highlight accounts requiring immediate intervention due to declining health or unresolved issues.

Why a CSM Pipeline Matters

1. Organization and Focus

• Helps prioritize tasks and manage time effectively, ensuring no customer falls through the cracks.

2. Proactive Management

• Enables CSMs to stay ahead of critical milestones like renewals or customer health declines.

3. Revenue Growth

• Identifies opportunities for expansion, turning satisfied customers into long-term revenue sources.

4. Churn Mitigation

• Ensures at-risk accounts are addressed before they lead to cancellations.

5. Collaboration Across Teams

• Provides visibility into customer progress, allowing sales, product, and support teams to align on shared goals.

How to Build a CSM Pipeline

1. Segment Customers

• Group accounts by health, renewal date, or potential for expansion.
• Example: At-risk, stable, or high-growth accounts.

2. Define Stages

• Break the pipeline into actionable stages, such as:
  • Onboarding → Adoption → Growth → Renewal → Advocacy.

3. Use Tools and Automation

• Leverage CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) or customer success platforms (e.g., Gainsight, Totango) to visualize and track pipeline stages.

4. Incorporate Data

• Use customer health scores, usage metrics, and feedback to prioritize and guide actions in the pipeline.

5. Set Regular Reviews

• Review the pipeline weekly or monthly to adjust priorities and update customer progress.

Key Metrics for a CSM Pipeline

• Renewal Rate: Percentage of customers renewing contracts.
• Expansion Revenue: Revenue gained from upsells and cross-sells.
• Churn Rate: Percentage of customers lost during a given period.
• Customer Health Score: Aggregated metric indicating account stability and satisfaction.
• Time to First Value (TTFV): How quickly customers achieve initial success.

Best Practices for Managing a CSM Pipeline

1. Be Proactive, Not Reactive

• Anticipate customer needs by tracking health metrics and engagement data.

2. Communicate Regularly

• Schedule consistent check-ins to maintain alignment with customer goals.

3. Prioritize At-Risk Accounts

• Use health scores or other indicators to address accounts that need immediate attention.

4. Focus on Outcomes

• Align pipeline actions with customer success milestones and business outcomes.

5. Collaborate Across Teams

• Share insights with sales and product teams to address pain points and identify new opportunities.

Tools to Manage a CSM Pipeline

• Customer Success Platforms: Gainsight, Totango, ChurnZero.
• CRM Software: Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive.
• Analytics Tools: Tableau, Looker, or in-house dashboards.

Conclusion

A well-managed CSM pipeline is essential for driving customer success. By organizing tasks, tracking progress, and focusing on customer outcomes, CSMs can foster stronger relationships, improve retention, and uncover growth opportunities. A pipeline isn’t just a tool for managing customers—it’s a strategic framework for delivering value and maximizing the success of both your customers and your business.