Definition
Customer success is the function focused on helping customers achieve outcomes so retention and expansion improve over time.
Example
A CS team runs onboarding, adoption reviews, and renewal planning to reduce churn.
How to use it
- Customer success should be measured by retention outcomes (GRR/NRR), not only activity metrics.
- Segment playbooks by customer type; one motion rarely fits all.
- Tie success milestones to product adoption and business outcomes.
- Use health scoring to prioritize proactive outreach.
Common mistakes
- Measuring CS by activity volume without retention impact.
- Using the same playbook for SMB and enterprise accounts.
- Treating renewal work as a last-minute task instead of an ongoing plan.
Why this matters
This term matters because small changes compound in SaaS metrics. Use consistent definitions by cohort and segment so you can diagnose retention, payback, and growth quality.
Practical checklist
- Write a 1-line definition for "Customer Success" that your team will use consistently.
- Keep the time window consistent (weekly/monthly/quarterly) when comparing trends.
- Segment results (channel/plan/cohort) before drawing big conclusions from blended averages.
- Sanity-check with a related calculator from the same category on MetricKit.
- Read the related guide (e.g., Retention & churn hub: cohorts, GRR/NRR, and retention curves) for context and common pitfalls.
Where to use this on MetricKit
Calculators
- NRR Calculator: Calculate Net Revenue Retention (NRR) from starting MRR and revenue movements.
- GRR Calculator: Calculate Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) from starting MRR, contraction, and churn.
- NRR vs GRR Calculator: Calculate NRR and GRR together from the same starting MRR and expansion/contraction/churn inputs.
- Gross Revenue Churn Calculator: Calculate gross revenue churn rate from contraction and churned MRR (with monthly-equivalent conversion).
- Net New MRR Calculator: Calculate net new MRR from new, expansion, contraction, and churned MRR.
Guides
- Retention & churn hub: cohorts, GRR/NRR, and retention curves: A practical hub for retention measurement: churn rate, GRR/NRR, cohort retention curves, and how to set retention targets without getting misled by noise.
- Unit economics hub: CAC, LTV, payback, and runway (a practical stack): A practical hub for unit economics: CAC, fully-loaded CAC, LTV, payback, margin impacts, burn multiple, and runway planning.