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Start strong as a Customer Success leader by focusing on these key steps in your first 90 days:
| Phase | Timeline | Key Focus | Example Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learn | Days 1–30 | Build relationships | Meet stakeholders, review workflows, talk to customers |
| Strategize | Days 31–60 | Plan improvements | Prioritize changes, set metrics, create a roadmap |
| Execute | Days 61–90 | Implement and measure | Launch programs, track metrics, refine processes |
Pro Tip: Focus on trust-building and actionable insights early on. This sets the foundation for lasting success in your role.
Use your first 30 days to build relationships and gather crucial insights. This groundwork will set you up to make well-informed decisions and implement impactful changes down the line.
Strong relationships across the organization are essential for success. Schedule focused meetings with key stakeholders to align on goals and expectations:
| Stakeholder Group | Meeting Focus | Discussion Points |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Team | Strategic Alignment | Company vision, growth targets, and Customer Success (CS) role expectations |
| Sales & Marketing | Pipeline & Messaging | Customer acquisition strategies and handoff processes |
| Product Team | Roadmap & Features | Development priorities and customer feedback loops |
| Finance | Metrics & Resources | Budget allocation, revenue targets, and reporting needs |
| Customer Success Team | Current Operations | Day-to-day challenges and team capabilities |
Take time to document existing workflows and pinpoint areas for improvement. Focus on these key aspects:
Conversations with customers can provide essential insights to guide your strategy. Here are two key questions recommended by Douglas S. Miller, VP of Customer Success at AirPR Software:
"What can my company do to better serve your needs?"
"How do you need to transform your business over the next 18 months, and how can I help?"
Structure these discussions around three main areas:
| Focus Area | Purpose | Sample Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Current State | Understand the existing relationship | Why did you choose us? What's working well? |
| Pain Points | Identify improvement areas | What challenges are you facing? How can we help? |
| Future Goals | Align with customer objectives | What does success look like? What are your 12-month priorities? |
These insights will be invaluable as you begin strategic planning in Month 2.
Take what you learned in Month 1 and turn it into actionable steps to improve customer success. Focus on identifying key changes that deliver both immediate results and set the stage for long-term growth.
Prioritize changes that create the biggest impact for customers while improving team efficiency.
| Area | Initiative | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Journey | Streamline onboarding | Faster time-to-value for customers |
| Team Operations | Standardized playbooks | Better team efficiency |
| Technology Stack | Consolidate reporting | Clearer insights, lower costs |
| Customer Health | Early warning system | Prevent churn proactively |
Once your priorities are clear, decide on the key metrics to measure success. Mike Begala, MBA, offers a great perspective:
"Do not worry about the metrics. Worry about solving the problem for the customer. If you get caught up in a thousand metrics, you will always be looking at the wrong thing. Care for the customer as if it meant your life. Every touch point, every interaction. Reduce the friction, increase the empathy."
Stick to just three critical metrics to avoid getting overwhelmed:
Research shows that reducing churn by just 5% can boost profits by up to 25%. Use this insight to guide your quarterly objectives:
Q2 2025
Q3 2025
Q4 2025
Q1 2026
With your strategic plan from Month 2 in place, it’s time to put your ideas into motion. This month is all about execution.
Kick off these programs to drive results:
| Program Type | Focus Area | Expected Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Health Monitoring | Automated scoring system | Detect risks early |
| Onboarding Enhancement | Standardized playbooks | Shorten time-to-value |
| Digital CS Program | Self-service resources | Boost scalability |
| Voice of Customer | Regular feedback sessions | Strengthen retention |
Keep a close eye on how your initiatives are performing by using both leading and lagging indicators. For example, Adobe saw a 30% drop in voluntary turnover after introducing regular manager-employee check-ins.
"Tracking team progress is more than just ticking checkboxes; it's understanding where your team stands, identifying any potential roadblocks, and ensuring everyone works toward shared goals."
Focus your reviews on these three areas:
Regular reviews ensure your team stays on track and aligned with your goals.
Clear and consistent communication is key. Sal Pugliese highlights its importance:
"Sustained and open communication within your teams is a key component for a successful project, especially when it comes to promptly identifying and addressing potential risks. This proactive approach ensures a more Agile and adaptive project management process."
Use a structured approach to team communication:
Leverage project management tools to keep everyone on the same page and focused on high-priority tasks. This ensures transparency and accountability across the team.
When launching new programs, prioritize collaboration between teams to boost overall results.
Cross-departmental teamwork can save considerable time and money. Without it, siloed teams may lose up to 20 hours a month, which could cost a 200-person company $1.5 million annually.
Work closely with Sales, Product, and Marketing teams through clear communication and shared goals. Here's how successful companies collaborate:
| Department | Focus Area | Key Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | Customer Insights | Share success stories, coordinate handoffs, and align on ideal customer profiles. |
| Product | Feature Development | Provide feedback, track shared metrics, and prioritize customer needs. |
| Marketing | Customer Engagement | Coordinate campaigns, share insights, and create customer success content. |
To strengthen these partnerships, schedule regular check-ins:
"Instead of thinking in a silo, really look at how customer success and sales can better partner together or how you can leverage marketing as a tool and as a resource to drive customer engagement."
- Maranda Dziekonski, Chief Customer Officer at Swiftly
Once your strategy is in place, regular updates between teams help maintain alignment without overwhelming anyone.
Digital Collaboration Tools:
Meeting Best Practices:
"CS needs Product to continue building tools and features customers will love, and Product needs CS to continue driving adoption and customer happiness."
When submitting feature requests, include:
Research shows that top-performing organizations are 5.5x more likely to reward effective collaboration at all levels. Make teamwork a measurable part of performance reviews and celebrate cross-functional successes often.
Your tech stack and data processes play a huge role in driving customer success initiatives. They empower teams to take proactive steps and deliver better outcomes.
To succeed, you need tools and systems that integrate seamlessly and provide clear, actionable customer insights.
When reviewing your workflows, it’s equally important to evaluate whether your tools can fully support those processes.
| Tool Category | Primary Function | Key Features to Look For |
|---|---|---|
| CS Platform | Customer Health Monitoring | AI-driven insights, workflow automation, custom health scores |
| Data Analytics | Performance Tracking | Real-time dashboards, predictive analytics, custom reporting |
| Integration Hub | Data Consolidation | CRM sync, support ticket integration, communication tools |
When choosing customer success software, look for solutions that:
"ClientSuccess has been a huge help for our company as we have grown and scaled our Customer Success efforts over these last years. Being able to customize the software to the way we want to engage and evaluate customers has been a tremendous help to our CSMs and our executive team." - Christian Kuehne, EVP of Athletic Organizations at GamePlan
A data-driven approach is essential for understanding and improving the customer journey. Tracking the right metrics ensures your team stays ahead.
Key metrics to monitor:
"The ability to look at all actions through the lens of revenue is paramount. If my team is able to stay ahead of churn pitfalls that were previously unpredictable, that's a win and puts a clearer lens on the opportunities to protect and grow customer revenue." - Conor Nolen, Drata
Set up a regular reporting schedule to keep everyone aligned:
Make sure key data is accessible to your entire team. As Totango Team explains, "Using customer data to illuminate the road ahead is always going to be far more effective than winging it or blindly assuming that what has worked in the past will continue to work in the future."
To turn data into action:
These steps ensure your team stays aligned and can make informed, impactful decisions.
The first 90 days are critical for setting yourself up for long-term success. Here's a quick recap of the key milestones you've achieved:
| Timeline | Core Focus Areas | Key Achievements |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Information Gathering | Gained product knowledge, built team connections, and gathered customer insights |
| Month 2 | Strategy Development | Defined success metrics, improved processes, and developed annual plans |
| Month 3 | Program Implementation | Launched new initiatives, tracked progress, and aligned your team |
This summary highlights the groundwork you've laid for growth and progress.
Now that you've established a solid foundation, it's time to refine, expand, and strengthen your strategies. Stay focused on these key priorities:
Refine Your Customer Success Framework
Create a system to collect and act on customer feedback. This will help you spot trends and adjust your strategies as needed.
"The business world is ever-evolving, and so are your customers' needs. Staying agile, being open to feedback, and being willing to pivot your strategies are essential to a successful Customer Success function. This is not a one-time effort but an ongoing journey of improvement and adaptation."
Expand and Streamline Operations
Focus on scaling through standardization and automation. This includes:
Build Stronger Cross-Functional Relationships
Collaboration across departments is key to ensuring Customer Success is a company-wide effort. Prioritize:
Customer Success leadership is a dynamic role that requires constant growth and adaptation.
"Customer Success is more than just a department; it's the heartbeat of any thriving company."
Keep building on your progress while evolving your strategies to meet new challenges and opportunities.
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