---
title: "Customer Success: Definition and Examples"
description: "Customer success is the business function that makes sure customers reach the outcomes they bought a product for, so they renew and expand."
path: /glossary/customer-success
family: glossary
updated: 2026-10-17
html: /glossary/customer-success
sources:
  - "https://www.salesforce.com/small-business/what-is-customer-success/"
  - "https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-success"
  - "https://www.gainsight.com/essential-guide/customer-success/"
facts:
  term: "Customer success"
  also_called: "Customer success management, CS, Customer success manager (CSM)"
  category: "Sales"
---

# Customer success

Customer success is the business function that makes sure customers reach the outcomes they bought a product for, so they renew and expand. Customer success managers (CSMs) own onboarding, adoption, health monitoring and renewals for a set of accounts.

## What Is Customer Success?

**In short:** Customer success is proactive; customer support is reactive.

Support answers questions and fixes problems when customers raise them. Customer success works from a plan: agree the customer's goals at kickoff, track product usage and a health score, run business reviews and step in before a renewal is at risk.

The function grew with subscription software, where a customer can leave at every renewal and most of a customer's lifetime value arrives after the first contract. Keeping and expanding existing accounts is what lifts net revenue retention, which Gainsight calls the north star metric for subscription businesses.

## Customer Success Example

Example: a CSM manages 40 accounts worth $1.6 million ARR. A health score built from weekly active users, support tickets and executive contact flags 6 accounts as at risk 90 days before renewal. The CSM runs a usage review with each; 5 renew, and 2 of those add seats.

## Customer Success in Practice

For sales teams, customer success is the source of references, case studies and expansion leads. A named result from a similar customer is often the strongest proof point an outbound message can carry, and CSMs pass on signals, such as a new team or office, that open cross-sell conversations.

## FAQ

### What is the difference between customer success and customer support?

Support is reactive: it answers questions and fixes problems when customers raise them. Customer success is proactive: it works toward the customer's goals, watches usage and steps in before a problem threatens the renewal.

### What does a customer success manager do?

A CSM onboards new customers, tracks adoption and account health, runs business reviews, manages renewals and spots expansion opportunities across a portfolio of accounts.

### What is the difference between customer success and account management?

Customer success helps customers reach the outcomes they bought for, with a focus on adoption, retention, renewal and expansion. HubSpot notes that account management often carries more direct commercial ownership, and that the two overlap around renewals and expansion.

### What metrics does customer success track?

Net revenue retention, gross revenue retention and churn, plus leading indicators such as product usage, health score, NPS and CSAT.

## Related

- [GTM Glossary](/glossary): Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- [Net revenue retention (NRR)](/glossary/net-revenue-retention)
- [Churn rate](/glossary/churn-rate)
- [Upselling](/glossary/upselling)
- [Cross-selling](/glossary/cross-selling)
- [Customer lifetime value (CLV or LTV)](/glossary/customer-lifetime-value)
- [Ken features](/features)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Salesforce: What Is Customer Success? | https://www.salesforce.com/small-business/what-is-customer-success/ | 2026-10-17 |
| HubSpot: What Is Customer Success? | https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-success | 2026-10-17 |
| Gainsight: The Essential Guide to Customer Success | https://www.gainsight.com/essential-guide/customer-success/ | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published.