Glossary
An essential customer success dictionary
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Single Sign-On (SSO) Integration
Authentication method that allows users to access multiple applications and services with one set of credentials while maintaining security.
User Engagement Analytics
Analytics that provide insights into how users interact with digital experiences, measuring behaviors, preferences, and outcomes.
Customer Self-Service Portal
A digital platform that enables customers to find answers, resolve issues, and complete transactions independently without direct support interaction.
Digital Experience Platform
A technology solution that enables organizations to create, manage, and optimize digital experiences across multiple touchpoints.
Experience Cloud
Salesforce's digital experience platform for creating branded, connected experiences for customers, partners, and employees.
AI Personalization
The use of artificial intelligence to create individualized customer experiences by dynamically adapting content, interfaces, and interactions based on user behavior and contextual data.
Chatbots
AI-powered conversational interfaces that simulate human-like interactions to provide automated customer support, answer questions, and guide users through processes 24/7.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
AI technology that enables computers to understand and process human language. In customer success, NLP powers sentiment analysis, automated support routing, chatbots, and customer feedback analysis for better communication.
Machine Learning (ML)
AI technology that enables systems to learn from data and make predictions. In customer success, ML powers predictive analytics, health scoring, churn prediction, and automated insights for proactive customer management.
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
An AI technique that combines information retrieval with text generation to provide accurate, contextual responses by searching knowledge bases, documentation, and community content before generating answers.
AI Agent
An AI agent is an autonomous software program that uses artificial intelligence to perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals without human intervention.
Product-Led Growth (PLG)
Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a business strategy where the product itself serves as the primary driver of customer acquisition, expansion, and retention, enabling users to experience value before purchasing.
Customer Lifetime Value
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is the total revenue a customer generates over their relationship with a business. It informs strategies like prioritizing high-CLV customers for support and renewals or targeting similar prospects with tailored marketing.
Customer Marketing
Customer Marketing focuses on strategies to build loyalty, drive product adoption, and boost upselling or cross-selling. It includes personalized communication, educational content, and campaigns highlighting new features or services, such as webinars on advanced functionalities or referral programs.
Customer Lifecycle Management
The systematic management of a customer's journey from initial engagement to renewal. It emphasizes understanding customer needs and behaviors to enhance satisfaction, drive retention, and increase customer lifetime value.
Customer Success Management System
A software platform managing customer interactions and relationships, tracking data, communication history, and support requests. It facilitates engagement, personalized experiences, and drives customer satisfaction and retention.
Adoption
The process of users regularly utilizing a software product after onboarding. In SaaS, adoption ensures full engagement, satisfaction, value realization, and long-term retention.
Metrics
Quantifiable measures assessing customer success performance. Metrics like satisfaction scores, churn rates, NPS, and product usage statistics help identify improvement areas and drive engagement and retention.
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Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
KPIs track the effectiveness of customer success initiatives by measuring engagement, satisfaction, retention, and overall customer health. They help make data-driven decisions to optimize strategies and drive business growth.
Engagement
Customer engagement refers to user interaction with a SaaS product. High engagement, indicated by active usage, support seeking, and training participation, leads to increased satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.
C-suite
C-suite refers to top executives like CEOs, CFOs, and COOs. Engaging them is crucial for aligning strategic goals and prioritizing customer success efforts.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the predictable, recurring income from SaaS subscriptions. It's a key metric measuring growth, forecasting revenue, and assessing customer health.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
Direct costs associated with producing and delivering a product or service. Understanding these costs is crucial for evaluating profitability, pricing strategies, and resource allocation in SaaS customer success programs.
Customer Success Manager (CSM)
A Customer Success Manager ensures customer success by managing relationships, providing onboarding, training, and support, driving product adoption, and minimizing churn.
Statement of Work (SOW)
A document outlining services, deliverables, and timelines, clarifying expectations and responsibilities to ensure successful implementation and ongoing support.
Customer Relationship Management
A system managing customer interactions, tracking data, and facilitating personalized experiences to drive satisfaction and retention.
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)
Cloud-based software delivery model offering scalable, flexible, and continuously updated applications accessed via the internet. Users subscribe, not purchase, while SaaS companies provide ongoing support and updates.
Learning Management System (LMS)
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software application that delivers, tracks, and manages training programs. In SaaS customer success, it streamlines user onboarding and skill development, improving customer engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
Case Studies
The Case Studies program captures and shares customer success stories to showcase the product's value and drive sales.
ROI Calculator
The ROI Calculator helps potential customers evaluate the financial impact of the product by providing a clear calculation of expected return on investment.
Mutual Action Plan
Mutual Action Plans (MAPs) create a shared roadmap between vendor and customer, aligning goals and responsibilities to drive sales success.
Deal Room
The Deal Room provides a centralized space for potential customers to access sales information and resources, streamlining the deal closure process.
POC Management
The POC Management program guides potential customers through a structured proof-of-concept process to assess product value.
Upsell Trigger Program (CSQL)
The Upsell Trigger Program identifies Customer Success Qualified Leads (CSQLs) and automatically flags upsell opportunities based on customer behavior and usage patterns.
Renewal Management
The Renewal Management program ensures smooth renewals by providing clear visibility and proactive communication.
Feature Adoption Program
The Feature Adoption Program helps customers discover and effectively use new or underutilized features to maximize product value.
Customer Feedback Loop
The Customer Feedback Loop Program actively gathers customer insights and feedback to continuously improve the product and customer experience.
Business as Usual (BAU)
The BAU program empowers champions with ongoing resources and insights to optimize product value and drive business success.
Migration & Upgrades
The Migration & Upgrades program ensures a smooth transition to new product lines with minimal disruption and maximum benefit.
Account Dashboard Program
The Account Dashboard provides champions and decision makers with a centralized view of product usage, performance metrics, and actionable insights to drive informed decisions.
Business Reviews
Business Reviews are strategic meetings to evaluate customer progress, usage, and alignment with business objectives, ensuring ongoing value.
Success Plans
Success Plans align customer and vendor goals, providing a structured roadmap to maximize product value.
User Onboarding
User Onboarding provides a self-service experience that empowers end-users to quickly get started with tailored guidance and resources.
Ever Boarding
Ever Boarding accelerates new user onboarding, ensuring rapid proficiency in product capabilities, configurations, and business impact.
Academy Program
The Academy provides structured training programs that empower customers to independently learn and master the product, improving their proficiency and enabling self-sufficiency.
Implementation Plan Program
The Implementation Plan ensures customers have a clear and structured roadmap to successfully implement the solution, leading to a faster and smoother go-live process.
Pre-Kickoff Questionnaire Program
Voice of the Customer (VoC) refers to the process of capturing, analyzing, and leveraging customer feedback and insights to understand their preferences, needs, and expectations. It helps businesses make data-driven decisions to enhance products, services, and overall customer experience.
End of Year Wrapped Program
The End of Year Wrapped (EOY Wrapped) program offers customers a personalized, engaging year-end summary of their achievements, usage metrics, and milestones.
Referrals Program
The Referrals Program incentivizes existing customers to refer new potential customers to the company.
Product Updates Program
The Product Updates program keeps customers informed about new features, enhancements, and improvements to the product.
Customer Advocacy Program
The Customer Advocacy program is designed to nurture and empower customers who are enthusiastic about the product to become brand advocates.
Customer Segmentation Analysis
Customer Segmentation Analysis is a strategic approach businesses use to divide their customer base into individual groups with similar characteristics.
Scaled Customer Success
Scaled Customer Success is a strategic approach businesses employ to ensure their customers achieve their desired outcomes while using their product or service.
Product Usage Rate
Product Usage Rate, a term frequently used in the field of Customer Success, refers to the frequency and extent to which a customer utilizes a product or service.
Customer Accountability
Customer accountability is the practice of customers taking ownership of their roles and responsibilities in achieving success with your product or service.
B2B Customer Interface
A B2B Customer Interface serves as a collaborative and actionable space, providing a unified home for everything customers need to navigate and enhance their experience with a product across their organization.
Voice of the Customer (VoC)
Voice of the Customer (VoC) refers to the process of capturing, analyzing, and leveraging customer feedback and insights to understand their preferences, needs, and expectations. It helps businesses make data-driven decisions to enhance products, services, and overall customer experience.
Digital Customer Success
Digital Customer Success (DCS) is a technology-enabled approach that helps customers achieve their desired outcomes through automated, scalable, and proactive engagement strategies.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction insights are the valuable information, feedback, and data that a company gathers from its customers to understand their levels of satisfaction with its products or services.
Revenue Expansion
Expansion revenue refers to the additional recurring income generated from existing customers beyond their initial contract or subscription.
Customer Cohort Analysis
A powerful tool employed by B2B SaaS companies to dissect their customer base into smaller, more understandable groups, or "cohorts"
Customer Analytics
The Customer Loyalty Index (CLI) is a crucial metric that provides insights into customer retention, future purchase behavior, and the overall strength of the customer relationship.
Adoption Rate: Your SaaS Business Pulse
Think of the adoption rate as the lifeblood coursing through your product's veins, mirroring the vitality of your SaaS enterprise.
Negative Churn in SaaS
Key performance indicator (KPI) used by SaaS (Software as a Service) companies to measure their growth and profitability
CSQL - Customer Success Qualified Lead
Refers to an existing customer who is recognized as having the potential for expansion or renewal. These are customers who have already experienced success with a product or service and are likely to benefit from additional offerings or continued usage.
Ideal Customer Profile
An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a description of the characteristics, attributes, and qualities of the ideal customer for a product or service.
Customer Effort Score (CES)
Metric used to measure the level of effort a customer has to put forth when interacting with a company or using its products or services.
Customer Loyalty Index
The Customer Loyalty Index (CLI) is a crucial metric that provides insights into customer retention, future purchase behavior, and the overall strength of the customer relationship.
Customer Renewal Rate
Also known as Customer Retention Rate, is a vital metric that measures the percentage of customers who continue to utilize a product or service over a specific period.
Customer Enablement
The process of dividing a company's customer base into distinct groups, or segments, based on shared characteristics or behaviors.
Client Onboarding Portal
A client onboarding portal is a digital platform specifically designed to streamline scale and auto-personalize the process of onboarding new clients.
Customer Experience Portal
lso referred to as a customer hub, acts as the single source of truth throughout the entire customer journey. Embedded within the product, it enables seamless access to tasks, timelines, meetings, readable resources, training materials, data dashboards, and more.
Low-touch Customer Success
Low-touch customer success is a customer experience strategy that aims to minimize interactions between the customer and the customer success team.
Customer Journey Platform
A software solution that helps businesses understand and optimize their customers' experiences across all touchpoints and interactions with the brand like EverAfter customer portal
Customer POC
A customer POC (Proof of Concept) is a process of evaluating a product or service to determine its feasibility, usability, and suitability for a specific customer's needs. It is a crucial step in the sales cycle, allowing customers to test and validate the product before committing to a purchase.
Customer Segmentation
The process of dividing a company's customer base into distinct groups, or segments, based on shared characteristics or behaviors.
Tech Touch Strategy
Scalable and proactive approach that leverages technology and automation to deliver a personalized experience without requiring extensive direct human interaction
One to Many Approach
A one to many approach refers to a method of communication, where a single interaction or message is intended to reach and benefit multiple customers
Customer Growth Rate
Customer growth rate refers to the speed with which you acquire new customers for your product or company.
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Quarterly Business Review (QBR)
A Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a periodic assessment of a company's performance and progress over the previous quarter.
Customer Engagement Model
Client engagement models are essential for B2B SaaS companies to achieve long-term success. By using these models, B2B SaaS companies can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Time to Value
Whenever you sign a customer, they have expectations from your product regarding the value it will generate for them. The time taken for your customers to realize this value is called time to value or TTV.
High Touch Onboarding
In SaaS high-touch onboarding the CSM is highly involved in the process and the main goal of such onboarding is not only to onboard the customer and train them how to use the product, but also to customize it to the customer’s needs.
Customer Lifecycle Journey
Can be defined as the different stages your customers will go through with your product (and company) and what will be the touchpoints that happen within those stages.
Customer Churn Rate
The number of customers that have discontinued using your product/service (aka stopped paying) out of the total customers you have acquired over a certain period of time (monthly/quarterly/annually).
Partner Relationship Management Portal
A partnership relationship management portal supports better collaboration and customer service and can significantly increase sales.
Customer Success Automation
Customer success automation helps businesses lower costs, reduce customer waiting times, eliminate human error, and shift agents’ focus to more complex tasks.
Customer Health Score
A SaaS customer success plan is a work frame or roadmap that the CSM builds together with the customer.
Customer Hub
When technology companies sell software to other companies, a new relationship forms - that of the Customer Success Manager and the Customer. Customer hubs are the new way to communicate.
SaaS Customer Onboarding
Once a SaaS company closes a sale, the next step in the customer journey is to begin with the customer onboarding process.
Onboarding Customer Journey
When businesses fail to create a satisfying onboarding customer journey, they risk losing customers to companies that offer better processes. Doing customer onboarding well brings is highly important for your customers retention.
NPS (Net Promoter Score)
Net promoter scores can vary based on distinct customer segments such as age group, gender, and customer history. NPS analysis helps you determine how to adapt your approach to different types of customers.
Customer Retention Strategy
By retaining customers, your business gains more value from a product or service and improves the chances of customers engaging in word-of-mouth marketing or becoming brand ambassadors.
Customer Success Operations
If CSMs are the pilots driving the car, then customer success operations are the team in charge of making sure the car is in its best form so the pilot (CSM) has the highest chance of succeeding.
RevOps
RevOps, or a revenue operations model, is designed to bring your revenue-generating teams together to drive predictable growth.
Partner Management
Developing solid partnerships can have a tremendous impact on your business. Good ones can scale it to new levels, while subpar ones can cost you valuable time and money.
Customer Success Plan
A SaaS customer success plan is a work frame or roadmap that the CSM builds together with the customer.