In the dynamic world of Customer Success Management (CSM) and Software As A Service (SaaS), Customer Success Pros often find themselves navigating a sea of specialized jargon and acronyms. From churn rates to NPS, the language of customer success can be complex, yet crucial for ensuring a positive customer experience. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the A-Z of Customer Success Manager (CSM) jargon, demystifying the terms and shedding light on the key concepts that drive success in this field.
CSMs have a unique language of their own. If you’re new to the customer success world or just want to brush up on your jargon, here’s a handy A-Z of the most common terms you’ll hear:
Account Executive (AE): A sales representative responsible for developing and managing relationships with key customers.
Account Manager (AM): A customer-facing role responsible for managing the day-to-day relationship with a customer, including onboarding, support, and renewals.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR): The total revenue a company expects to generate from recurring subscriptions over the next year.
Churn: The rate at which customers cancel their subscriptions or stop using a product or service.
Customer Effort Score (CES): A metric that measures how easy it is for customers to get help from a company.
Customer Health Score: A metric that measures the overall health of a customer account, based on factors such as usage, engagement, and satisfaction.
Customer Journey: The complete experience a customer goes through from first discovering a brand to post-purchase interactions.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue a company expects to generate from a single customer over the entire course of their relationship.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): A metric that measures how satisfied customers are with a particular interaction or overall experience with a product or company.
Customer Success Manager (CSM): A customer-facing role responsible for helping customers achieve their desired outcomes with a product or service.
Cross-sell: The practice of selling an additional product or service to an existing customer.
Down-sell: The practice of offering a less expensive product or service to a customer who is at risk of churning.
Executive Business Review (EBR): A meeting between a CSM and a customer’s executive team to review their progress and discuss their future plans.
Freemium: A pricing model where users can access a basic version of a product or service for free, and pay for premium features or functionality.
High-touch: A customer success approach that involves close collaboration with customers to help them achieve their desired outcomes.
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): A description of the type of customer that is most likely to benefit from a product or service.
Lifecycle Stages: The different stages that customers go through in their relationship with a company, such as onboarding, adoption, renewal, and advocacy.
Low-touch: A customer success approach that relies on automated tools and resources to provide support and guidance to customers.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): The total revenue a company expects to generate from recurring subscriptions in a given month.
Net Promoter Score (NPS): A metric that measures customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Onboarding: The process of helping new customers get started with a product or service.
Product Adoption: The process of customers using and realizing the value of a product or service.
Product Stickiness: A measure of how likely customers are to continue using a product or service.
Proactive Outreach: Reaching out to customers before they have a problem to offer support and guidance.
Quarterly Business Review (QBR): A meeting between a CSM and a customer to review their progress over the past quarter and discuss their plans for the next quarter.
Renewal: The process of convincing a customer to continue using a product or service after their subscription expires.
Segmentation: The process of dividing customers into groups based on shared characteristics, such as industry, company size, or usage patterns.
Upsell: The practice of selling a more expensive product or service to an existing customer.
Value Proposition: A statement that clearly articulates the benefits that a product or service offers to customers.
Win/Loss: A term used to describe the outcome of a sales opportunity.
Year over Year (YoY): A measure of growth or change from one year to the next.
In conclusion, mastering the A-Z of Customer Success Manager jargon is vital for Customer Success Pros in this field. By understanding and effectively using these terms, Customer Success Managers can create meaningful strategies, drive customer satisfaction, and contribute to the overall success of their organizations. So, whether you’re a seasoned CSM Pro or just entering the field, embracing this language is a key step towards mastering the art and science of customer success.
I hope this glossary has helped you to better understand the language of customer success. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
2 thoughts to “The A-Z of Customer Success Manager Jargon: A Comprehensive Guide to Key Terminology in Customer Success”
Anika, thank you for sharing your knowledge with the CS world.
I believe that as Customer Success continues to evolve, now being one of the biggest contributors to revenue generation, there are a few more words that come to mind:
Advocacy: Customers who actively promote and recommend a product or service become vocal supporters of the brand.
Champion: An individual within a customer organization who actively supports, promotes, and advocates for the use of a particular product or service. Champions play a crucial role in driving customer success.
CSAT: A metric used in Customer Success to measure the level of satisfaction customers have with a product or service. It is often measured through surveys.
Feedback Loop: A continuous process of gathering customer feedback and using it to make improvements to products or services. It helps enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Time to Value (TTV): The duration it takes for a customer to realize the benefits and value of a product or service after the initial implementation. Minimizing TTV is essential for a positive customer experience.
Touchpoints: Interactions and points of contact between a customer and a product or service throughout the customer journey. They include moments of engagement, communication, and support.
Thank you for your additions! Will totally add to the list!