How to create a Customer Success Strategy for your business

I recently got to work on a exciting project, creating a strategy for a client for a Customer Success Management role that was yet to be developed.

This led me to create this blog article as a general guideline for organization on how to go about creating a CSM strategy.

My approach was to create a document, intended to provide a strategic vision for how I would shape a newly created Customer Success Manager (CSM) role. Based on the insights available to me, to outlines potential initiatives, frameworks, and scalable strategies that could guide a successful implementation of the role. The content is meant to serve as inspiration and a starting point for building a high-impact Customer Success function aligned goals for growth, retention, and client engagement.

The client was using Hubspot as their choice of CRM software which matters on how to execute.

I structured it as follows:

1. Summary

   It’s a strategic approach for establishing and scaling the Customer Success function. The goal is to improve client satisfaction, reduce churn, and unlock new revenue through targeted upselling and engagement strategies.

2. Core Objectives

• Improve customer retention and satisfaction

• Drive revenue growth through upselling and cross-selling

• Develop scalable processes for client onboarding, education, and support

• Create data-driven feedback loops to support product development

3. Client Health Scorecards

Hubspot is giving us a great KB to learn how to use and leverage Health Scorecards:
Customize a health score in the customer success workspace

Key metrics I recommend to focus on:

4. Client Engagement and Upselling Strategy

   Coral Creative Tech offers great inside on how to use Hubspot for retention and upselling:
   CoralTechTeam - How to use Hubspot for customer retention and upselling

   I recommended the following strategies:

• Monthly Newsletter with Case Studies and Feature Highlights

  Many clients are unaware of existing features or how we can tailor the solution to their needs. A monthly newsletter featuring usage tips, new modules, and real client case studies can showcase potential and spark meaningful dialogue. 2. Strategic QBRs (Quarterly Business Reviews) Regular business reviews help uncover gaps, address pain points, and position our solutions effectively. These sessions create a structured space to identify upsell opportunities and reinforce client value.

• Strategic QBRs (Quarterly Business Reviews)

  Regular business reviews help uncover gaps, address pain points, and position our solutions effectively. These sessions create a structured space to identify upsell opportunities and reinforce client value.

• Trigger-Based Recommendations via Adoption Milestones

  By tracking software usage, we can set automated triggers for recommending relevant modules at key moments—such as after onboarding or when usage patterns indicate readiness for more.

• Collaboration with the Support Team.

  The support team is often the first to hear about client challenges, feature requests, or inefficiencies. Partnering with support can help surface potential upsell opportunities and areas needing deeper engagement or training.

• Events and Peer-Led Support Groups

  I've previously led initiatives like these at Jonas. Hosting client events, module-focused conferences, or user support groups helps clients discover underused features and inspires new use cases. One key benefit here is client advocacy: clients who are already power users become evangelists. When hesitant clients hear success stories from their peers, they’re far more likely to invest in new modules or expand their usage.

5. Client Enablement

Hubspot and Workramp give great insight into Cleint Enablement and why it matters:

Hubspot: Customer Enablement: What It Is & How to Implement It

WorkRamp Customer Enablement: What it is & Why it Matters for Businesses in 2024

To enable clients the following strategies are recommended:

• Implement a Structured Onboarding Program

  Launch a comprehensive onboarding journey that includes guided walkthroughs, tutorial videos, and most importantly robust documentation in the form of a searchable knowledge base. The long-term vision includes developing a chatbot assistant powered by this documentation. This AI-driven assistant would be able to answer usability questions, guide users through the platform, and even recommend additional modules based on usage behavior. Creating organic upsell opportunities.

• Foster Peer Learning Communities

  Establish peer learning groups for clients within similar industries. These communities encourage collaboration, share best practices, and reinforce product value closely tying into both the engagement and upsell strategies.

• Host Regular Webinars and Live Q&A Sessions.

  Run educational events that highlight lesser-known features and modules. These sessions not only increase product awareness but also create an open forum for feedback, helping uncover client pain points that present potential opportunities.

• Create a Knowledge Base & Client Idea Forum

  Maintain an evolving knowledge base alongside a communitydriven idea forum. This empowers clients to both learn and contribute by suggesting product improvements or sharing insights, fostering long-term engagement and product loyalty.

6. KPI’s & Success Metric

Also here we can get great content from Hubspot:
The 15 Customer Success Metrics That Actually Matter

The big benefit here is that Hubspot as our CRM gives us opportunities to integrate as well as free tools to use. These Metrics are setting us up for success:

7. 30-60-90 Plan

So what does the role look like in the first 3 month. What milestones should we focus on and where should we begin to set us up for Customer Success:

The foundation will be shaped based on your internal process and the product itself. After this we look at the next 30 days:

Enable and Engagement are key for upselling strategies and a close relationship with the Client and the product.

Scaling and optimization become far more precise when backed by the data collected in the previous phases. This stage is a crucial stepping stone toward a successful rollout and long-term impact of the CRM strategy.

With clear goals, structured engagement, and actionable insights, this strategy lays the groundwork for a sustainable, client-focused CRM function. By combining data-driven decisions with a human-centric approach, you are poised to strengthen client relationships, unlock new revenue opportunities, and elevate the customer experience. The groundwork is in place. now it’s time to scale with intention.

ST