Survey Insights
The Power of Customer Success in Reducing Churn
Top Three Obstacles to Fighting Churn
Justifying the Value of Customer Success in 2026
2026 Customer Success Churn Playbook
How CS Leaders Justify Their Budget in 2026
Overview
Challenges
This report identifies three key challenges organizations face in reducing customer churn through customer success efforts. First, many companies lack consistent CSM coverage across their customer base, despite clear evidence that accounts with a CSM have significantly lower churn rates. Second, the absence of a formalized feedback loop between CSMs and other internal teams—such as sales and onboarding—leads to missed opportunities for improving the customer experience and early-stage adoption. Third, organizations often struggle to quantify the impact of CSMs on retention, making it difficult to justify broader investments in customer success programs without comparative churn data.
Summary
The survey insights reveal the crucial impact of customer success managers (CSMs) on reducing customer churn rates. A direct comparison indicates that organizations with assigned CSMs experience significantly lower churn rates than those without. This emphasizes the need for a structured customer success approach, particularly in fostering formal feedback loops to enhance onboarding processes and overall customer satisfaction.
Included in the full report
Impact of CSMs:
Accounts with a CSM have a churn rate less than half that of accounts without one, highlighting their importance in maintaining customer relationships.
Role of Onboarding:
Successful onboarding is critical for customer adoption, making CSM involvement during this phase essential for contract renewals.
Feedback Loops Matter:
Organizations with a formalized feedback loop between CSMs and other teams see lower churn rates compared to those without such processes.
Customer Success Justification:
Survey data provides a compelling argument for organizations to recognize and fully utilize customer success functions across their clientele.
Data-Driven Decisions:
Measuring comparative churn rates can guide tech companies in understanding the value of dedicated customer success initiatives.
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