9 retention tips for new Customer Success Managers

If you're a new Customer Success Manager (CSM), mastering customer retention is priority number one. But figuring out where to start – metrics, onboarding, adoption, or outcomes – can feel overwhelming.

In this guide, we’ll walk through practical, proven retention tips shared by top CS leaders, decode key metrics like net revenue retention (NRR) and churn, and explore onboarding strategies that actually stick.

Whether you're managing your first accounts or building your playbook from scratch, this guide is your starting point.

Customer retention terms every new CSM should know

• Customer retention rate = ([E-N]/S) × 100
• Net revenue retention (NRR) = Measures growth from existing customers
• Gross retention = Revenue retained, excluding upsells
• Good NRR benchmark: 100–130% (SaaS)
• Tools to track: Gainsight, ChurnZero, Totango

What’s considered a good customer retention rate?

The short answer is: it depends on your business model, but aiming for steady growth is the name of the game.

Two of the most talked-about metrics in customer success are gross retention rate (GRR) and net revenue retention (NRR). If you’re just getting started, here’s the gist:

• GRR looks at how much recurring revenue you’ve held onto, excluding upsells.
• NRR includes expansion revenue, so it shows if you’re actually growing your book of business.

There’s no universal “perfect number,” but many CSM leaders use 90%+ GRR and 100–130%+ NRR as healthy benchmarks, especially in SaaS.

Joe DeGrande, former VP, Customer Success at Business Insider, shared how his CS team drove a 25% NRR increase in a $10M ARR book – that’s some serious impact. Joe also noted that during his tenure, his team converted 10% of accounts into multi-year deals, which changed Business Insider's entire growth trajectory.

Moral of the story? Don’t stress over hitting someone else’s number. Track your baseline, benchmark over time, and focus on growing value with the customers you already have.

What’s the difference between churn and retention?

Think of churn and retention like opposite ends of the same spectrum.

• Churn is when a customer leaves (cancels, stops using, ghosts your emails... you get the idea).
• Retention is when they stay, renew, and ideally expand their relationship with you.

The big takeaway here? Churn isn’t just a number – it’s a signal. Something didn’t go right. Maybe the customer didn’t get the outcome they expected, or adoption was too low. Whereas retention means you did something right – you created enough value for them to stick around.

If you're new to the CSM role, you'll quickly realize you need to track both. Reducing churn directly increases retention, so start by understanding where churn is coming from, then get ahead of it.

How do onboarding and adoption affect retention?

If retention is your end goal, onboarding is the runway that gets you there. Here are a few ways new CSMs can think about it:

Start slow to go fast

A solid onboarding experience – even if it's more hands-on or slower at first – pays off. It helps customers truly understand the value they’re getting and sets the stage for success.

Make them work for it (in a good way)

Ever noticed how you value things more when you’ve put effort into them? That’s called effort justification. When onboarding includes training, “homework,” or certifications (like HubSpot’s Academy), customers tend to stick around longer.

Think "phased learning"

Don’t firehose your customers with info. Let them learn in chunks. Companies like Appen swapped 12-hour onboarding sessions for a structured learning platform — and saw better results with less support overhead.

Create a safe space to fail

At the Onboarding and Retention Summit, Doug Norton, Senior Director, Head of Post-Sales & Customer Success at BILL, revealed that the team at BILL celebrated customer “failures” as learning moments to boost team confidence and long-term engagement.

Be the guide, not the maze

Your customer doesn’t want 50 options. They want your expert recommendation. Help them focus on what works – the “one or two things” that drive activation – and keep it simple.

Keep the momentum

Onboarding isn’t the end; rather, it’s just the beginning. Success plans, regular check-ins, and surprise-and-delight moments keep engagement strong long after Day 30.

Why retention starts with customer psychology

Behind every churned account is a breakdown in expectations, experience, or engagement. Great CSMs understand:

• The emotional triggers of loyalty (trust, progress, recognition)
• The impact of early wins during onboarding
• How consistent communication builds retention habits

Retention isn’t just about tools – it’s about trust.

9 ways new CSMs can drive retention

1. Analyze historical churn patterns

Dig deep into why customers left. Interview customers, look at the data, and really understand what happened. Did they not achieve their desired outcomes? How could that have been changed? Did the product not do everything they thought it would? Did the product not evolve in the direction they needed it to? Keep digging until you get to the real answers.

Key questions to explore:

• Did customers achieve their desired outcomes?
• Were product expectations aligned with reality?
• Did the product evolve to meet their changing needs?
• What went wrong with onboarding or training?

2. Turn those insights into action

Take those reasons and information, and share it with marketing, sales, and product. Create mutual improvement plans together. Don't let this analysis sit in a drawer – make it work for you.

Use that information in three ways:

• Look at your current customer base: Based on what you learned, do you have any folks that are currently at risk?
• Apply it to future customers: What needs to change in onboarding? Training? Adoption? Adapt accordingly.
• Fix the root problems: Work with product and other teams to address the underlying issues that caused the churn in the first place.

3. Focus on customer outcomes

Paul Henderson, Director at Outcome Leaders, gets straight to the point: "B2B companies buy technology to achieve a business outcome. They want to achieve higher performance. To maximize retention, vendors need to ensure customers achieve that higher performance."

Paul's approach is simple but powerful:

Develop an engagement program that delivers higher performance.

This will take time, but it's the best way to succeed over time. Don't just sell the product – make sure it actually works for them.

4. Drive adoption and usage

According to Paul, adoption remains critical. Make sure the customer uses the full number of subscriptions or seats they're paying for. If not, take action to fix the issue. Immediately... don't sit there and wait for renewal.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

• Monitor seat utilization: Are they using what they're paying for?
• Identify your retention features: Figure out which features in your product correlate with renewal. If customers use those features, they're more likely to renew.
• Get them using those features: Once you know what drives retention, make sure every customer is using those critical capabilities.
• Act fast: Don't wait until renewal time to address adoption issues. Fix problems as soon as you spot them.

5. Create a consistent customer experience

One of the most underrated drivers of retention? Consistency.

When your customer knows exactly what to expect from your team – how often you’ll check in, what a QBR looks like, how you respond to feedback – it builds trust. And trust builds loyalty.

Think of every interaction as a promise kept. The more consistent those experiences are, the more dependable you become in the eyes of your customer.

6. Build feedback loops that actually work

You can’t fix what you don’t understand. That’s why feedback loops are essential.

Set up regular, structured ways to hear from your customers – not just once a year in a survey, but throughout the journey. Ask what’s working. Ask what’s not. And most importantly: act on it.

Retention doesn’t come from guessing. It comes from listening and learning in real-time.

7. Take time to truly understand your customer

Brittany Yandura, Director, Customer Success at AuditMiner, says it best:

“It’s imperative a CSM fully understands their customers’ pain points and goals. Who are they? Why are they using your product? What does success look like to them?”

Mutual success plans can be a great tool here – they help both sides stay aligned on priorities and progress. When you understand the “why” behind your customer’s behavior, you’re better positioned to guide them toward long-term value.

8. Ask the hard questions

Sometimes the conversations that feel a little uncomfortable are the ones that matter most.

If you’re wondering whether a customer is planning to renew, don’t tiptoe around it – ask. If something feels off during onboarding, speak up. Honest conversations build stronger partnerships and uncover issues early, before they become deal-breakers.

9. Be a sponge

The best CSMs are lifelong learners.

Watch how your teammates run calls. Listen to podcasts. Read what other CS leaders are sharing. Join webinars, communities, or Slack groups. Every insight you absorb helps you build confidence, and confidence leads to better outcomes for you and your customers.

Advanced Customer Retention Certification

For customer success professionals seeking to deepen their retention expertise, specialized certification programs provide structured learning paths and industry recognition. 

Customer Retention Certified: Masters offers comprehensive training covering retention theory, metrics selection, and implementation frameworks developed by industry leaders.

The certification program includes five detailed modules covering essential customer success metrics, over 40 examination questions to reinforce learning, three hours of expert content including bonus materials, and official certification to enhance career prospects and professional credibility.

Investment in formal retention education demonstrates commitment to professional excellence and provides practical tools for immediate implementation in customer success roles.