Here's the uncomfortable truth: your CEO doesn't “get” customer success.

And honestly? It's not entirely their fault. Customer Success Managers (CSMs) need better ways of making their impact known. Yes, customer success has been around for 15+ years, but many CSMs still struggle to translate their work into the cold, hard metrics that make executives sit up and pay attention.

Teams of CSMs know retention matters. CS leaders know retention matters, but when they’re sitting in that boardroom trying to justify budget, "happy customers" doesn't cut it anymore.

Why boardroom impact is non-negotiable

The game's changing fast. Revenue responsibility is landing squarely on CS teams' shoulders. Which is great – except it's tough to draw that straight line from your customer health scores to actual dollars.

Here's what's happening: leadership sees you as part of the operational machine. Important? Sure. But they're missing how you directly drive sustained profitability and scale.

You need to speak the language of the C-suite. 

That means metrics that make sense to people who live and breathe revenue numbers. “The love language of the company is revenue,” according to Rav Dhaliwal, Investor, Venture & Limited Partner at Crane Venture Partners. “Whether we like it or not, this is how boards and executives think. You have to speak their language.”

And Jasmine Reynolds, Senior Enterprise Customer Success Manager at Pluralsight, reckons that “by 2026, 75% of high-growth SaaS companies will merge their CS and sales functions into unified revenue pods.” Led by customer success.

Key customer success metrics for CEOs and board members

Your CEO cares about one thing: numbers that directly impact the company's financial health and long-term survival. These are the metrics that matter:

Gross revenue retention (GRR)

This is your foundation metric. It shows the percentage of recurring revenue you're keeping from existing customers over a specific period – no upsells included. Just pure retention power.

Net revenue retention (NRR) and net dollar retention (NDR)

Here's where it gets exciting. NRR captures the total revenue from existing customers, including upsells, cross-sells, and renewals, minus any churn or downgrades. Revenue-generating CS teams? They can hit NRR rates up to two-times higher than traditional models.

Upsell and expansion revenue 

Looking for a direct contribution to growth? Setting your sights on upsell and expansion revenue is your best bet here. Not only are you identifying new opportunities, you’re monetizing the value you've already created.

As Jasmine Reynolds, Senior Enterprise Customer Success Manager at Pluralsight, puts it:

“When CS leads expansions, win rates soar and discounts drop. And it's because we are already building that value through their lifecycle and through their experience... Why am I discounting what you already see in value?”

Customer health scores and value realization

Financial metrics are king, but customer health scores are your crystal ball for future retention and expansion. The most important question: Are customers actually seeing value from your solution?

Value looks different for every customer, but you can quantify it through "verified outcomes" programs. 

Even when outcomes aren't perfectly met, they stay two times longer because they see you as a true partner.

The key? Collect these outcomes during the sales cycle, baseline them, then measure and celebrate post-implementation.

Adoption and engagement metrics

These feed into overall customer health and signal product usage. But here's the reality check – focusing only on these creates "watermelons": green on the outside, red on the inside. NPS correlation with retention is surprisingly weaker than you'd think.

Strategies for demonstrating ROI and business impact

Translating CS activities into meaningful executive-level insights requires a multi-faceted approach:

1. Understand your internal stakeholders' definition of ROI

Here's the thing: “return” means different things to different people. Your leadership cares about money (headcount vs. dollars). But your customers? They want better experiences, efficiency, and solutions to real business problems.

Stop using one-size-fits-all reporting. Tailor your metrics and stories to what each audience actually cares about – from functional heads to board members.

2. Cultivate commercial knowledge within customer success teams

CSMs need to start doing two things:

  • Articulate product value in financial terms
  • Understand how customers manage budgets and measure success

This means understanding customer budget cycles and procurement processes. When your CSMs can speak CFO language, everything changes. 

No one’s disputing that a "15% increase in adoption is good. But for getting your C-suite, or board’s attention, it ain’t gonna cut it. Go the next step further and highlight the value e.g. “this saves our customers $700K annually" or "this generates $2M in new revenue."

That’s what turns heads.

“CS professionals and sales professionals do the same thing – influence, persuade, and negotiate,” says Rav Dhaliwal. "Sales teams get trained for it. So make the case to your line manager for the same training! Sit in. Learn how your company actually sells.”

3. Build strategic, multi-threaded relationships

One champion isn’t enough. To drive real impact (and protect against churn), you’ve got to build strong ties across the customer’s org… especially with folks who hold the coveted purse strings!

Here’s how to make it happen:

  • Don’t stop at your day-to-day contact: Connect with decision-makers “above the line” – think your CIOs, CTOs, CFOs. These are the people shaping strategy and approving budgets.
  • Map the org: Get a clear picture of who’s who inside the account. This'll help identify influencers, blockers, and champions at every level.
  • Use your network: Struggling to get a direct intro? Try tapping into your mutual LinkedIn connections, community relationships, or internal advocates as an alternative way to open new doors.

The key is to leverage what's already working, but crank things up a notch and do them systematically.

You've got satisfied customers? Great. Now tell me: what are you doing with that satisfaction? Every testimonial, case study, and customer introduction should be tracked and tied to pipeline influence. This isn't just nice-to-have marketing content; this stuff is the golden proof that CS directly impacts sales velocity and win rates.

Make onboarding a competitive advantage

Most companies think onboarding is about product training. Wrong!

It's about getting customers to their "first moment of value" as fast as possible. Measure time to first value. Optimize for it.

Multi-threaded relationships give you more context, more support, and more resilience when things shift. And when the whole room knows your value, deals move faster.

4. Monetize customer success

Do you know what’s truly wild? You're delivering implementation services, advanced training, and premium support without charging a single dime. Meanwhile, consultants are billing $300/hour for the same expertise. 

It’s time to stop treating customer success like a freebie. As Swati Chopra, ex-Chief Information and Technology Officer at Partners&., puts it:

“When CS is treated as a ‘freebie,’ corners may be cut, potentially leaving your CSMs stretched thin over multiple clients, which can affect the quality of service provided.”

This might work for small customers, but it falls apart fast with enterprise clients who expect “white-glove” treatment. And guess what? Many of them are willing to pay for premium, personalized service… as long as they get real value in return.

Start monetizing specialized CS services. Offer tiered premium packages. This isn't just about revenue (though that's nice) – it's about getting leadership to see CS as a business driver, not a cost center.

Co-design these offerings with willing customers first. Pilot them. Then watch your ACV climb.

Because ultimately, monetizing CS isn’t just about adding a new revenue stream. That’s only a part of it; it’s really about shifting the perception of CS entirely.

Let’s say it again for the people in the cheap seats: 

Your CS team is either a revenue driver or it's overhead. And in 2025, there's no middle ground.

Ready to turn customer success into a growth engine – and your career into a rocket ship?

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