Customer Success Has Officially Reached Critical Mass: The CS Index Report From Gainsight Shows 95% of Companies Have a Dedicated Customer Success Function

Churn reduction and product adoption were top priorities indicated by 83% and 81% of respondents, respectively.

Gainsight, in partnership with benchmarking research firm RevOps Squared, has completed a study on the strategies and benefits of Customer Success programs within high-growth companies. The resulting report yields several insights on the contribution of Customer Success, most notably that companies that reported the highest Net Revenue Retention Rates (NRR) also reported investing 10% of revenue in their Customer Success Management (CSM) and Customer Success Operations (CSOps) teams.

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Gainsight embarked on the study with the goal of understanding the current state of Customer Success programs, including what executives are focusing on in 2022, the challenges they face, and how they are scaling their Customer Success operations. Over 350 companies across a wide range of size, industry segments and geographies participated in the research, from which multiple significant trends emerged:

Customer Success is well-defined or present in 95% of companies

• Whether they are newly formed or well-established operations, B2B companies of all sizes are prioritizing customer success.

Strategic, data-driven investments make a huge difference to the bottom line

• Companies that reported the highest NRR also reported investing 10% of revenue in their CS and CSOps teams.

Customer Success responsibilities tie directly to business value

• Churn reduction and product adoption were top priorities indicated by 83% and 81% of respondents, respectively.

Customer Success Operations is evolving quickly, with 61% of companies reporting a dedicated organization

• While 41% of companies reported their Customer Success Operations (CSOps) function as newly formed, 20% indicated they had a well-established CSOps team.

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Net Revenue Retention Rate is the top customer retention metric

• Importantly, 63% of companies said that their Customer Success organization is responsible for NRR performance.

Net Promoter Score® is used by 80% of companies to track customer satisfaction

• However, only 37% of companies measure NPS® for executive buyers or platform administrators

Customer Success owns renewal responsibility 45% of the time

• The responsibility is also split with Account Management 31% of the time and Sales 24% of the time

“This data mirrors what we’re hearing from our customers, which is that product experience and customer success connect directly to revenue,” said Kellie Capote, Chief Customer Officer at Gainsight. “This report highlights the quick wins and growth opportunities available to digital-focused companies over the next year. Armed with this information, every organization can invest in the people, solutions and strategies to create a company-wide customer success culture that drives revenue and ensures success for all.”