How Customer Success Differs from Customer Support
Customer Success (CS) is proactive and outcome-led; Customer Support is reactive and issue-led. Together they protect GRR, grow NRR, and reduce time-to-value—but they are not the same function.
Customer Success drives adoption and business outcomes through success plans, value reviews, and expansion plays. Customer Support resolves incidents and removes friction so users can keep working. CS is measured by retention, expansion, and value realized; Support is measured by speed, quality, and effort to resolve. When clearly defined and integrated, the two functions convert new ARR into durable revenue.
CS vs. Support at a Glance
Operating the Two Functions—Side by Side
Use this sequence to clarify ownership, integrate data, and report one story to the business.
Define → Instrument → Onboard → Adopt → Support → Expand/Renew → Govern
- Define roles & SLAs: RACI for CS vs Support; success-plan ownership; Support tiers & escalation paths.
- Instrument telemetry: Connect product usage, ticketing, billing/ARR moves, and NPS/CSAT to account IDs; align taxonomies.
- Onboard to first value (CS): Playbooks and milestones; measure Time-to-First Value and activation %.
- Drive adoption (CS): Campaigns and in-product nudges mapped to success plans; measure feature activation and depth of use.
- Resolve & prevent (Support): Deflection via knowledge base, FCR improvement, and swarming on P1s; publish known issues.
- Expand & renew (CS): Value reviews tied to KPIs; threshold-based upsell/cross-sell; renewal base coverage 120/90/60/30.
- Govern together: Monthly cohort and dollar-bridge reviews with Finance; VoC themes prioritized on roadmap.
Responsibility & KPI Matrix
| Workstream | Primary Owner | Partner | Primary KPI | From (Ad Hoc) | To (Operationalized) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onboarding & TTV | Customer Success | Support/PS | Time-to-First Value, Activation % | Unstructured kickoff, unclear outcomes | Milestones, exec alignment, first-value SLA |
| Adoption & Health | Customer Success | Product/Support | Adoption %, Health Score, Sponsor Touches | Subjective health | Weighted signals validated vs churn/expansion |
| Incident Resolution | Customer Support | Engineering/CS | FCR, Time-to-Resolve, CSAT | Queue-only responses | Tiering, swarming, deflection & status comms |
| Renewal & Saves | Customer Success | Sales/Support | GRR, Save Rate, Renewal Coverage % | Last-minute outreach | 120/90/60/30 cadence with playbooks |
| Knowledge & Prevention | Customer Support | CS/Product | Deflection %, Repeat Ticket Rate | Ad hoc articles | Searchable KB + in-product guidance |
| Executive Value Reviews | Customer Success | Account Team | Expansion $, NRR | Feature updates | ROI outcomes & next-value plan |
Snapshot: How Operational Clarity Drives Outcomes
Clear roles and measurable playbooks turn adoption and support excellence into growth. See operational rigor in action: Transforming Lead Management: How Comcast Business Optimized Marketing Automation and Drove $1B in Revenue
Stand up a unified CS/CX dashboard, align teams with the Key Principles of Revenue Marketing, and equip your motions with the Revenue Marketing Kit.
Frequently Asked Questions: CS vs. Support
Unify Customer Success and Support Around Outcomes
Build a board-ready dashboard, clarify roles, and connect telemetry to GRR/NRR and cost-to-serve.
Build Your CS/CX Dashboard Get the Revenue Marketing Assessment (RM6)