The Ultimate Guide to Customer Success Playbooks for Teams

Consistency is king in customer success. Without standardized playbooks, your customer experience can vary wildly depending on which CSM is assigned to an account. This lack of uniformity makes it impossible to measure what's working and what isn't. Playbooks provide a scalable framework for success.

A great playbook outlines the specific steps a team member should take in response to certain triggers—whether it's an upcoming renewal, a sudden drop in usage, or a new feature request. We recommend starting with three essential playbooks: Onboarding, Churn Intervention, and Expansion Discovery. Onboarding playbooks ensure a smooth transition from sales, while Churn Intervention playbooks trigger automatic outreach when analytics ranks decline.

By documenting these processes in Lighthouse, you ensure that every customer receives the best possible experience, and your team can handle a larger volume of accounts with higher quality. Automated playbooks also reduce the administrative burden on your CSMs, allowing them to focus on building deeper relationships with their customers rather than manual data entry and follow-ups.