Customer Success Management Handbook

The Customer Success Management team at GitLab is a part of the Customer Success department, acting as trusted advisors to our customers and helping them realize value faster.

Mission Statement

Accelerate customer success by aligning passionate CSMs with customers to:

  • Drive adoption aligned with business outcomes
  • Enable customers in current and future GitLab use cases
  • Expand ROI from GitLab

What is a Customer Success Manager (CSM) at GitLab?

CSMs are accountable for customer adoption, measurable outcomes, customer satisfaction, and creating true customer advocacy. We create successful customers by enabling, training, and nurturing them throughout their journey. The following areas incorporate the remit of a CSM:

  • Customer Adoption - Ensure the customer is working towards or adopting their desired use cases to maturity. Ensure the successful onboarding of all intended users. Identify areas of adoption risk and establish mitigating plays and programs.
  • Delivering Positive Business Outcomes - Ensure customers are meeting and exceeding their desired business outcomes so that customers can quantify and support their investment.
  • Trusted Advisor - Establish “trusted advisor” relationships with the management and technical teams on the customer side while working seamlessly with our account team to deliver a best-in-class customer experience.
  • Account Expansion - Lead adoption expansion beyond the customer’s desired use cases and further customer return on investment (ROI). Partner with Sales to identify expansion opportunities and ensure we realize the expansion potential of a customer account.
  • Leading Business Reviews - Review and celebrate progress towards, or achievement of, the customer’s desired business outcomes. Address challenges with a plan for mitigation, align on upcoming and future customer business objectives.

High-Level Responsibilities of a CSM

Responsibility Context How We Measure DCI Roles
Success Plans Mutually agreed (Customer | GitLab) adoption plans that outline desired outcomes (e.g., improve cycle time), technical milestones required (e.g., migrate to GitLab, overcome constraints), timelines and DRIs.

These plans enable us to be proactive and ensure progress towards the customer's goals. As trusted advisors, we understand what drives value for our customers and help them achieve it.
Every customer must have an active success plan DRI: CSM

Consulted: AE, SA, Customer

Informed: Leadership
Onboarding There are several onboarding steps in both the new and existing customer onboarding playbooks. The CSM's role is to ensure all of these topics and enablements have been covered and documented. All customers are to be taken through the appropriate playbook (New, Existing Customer) DRI: CSM

Consulted: AE, SA, Customer

Informed: Leadership
Cadence Calls The cadence call is a proactive call. For this call to be proactive, the CSM's responsibility includes those listed in the linked cadence call page Call frequency:
  • Customer is engaged weekly or biweekly, monthly at a very minimum


A CSM/CSE can expect to conduct a minimum number of calls as follows:
  • CSMs: 5-7 calls per week
  • CSEs: 15 calls per week
DRI: CSM

Consulted: AE, Customer

Informed: SA, Leadership
Adoption & Expansion
  • Driving platform adoption (use cases and licenses) in line with a customer's desired business outcomes is at the heart of the CSM role
  • Understand what the customer is currently adopting and partner with the customer on enabling this use case/feature
  • When an enablement or expansion playbook is open, the CSM actively drives the associated motion in the customer account
At any given time, a CSM will be actively driving expansion with half of their book (3-4 customers) DRI: CSM

Consulted: AE, Customer

Informed: SA, Leadership
Executive Business Reviews
  • We hold the business review at month 6, giving enough time passed to celebrate milestones achieved and enough time remaining to get adoption back on track where needed.
  • The CSM is the DRI for scheduling, preparing for, presenting, and following up on the EBR, and partners with both the account team and the customer in the creation of the presentation.
1 EBR per customer per year at a minimum DRI: CSM

Consulted: AE, Customer

Informed: SA, Leadership
Renewal
  • It is the job of the CSM to ask the 'soft' renewal question 3-4 months before the renewal
  • This conversation and the outcome of this conversation are tracked in Gainsight using the 'renewal call' meeting type (within the timeline entry)
Every customer regardless of segment or region DRI: CSM, AE, Renewals team

Consulted: Customer

Informed: Leadership
Managing Risk
  • A CSM actively manages risk in a customer account, quickly turning a customer to red when there is any potential risk of contraction or churn (even if this is unconfirmed)
  • The CSM is responsible for frequent communication to the account team about risk in their accounts and triggering/leading the escalation process where needed
Risk is actively managed for all customers DRI: CSM

Consulted: AE, Leadership

Informed: Renewals team

Please reference this page for an overview of the CSM Rhythm of Business (daily to yearly) Please reference this page for an overview of the areas your CSM will engage with you in: CSM Points of Engagement

Customer Journey

GitLab Customer Journey Map

Journey Stage Activities
Pre-Sales & Alignment
Onboard
Enable
Expand
Optimize & Renew

FY25 Vision & Strategy -3 Pillars

Big Rock (Annual Strategy) Archive

Handbook Directory

CSM Team Metrics Overview (VIDEO)

Changelog

CSM Learning & Development

CSM Activities

Driving Platform Adoption

Landing Zones

Customer Metrics

Platform Metrics

Other Lifecycle Management Activities

Digital Customer Programs:

CSM Managers


CSM Tools

The following articulates where collaboration and customer management is owned:

  1. Customer Collaboration Projects: Shared project between GitLab team members and customer. Used to prioritize/plan work with customer.
  2. Google Drive: Internal. Used to capture call notes and other customer related documents.
  3. Chorus: Internal. Used to record Zoom calls.
    1. Using Calendly with Chorus: Instructions on Calendly set up with Chorus.
  4. Gainsight: Internal. Used to track customer health score, logging customer activity (i.e. calls, emails, meetings)
  5. Issue Prioritization Dashboard: Internal. Used to track customer requested issues.

Education and Enablement

In Customer Success Management, it is important to be continuously learning more about our product and related industry topics. The education and enablement handbook page provides a dashboard of aggregated resources that we encourage you to use to get up to speed.

SFDC useful reports

Tracking opportunities for your assigned Strategic Account Executive (SAEs)

To ensure that opportunities are listed with the correct Order Type, this Salesforce report shows you all of the opportunities that have closed, or are soon to close, with your SAEs. Tracking Order Type is important since CSM team quota and compensation depend on this. Please reference the latest Sales Compensation Plan information to know what is counted.

Next steps for you:

  1. Customize this SFDC report where “Account Owner = your SAEs”; “CSM = You”
  2. Save report
  3. Subscribe to report when “Record Count Greater Than 0” and Frequency = Weekly (You’ll get a weekly email as a reminder to look at the report)
  4. If you find an opp that is tagged incorrectly, chatter (@Sales-Support) in the opportunity and let them know there is a mistake (example)

usage ping got rem
Account Engagement
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Managing the Customer Engagement Customer Success Managers will typically manage customer engagements via a GitLab project in the account-management group. This project will be based off the Enterprise or the Commercial Customer Success Plan Template and customized to match the customer’s needs as outlined above. The project is pre-loaded with milestones, issues, labels, and a README template to help kick off the project and outline a proof of concept, implementation, and customer onboarding.
Account Handoff CSM-to-CSM Checklist
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. CSMs will need to occasionally transfer accounts they have been working with to another CSM (e.g. a CSM changes territories, a realignment occurs in Sales, a need to equalize books of business, etc.), and they should use this handbook page to help guide them through important questions and topics during the handoff. Below are checkpoints during the account handoff process that CSMs can use to keep track of information they will need in order to successfully transition accounts.
Adoption Landing Zones
Aleesha Dawson's README
This page is Aleesha Dawson's readme and is intended to be helpful when interacting with her.
Cadence Calls
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Overview One of the primary tools CSMs have to become a trusted advisor and assess and improve account health is the customer cadence call. This is an opportunity for the CSM and the customer team to sync on business outcomes, priorities, progress on initiatives, and concerns, and it is a great opportunity to bring in other GitLab team members that the CSM feels should be included (for example, Product to review feature requests and the roadmap).
Christiaan Conover's README
This page is Christiaan Conover's readme and is intended to be helpful when interacting with him.
CSM and Support Interaction
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Objective Define the process for how the CSM interacts with the systems and processes designed to provide customers with technical support. Establishing Customers in Support Systems During the onboarding process, the CSM will ensure that customers are correctly established in the support system. GitLab manages support requests through a system called Zendesk. GitLab has integrated the GitLab instance of Salesforce with Zendesk to facilitate the establishment of users in Zendesk.
CSM Aspiring Leaders Program
A guide to help CSMs level up their skills to be ready for leadership
CSM Development
Available development paths and resources for Customer Success Managers at GitLab.
CSM Executive Relationships
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. At GitLab, successful partnerships between our Customer Success Managers and their customer executives are crucial to the success of our customers and our business. As CSMs position themselves to be more strategic and reach Director, VP, and CISO personas, we have to adjust our communication styles and consider how to cater them to executives. This page provides guidance on how CSMs can effectively partner with executives to drive value for our customers.
CSM FY23 Big Rocks
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. FY23 Goals (Big Rocks) Objective: Define the 3 ‘big rocks’ to take on in FY23 with the overall goal of moving our team forwards. These rocks need to move us forwards as a team and as individuals, enabling us to scale, be impactful, and be inspired/fulfilled in our roles. What are ‘big rocks’? As outlined in this article, they are our priorities, our mission-critical objectives that we need to solve for in the coming year.
CSM Internship Program
This page describes best practices for an internship for learning with the CSM team. Internships are a great way for a GitLab team member to learn about being a Customer Success Manager at GitLab. Use this guide for planning and executing an internship under an IC CSM who acts as the ‘Intern Mentor’. How to find a mentor in the CSM team The first step you will need to take in order to start an internship in Customer Success is to find a mentor from the CSM team.
CSM Manager Handbook
Field guide for CSM Managers on standard and recurring practices.
CSM November 2021 Engagement Survey
Results and action on the annual GitLab Engagement Survey for Customer Success Managers.
CSM OKRs
Field guide for CSMs on team OKRs
CSM Onboarding
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Onboarding for Customer Success Managers is a guided, methodical process to ensure new team members have the knowledge they need to be effective. There is a lot to learn to make you a great GitLab Customer Success Manager. It is important for new team members to gain competency on how our platform solutions provide customer value, and how we partner with customers to build a productive relationship.
CSM Paid Time Off
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. As part of GitLab’s paid time off policy, team members are encouraged to take time off. However, as customer-facing team members this can feel difficult, so this page is intended to help guide CSMs to ensure they can regularly take time off, avoid burnout, and keep their customers successful. Before you go To take PTO, please follow the guidelines in the PTO policy and be sure to enter your time off in Time Off by Deel.
CSM Responsibilities and Services
There are various services a Customer Success Manager will provide to ensure that customers get the best value possible out of their relationship with GitLab.
CSM Retrospectives
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Retrospectives The EMEA CSM team are trialing monthly retrospectives in GitLab issues. For more information, see team retrospectives. The retrospective issue is created by a scheduled pipeline in the async-retrospectives project. For more information on how it works, see the project’s README. A retrospective review is conducted at the end of a milestone with feedback discussed and actions captured in the issue.
CSM Rhythm of Business
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. CSM Rhythm of Business A successful CSM is pulled into various tasks across multiple territories and accounts. It is critical for a CSM to manage time effectively and concentrate on tasks that have the most positive impact for GitLab and the customer. The CSM Rhythm of Business has been designed to focus CSM efforts on the most fruitful daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks.
CSM Segments
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Overview The Customer Success Manager organization is distributed across different customer segments, following a regional approach and Annual Recurring Revenue. Segments Digital Touch CSE AMER CSM EMEA CSM APJ CSM
CSM Strategies for Mitigating Risk In Customer Accounts
CSM Strategies for Mitigating Risk In Customer Accounts
Customer Health Assessment and Management
This page covers the factors to consider for customer health, guidelines for selecting the appropriate rating, communication guidelines, CSM responsibilities and instructions for the account triage issue creation.
Customer Onboarding
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Customer Onboarding is the beginning phase of the customer lifecycle. Overview The customer onboarding phase is critical to getting a customer started on a successful journey with GitLab. This is our opportunity to ensure the customer achieves value and success from the start of their GitLab usage. Onboarding steps The onboarding process should begin when the customer opportunity reaches stage “5-Negotiating” for Booked ARR in order to introduce the CSM while we have high-touch engagement to close the opportunity.
Customer Renewal Tracking
The Renewals team at GitLab is a part of the Customer Success department.
Customer Success Escalations Process
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Background: Escalations can take at least two different forms: Account Escalation. This occurs when the customer expresses or a GitLab team member identifies that a customer is facing a challenging situation that may or may not relate to a specific support ticket. Anyone in GitLab can open an account escalation and circulate it to the leadership of the appropriate group to find a DRI.
DevSecOps Adoption Tracking in Gainsight
CSM guidance on how to track and log progress on DevSecOps usecase adoption
Digital Customer Programs
Digital Programs Programs are developed using input from CSMs, customers, and other GitLab resources. Our goal is to provide customers with useful ways to serve themselves. We provide the following: Onboarding resources for customers Survey results Stage enablement email series Newsletters Webinar setup and insight Education, best practices, and planning resources for customers and GitLab team members Gainsight playbook setup and maintenance For more information about Customer Programs, including how to request new or contribute to existing programs, or add contacts to Gainsight, see the Customer Programs page.
Engaging with Partners
Process for Engaging with Partners in CSM-Assigned Customer Accounts Pre-Customer Kick-Off or 1st Engagement: GitLab Partner team introduces CSM & SAE/AE to Partner - ideally before sale closes to not slow down post-sales implementation CSM and SAE/AE connects with Partner to align on the role the Partner will play post-sale. If the Partner has an ongoing engagement with the customer, CSM & Partner to align on post-sale Kick-Off call, collaborating on the Kick-Off deck content and ownership/roles for the call
Engaging with Professional Services
Guidelines for CSMs on how best to engage with professional services.
Executive Business Reviews (EBRs)
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Overview An Executive Business Review (EBR) is a strategic meeting with stakeholders from both GitLab and the customer. It is an extension of the account planning process and part of the CSM’s regular business rhythm. The EBR aims to demonstrate to the Economic Buyer the value they are getting in their partnership with GitLab. It is interactive from both sides, discussing the customer’s desired business outcomes and related metrics, progress against these metrics and desired outcomes, and aligning on strategic next steps.
FY24 Big Rocks
CSME (Customer Success Management and Engineering) View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. FY24 Annual OKRs (Big Rocks) Objective: The 3 ‘big rocks’ to take on in FY24 with the overall goal of moving our team forwards. These rocks need to move us forwards as a team and as individuals, enabling us to scale, be impactful, and be inspired/fulfilled in our roles. What are ‘big rocks’? As outlined in this article, they are our priorities, our mission-critical objectives that we need to solve for in the coming year.
Leadership Recurring Check-Ins
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. What is a Leadership Recurring Check-In Call? The Leadership Recurring Check-In call is a strategic discussion with customer leadership to ensure we are progressing toward our success plan objectives together. While an Executive Business Review (EBR) aims to establish business goals and report on progress annually, the Leadership Recurring Check-In allows for a more focused conversation with leadership to allow for progress checks, and review the prioritization of objectives.
Oliver Falk's README
Oliver Falk’s README Oliver Falk, Manager, Customer Success Managers, DACH This page is intended to help others understand what it might be like to work with me, especially people who haven’t worked with me before. It’s also a well-intentioned effort at building some trust by being intentionally vulnerable, and to share my ideas of a good working relationship to reduce the anxiety of people who might be on my team.
Researching Customer Questions
Strategies on how to research customer questions to find answers.
Roleplay Scenarios
This handbook page collects links to all roleplaying scenarios, for CSMs to utilize to improve their conversations and enable them to be audible-ready.
Sander Brienen's README
README page for Sander Brienen to give a bit of background and interests
Service Ping FAQ
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. What is Service Ping Service Ping generates customer analytics on self-managed instances that enable GitLab to collaborate with our customers to accelerate value attribution, achieve return-on-investment (ROI) goals, and accomplish business outcomes with the GitLab solution. Specifically, it helps GitLab understand product adoption to: Ensure adoption is aligned to business outcomes (i.e., goals, timelines, etc). Understand usage for industry and best practice recommendations Recommend features or capabilities that maximize solution value based on: Gaps in adoption New features or capabilities that can be leveraged Enable User Cohorts and GitLab DevOps Score that provides an overview of customers’ adoption of Concurrent DevOps from planning to monitoring Track usage and adoption over time For the definition of each metric, please see our Service Ping Metrics Dictionary.
Stage Adoption Metrics
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. 2023-06-15 Note: The approach described below is no longer in active use. The Use Case Adoption Scoring page should be referenced for thresholds and information on the methodology CSMs use for measuring adoption of use cases. {: .alert .alert-warning} As part of the CSM’s mandate to drive stage adoption and expansion with customers, we need to define exactly what it means to adopt a stage at GitLab.
Success Plans
A success plan is a roadmap that connects a customer's desired business outcomes to GitLab solutions. It is a living document, developed by the CSM.
Using Calendly as a CSM
Best practices and setup guide for Customer Success Managers using Calendly to manage customer requests for meetings.
Using Gainsight as a CSM
The key aspects of how Customer Success Managers use Gainsight to drive success for customers.
Using Issue Prioritization Dashboard as a CSM
The key aspects of how Customer Success Managers use Sisense Issue Prioritization Dashboard to drive success for customers.
Using the Customer Collaboration Project as a CSM
Best practices and setup guide for Customer Success Managers using Customer Collaboration Projects to manage customer data, requests, and collaborations.
Workshops and Enablement Sessions
View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages. Overview The CSM team’s primary focus is to align with a customer’s desired business outcomes, enable the customer in their current use cases, and expand their platform adoption. Customers who adopt additional DevOps use cases with GitLab see an increased return on investment (ROI). They receive this ROI by increasing operational efficiencies, delivering better products faster, and reducing security and compliance risks.
Last modified March 22, 2024: Move page to be accessible (f7b7ccc8)