Free template · Sales / CS
Performance review template for a customer success manager
A ready-to-use, section-by-section template with the competencies that matter for a customer success manager, role-specific example phrases, and a guard against the stock filler that makes most reviews read as generic. Copy the structure, fill in your evidence, or skip the writing entirely with Crestento.
The template
Four sections, in this order. Length should match the evidence you have — a thin section is honest; an invented paragraph is not.
Summary
One or two paragraphs setting the context: what was expected of customer success manager this period, and your overall verdict. Lead with the headline.
Example phrasing
“Book NRR closed at 118% with 96% gross retention, identified and partnered AE-side on three expansion deals totalling $240K ACV, and turned the at-risk Northwind account through a structured EBR and exec re-engagement.”
Strengths
The behaviours and outcomes that made the work happen. Anchor in evidence: net revenue retention (NRR) on the CSM's book, gross retention rate, expansion ARR identified and converted (with sales attribution).
- Evidence for: net revenue retention (NRR) and gross retention.
- Evidence for: expansion identification and partnership with sales.
- Evidence for: customer health-score management.
- Evidence for: renewal cycle ownership.
Areas for Growth
Forward-looking development edges. Frame as opportunities, not deficiencies. Specific behaviours to develop, not generic customer success manager criticism.
- One pattern observed across the period.
- One specific behaviour to develop.
- One concrete next step.
Goals for the Next Period
Two or three concrete goals. Each should name a specific behaviour change, a measurable target, and a deadline. Avoid vague aspirations.
Competencies to evaluate
The 7 competencies a strong customer success manager review structures around, in priority order. Use these as the spine of the Strengths and Areas for Growth sections.
- net revenue retention (NRR) and gross retention
- expansion identification and partnership with sales
- customer health-score management
- renewal cycle ownership
- executive business reviews (EBRs / QBRs)
- onboarding success and time-to-value
- voice-of-customer feedback loop to product
Before you write
CSMs are not the customer's friend — they're the customer's accountability partner FOR getting value out of the product, and the company's accountability partner FOR keeping the customer renewing and growing. Strong CSMs run a book where the health-score work, the expansion conversations, and the EBR cadence all reinforce each other. Weak CSMs do reactive ticket triage and call it customer success. A review that anchors only on NPS or 'customers love them' will miss the commercial craft underneath.
Evidence to gather
Strong reviews for a customer success manager cite evidence of these shapes. Only use a specific value (a percentage, a count, a dollar amount) if you actually have it — don’t invent a number to sound concrete.
- net revenue retention (NRR) on the CSM's book
- gross retention rate
- expansion ARR identified and converted (with sales attribution)
- at-risk save rate
- EBR / QBR cadence completion rate
- average time-to-first-value on new onboarding
- customer health-score distribution across the book
- CSAT / NPS at the account level (not the headline product score)
Where to find the evidence
Work products a customer success manager produces. Reference these by name in the review when they’re relevant — it signals you know the work.
- customer success plan per account
- EBR / QBR deck and recap
- health-score dashboard and weekly review
- renewal forecast with churn-risk flags
- expansion-opportunity register handed to AE
- voice-of-customer report to Product / Engineering
- onboarding playbook for new customers
Phrasing that lands vs phrasing that doesn’t
Strong — specific, evidenced, role-appropriate
“Book NRR closed at 118% with 96% gross retention, identified and partnered AE-side on three expansion deals totalling $240K ACV, and turned the at-risk Northwind account through a structured EBR and exec re-engagement.”
Weak — vague, unevidenced, generic
“Strong relationship builder with customers.”
Phrases to never use
Stock filler that AI-written customer success manager reviews slip into. Managers spot it instantly. Rewrite to name a specific behaviour instead.
- “customer's trusted advisor”
- “builds deep customer relationships”
- “loved by customers”
- “passionate about customer success”
- “customer-obsessed”
- “always goes the extra mile for customers”
- “drives customer outcomes”
Don’t invent these specifics
The details an AI tends to fabricate for customer success managerreviews. If you don’t have the specific number, name, or date in your notes, leave it out — generic-but-honest beats specific-but- invented every time.
- specific NRR or GRR percentages the manager didn't provide
- named customer accounts when only book-level work was mentioned
- specific expansion deal sizes not in input
- CSAT or NPS values not quantified by the manager
- named at-risk accounts when only 'a saved account' was mentioned
- specific EBR cadences (quarterly, monthly) not in input
- particular health-score methodology adoptions not mentioned
Skip the template, generate the review
Drop your bullet points into Crestento and it produces the polished draft using this exact template structure, tuned for a customer success manager. Two reviews free, no card.
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