Hey {{first_name | CS Pro}},

Your team did not miss NRR because they are lazy, not smart enough, or lacking drive.

They missed it because nobody built them a system where hitting the number was actually possible.

This quarter, a lot of you will sit in a business review where someone points at a red number and then points at a person in the room. After 16 years in B2B SaaS, I can tell you that missing NRR is almost never a talent problem, it is a design problem.

If you have ever been the person in that room, or the leader doing the pointing, this one is for you.

But first, today’s sponsor

↓

Yet for most CSMs, they still do.

Not because they lack effort, but because customers are not clearly connecting your work to THEIR business outcomes.

That is exactly what this free live masterclass is designed to fix.

Join me for a BRAND NEW live masterclass session where I will walk you through the framework I use to help CSMs move from check in calls to outcome led conversations that customers actually value.

Join live and learn how to start driving revenue, not just managing accounts.

⏰ Wednesday, September 23rd at 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm UK

🔗 Save your spot now: thecustomersuccesspro.com/masterclass

McKinsey analysed more than 100 B2B SaaS companies to see what separated the most valuable from the least. The top quartile traded at a median of 24 times revenue, the bottom quartile at 5 times, and net revenue retention was one of the clearest dividers (113% for the top quartile, 98% for the bottom).

Now the part that should make you angry. SaaS Capital surveyed over 1,000 private B2B SaaS companies and found:

That is the middle of the pack.

So when leadership hands a CS team a 120% target with no commercial training, no discounting authority and no seat at the pricing table, they have set a top quartile goal and resourced it like the bottom quartile.

Then the quarter closes at 94% against 115%, the red cells go up on the slide, and the conversation goes 1 of 2 ways. Performance review or training day. Both treat it as a talent problem. Meanwhile the CSM found out about the renewal 6 weeks out, the champion left in February and the account stayed green until October.

Mistake 1 is treating NRR as an outcome instead of a build. It is the sum of hundreds of small commercial decisions made (or not made) over 12 months, and by the time it shows up on a board slide, you are not managing a number. You are reading a receipt.

Mistake 2 is handing out a number without levers. If your CSMs cannot discount, package or defend a 12% uplift to a CFO, you did not give them an NRR target. You gave them an NRR wish.

Mistake 3 is building renewal processes backwards. Most kick off when a CRM task fires weeks before the date. By then the customer already knows whether they got value, and the budget conversation happened without you. You are not negotiating, you are receiving a verdict.

Mistake 4 is confusing activity with coverage. The activity metrics look fantastic. But ask a CSM to name every buying influence on their largest account, who signs, who blocks and what each person needs to see, and most cannot. A calendar full of friendly check-ins with the same happy contact is not coverage.

6 or 7 years ago, my team missed our retention number by more than 10%. 1 CSM's book carried a huge chunk of it, so I put her on a performance plan.

Then I actually looked. She had 42 accounts, her top accounts were worth more than the bottom 30 combined, and she had no expansion target and no discounting authority. The renewal alert fired 65 days out. The account that churned got a new CFO in March and we found out in November. I had a design problem, and I made a person carry it.

Think of it like a slow leak at home. You can keep repainting the stained ceiling, but the water is coming from a cracked pipe 2 floors up. Your CS team is the ceiling.

The fix is 4 learnable skills: confirming outcomes in the customer's own numbers, handling pricing objections live without discounting, mapping everyone who touches the renewal, and forecasting a book leadership trusts. If your team needs to practise these on your real accounts, book a call about my renewal negotiation and stakeholder mapping workshops.

Pick your single largest renewal in the next 2 quarters and answer these 3 questions out loud or on paper. Who touches this decision, and what does each person need to believe before they say yes? If they told you tomorrow they are cutting vendor spend by 20%, what is your exact next sentence? And what business result have they got from you in the last 12 months, in their numbers, that they would repeat to their CFO without you in the room? Leaders, run these live in your next team meeting, unannounced.

That's it for this week! Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube and tell me which question your team would struggle with most.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us.

Cheers to your CS success,
Anika