Customer experience is an essential element of customer success responsibilities and their focus when it comes to business success. Still, customer success is not the be-all and end of all customer experience knowledge. A huge variety of departments works on improving and prioritizing customer experience at different levels and in different ways.
As such, what should customer success prioritize and monitor when it comes to their department goals within the experience umbrella? That’s what we’re here to explore.
In this article, we’ll:
- Define customer success and customer experience.
- Finalize the differences between the two.
- Discuss the most appropriate metrics for CS and CX to monitor.
- Conclude with how to align these metrics with other CS metrics.
Let’s begin.
Defining customer success and customer experience
Customer success definition
Customer success (CS) is a proactive approach where businesses help customers achieve their desired outcomes while ensuring a positive experience throughout their journey. It focuses on guiding customers toward long-term success and value realization with a product or service.
Customer experience definition
Customer experience (CX) refers to the overall perception and feelings a customer has during their interactions with a brand, from first contact through the entire relationship. It emphasizes ease, satisfaction, and emotional connection throughout the customer journey.
Core goals of customer success and customer experience
Core goals of customer success (CS):
Customer Success and Customer Experience serve distinct yet complementary roles in business growth and retention. Customer Success teams focus on:
- Driving measurable outcomes, ensuring clients achieve their business objectives through product utilization.
- Provide proactive guidance, education, and strategic support.
- Cultivate long-term relationships, leading naturally to renewals and expanded service adoption.
Core goals of customer experience (CX):
Customer Experience operates at a broader level, orchestrating consistent interactions across all business touchpoints. This discipline emphasizes:
- Emotional and functional satisfaction throughout the customer journey, and reducing friction points that could impede value realization.
- Combining data-driven insights with empathetic service delivery.
CX teams create the foundational elements that enable Customer Success to thrive.
Together, these functions transform satisfied clients into vocal advocates, establishing a sustainable cycle of growth through authentic relationship building and demonstrated value delivery.
If this is the case, and CS and CX work are so closely interwoven, why is it important to understand these disciplines as two distinct entities?
Why the distinction matters
Let’s have a look at how these disciplines interact differently with the business segments and priorities they inhabit.
Growth:
Business growth thrives when both customer success and customer experience work in harmony, but they contribute in distinct ways.
Customer success fuels growth by ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes, often leading to upsells, cross-sells, and expanding account value.
Customer experience propels growth by creating memorable, positive interactions that encourage repeat business and attract new customers through word-of-mouth.
While success focuses on long-term results and milestones, experience amplifies the emotional connection with the brand, making it easier for growth to happen organically.
Emma Bilardi
Retention:
Customer success excels at retention by proactively guiding customers to value, ensuring they see continuous success with the product or service. Think of it as the personal trainer ensuring you hit your fitness goals with the right support and advice.
Customer experience influences retention through seamless interactions, intuitive service, and consistent positive engagements. A great CX makes every touchpoint—whether it’s using the product or getting support—so effortless that customers have little reason to leave.
Loyalty:
Customer success drives loyalty by delivering consistent results and helping customers reach their goals while showing continuous value. When customers feel supported in achieving their objectives, they’re more likely to advocate for the brand.
Customer experience creates loyalty by crafting emotional connections.
Revenue:
Customer success drives revenue by maximizing the value customers gain from a product, leading to higher retention rates and expansion opportunities like upsells and renewals. The proactive nature of success management turns satisfied customers into long-term revenue streams.
Customer experience impacts revenue by reducing churn and increasing customer satisfaction—ensuring customers not only stay but spend more willingly. A positive experience often translates into a willingness to explore new products or services from the same brand.
Key metrics for customer success vs. customer experience
Metrics tell the real story behind customer relationships. Whether you're measuring the effectiveness of your customer success strategies or evaluating the quality of customer experience, the right data can be your secret weapon for growth. Let’s break down the essential metrics for both areas and how they fuel business performance.
Customer success metrics
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS isn’t just a number—it's a pulse check on customer loyalty. This loyalty metric asks a simple but revealing question: "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?"
NPS = % of Promoters – % of Detractors
A high NPS indicates strong advocacy, while a low score can reveal dissatisfaction early. Promoters often become your best marketers, while detractors may need extra attention before they churn.
NPS does more than reveal feelings; it helps you identify promoters who can become brand advocates and detractors who need more attention.
Customer Health Score (CHS)
The Customer Health Score is the crystal ball for retention. It’s your early warning system for retention risks. It aggregates multiple data points, including:
- Product usage frequency
- Support ticket volume
- Renewal likelihood
- Customer feedback trends
These data points then give you a proactive read on a customer's likelihood to renew or churn. A healthy score means customers are thriving; a low score? Time for intervention. Proactively managing CHS allows customer success teams to get ahead of issues before they impact retention.
Expansion revenue
Revenue growth doesn’t stop after the initial sale. This metric tracks how much additional revenue comes from existing customers through:
- Upsells: Increasing the value of the current plan.
- Cross-sells: Adding complementary products or services.
- Feature upgrades: Expanding feature access based on needs.
If your expansion revenue is climbing, it means customers see increasing value in your offerings—a win-win for retention and revenue growth!
Time-to-Value (TTV)
TTV measures the speed at which a new customer sees tangible value from your product or service.
TTV = Time from Onboarding Start → First Value Realization
The faster a customer experiences value, the better. TTV is critical for assessing the effectiveness of your onboarding process. A shorter TTV boosts retention, as customers are less likely to disengage early.
A shorter TTV means faster wins, creating positive momentum early in the relationship. Onboarding speed directly impacts retention—when customers experience value quickly, they’re more likely to stick around.
✅ Key Insight: If TTV is too long, consider refining your onboarding process with clearer milestones or faster wins.
Customer experience metrics
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
CSAT measures how satisfied customers are with a specific interaction—like a support call or product purchase. By asking, "How satisfied were you with your experience today?" you capture real-time feedback on individual touchpoints.
🔑 Scoring insight:
- 80%+: Excellent! Your experience design is working.
- 60-80%: Room for improvement—time to dig deeper.
- <60%: Time to identify friction points.
This metric is perfect for pinpointing satisfaction at specific touchpoints rather than the overall relationship. High CSAT? Your experience design is working. Low CSAT? Time to pinpoint where friction is creeping in.
Customer Effort Score (CES)
Nobody likes jumping through hoops to get help. CES measures how easy or difficult it is for a customer to complete a task, like resolving an issue or making a purchase.
- Low Effort = Higher Loyalty
- High Effort = Frustration and Churn Risk
CES can be tracked with a survey question like: "On a scale of 1 to 7, how easy was it to resolve your issue today?"
The lower the effort, the happier (and more loyal) the customer. CES is a direct predictor of churn—when experiences feel effortless, customers stick around.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
CLV measures the total revenue a customer generates throughout their relationship with your brand.
CLV = (Average Revenue per Customer) x (Customer Lifespan) – Acquisition Cost
CLV provides the long-term financial impact of keeping a customer. The higher your CLV, the more effective your customer retention and expansion strategies are.
Churn rate
Churn rate measures the percentage of customers who stop doing business with you over a given period.
Churn Rate = (Lost Customers ÷ Total Customers) x 100
High churn could signal:
- A poor onboarding experience.
- Lack of perceived value.
- Negative support experiences.
High churn is a result of poor experiences, lack of value delivery, or unmet expectations. If churn is rising, it’s a sign to revisit both your customer success strategies and experience touchpoints to identify gaps.
Grace Gupta
How to align success and experience metrics
The first step to alignment? Break down the data walls. As we’ve shown above, most experience and success teams track different performance metrics; while both sets are valuable, they tell different sides of the story.
When you centralize this data, you ensure that both teams can access a shared view of the customer journey.
Consider using a single dashboard where both CS and CX metrics live side by side. This ensures everyone—from marketers to success managers—understands when a customer is satisfied, why they feel that way, and how it ties back to their long-term success.
Here’s why this collaboration works.
Take the Net Promoter Score (NPS). While CX teams might use NPS to gauge how satisfied customers feel after a recent interaction, CS teams can leverage the same score to identify long-term brand advocates primed for expansion opportunities.
Or consider Customer Effort Score (CES) and Time-to-Value (TTV). A low CES (indicating a smooth onboarding process) can directly impact a shorter TTV. When onboarding is frictionless and intuitive, customers are more likely to see value faster.
By combining metrics like this, you can paint a fuller picture.
Benefits of a unified approach
When success and experience metrics join forces and use a unified metrics approach, it provides clarity for both teams, making it easier to identify:
- Early churn risks: Spot at-risk customers who may be struggling despite frequent product use.
- Revenue expansion opportunities: High NPS alongside strong usage metrics? That’s your cue for upsell conversations.
- Consistent brand experience: Maintain alignment between onboarding, support, and ongoing relationship management.
Ultimately, collaboration between CS and CX leads to a win-win: satisfied customers who see continuous value and a business that enjoys stronger retention, loyalty, and revenue growth.
Grace Gupta
In the end, it’s not a question of either/or—businesses see the best results when both strategies are aligned, creating a holistic approach where customer success drives outcomes and experience drives motional engagement.
Ready to learn more on metrics?
With metrics working hand in hand with department success and collaboration, having an intimate knowledge of which metrics suit your team and company needs.
Which is where our Customer Success metrics ebook comes in as a handy helper! Just a few click, and you'll be well on your way.
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