The Practical CSM Framework
A step-by-step Customer Success framework, used worldwide
The globally published Practical CSM Framework gives Customer Success Managers and their leaders one clear, repeatable way to run the customer engagement, from first preparation through renewal and growth.
Used worldwide By the author of Cisco’s CS certification Free to download Adapt it to your team
Trusted by Customer Success teams worldwide
Trusted by Customer Success teams worldwide
Why this framework works, for leaders and practitioners
Most Customer Success teams struggle because everyone runs their accounts differently. The Practical CSM Framework replaces that with one standardized, repeatable method. For leaders, it is a scalable operating model where fewer things slip through the cracks. For individual CSMs, it is clear, step-by-step guidance for the daily work. It was developed by Rick Adams, who wrote Cisco’s Customer Success certification, published by Taylor & Francis, and it is the same framework behind our CCSMP certification.
The seven phases of the Customer Success engagement
The framework breaks the engagement into seven sequential phases, grouped into three logical stages. Within each phase, the CSM gets a clear list of tasks plus step-by-step guidance to complete it well.
A. Initial Stage
Get yourself ready and agree how you will help.
1. Preparation
Research the customer and get yourself and your team ready before the engagement starts.
2. Commitment
Secure stakeholder buy-in and agree the business outcomes that will define success.
B. User Readiness Stage
Get the customer onboarded and their users adopting.
3. Onboarding
Get the customer set up and ready, so they can start reaching value.
4. Adoption Planning
Plan how users will adopt the solution and remove the barriers in advance.
5. Adoption Implementation
Drive real, day-to-day usage, so the solution becomes how the customer works.
C. Ongoing Stage
Prove the value continually, then renew and grow.
6. Value Realization
Measure and prove that the agreed business outcomes are actually being achieved.
7. Engagement Evaluation
Review the engagement, capture the lessons, and set up renewal and growth.
At the center of the framework sits the Central Repository, one place to store and reuse everything created across the phases, so the whole team works from the same knowledge.
Structure, not a straitjacket
Every organization is unique, and the framework was built that way. It does not dictate what to do; it gives you and your team the structure to develop your own best practices. Using the 80/20 rule, you can apply most of it directly and customize the rest to fit how you actually work.
Get the framework, your way
Two free guides to the same framework: one for the people doing the work, one for the people leading it.
For individual CSMs
The Practical CSM Framework: Practitioner’s Guide
A walkthrough of the seven-phase Practical CSM Framework for individual CSMs, from Preparation to Engagement Evaluation. Each phase covers purpose, activities and outputs.
Read the summary and key takeawaysGet the full guide
- All your guides in one place
- Download without a form
- Your progress and next steps
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For team leaders
The Practical CSM Framework: Manager’s Overview
The full Framework explained for CS leaders and business managers: what CSM is, how the Framework fits the company and how CS relates to CX. Foreword by Peter Armaly.
Read the summary and key takeawaysGet the full guide
- All your guides in one place
- Download without a form
- Your progress and next steps
Member? Log in to download without a form.
“It simplifies and explains the complexity behind a well-executed CS service. A great distillation of the full book, and on its own a solid starter guide for a leader beginning to establish a CS organization and practice.”
Peter Armaly
Senior Director, Customer Success Strategy, Oracle
Want a hand putting the framework to work?
The guides give you the whole framework for free. If you would like help rolling it out (standardizing how your team runs accounts, or certifying them against it), tell us where you are and we will come back with a straight, useful answer. No pitch, no pressure.
Tell us your goal. Where your team is with Customer Success today, and what you want the framework to fix.
We point you to the right next step. The free guides, team certification (CCSMP), or a working session, matched to you, not one fixed product.
Talk it through. A short, no-pressure call whenever it helps.
Questions
Framework FAQ
A published, step-by-step methodology that breaks the Customer Success engagement into seven phases, each with the tasks and guidance a CSM needs. Created by Rick Adams and published by Taylor & Francis, it is the standard our CCSMP certification is built on.
Seven, run in sequence and grouped into three stages: Preparation, Commitment, Onboarding, Adoption Planning, Adoption Implementation, Value Realization, and Engagement Evaluation. Each phase comes with a clear list of tasks and step-by-step guidance.
Yes. You can download both guides free: the Practitioner’s Guide for individual CSMs and the Manager’s Overview for leaders. The CCSMP certification, which teaches and assesses you against the framework, is a separate paid program.
No. The framework and its guides stand on their own. The certification is for people who want to be formally trained and assessed against it, and prove their capability with a recognized credential.
Yes. It gives you structure, not rigid rules. Using the 80/20 principle, you apply the core directly and customize the rest to fit your product, industry and customers.