How to Navigate the Customer Maturity Model as a CSM

The customer maturity model helps Customer Success Managers understand where each customer is in their journey and what support they need to progress to the next stage. 

Many Customer Success Managers struggle with questions like: Why are some customers thriving while others stall after onboarding? Or why do certain accounts expand naturally while others remain stuck in basic usage? Often, the issue is not the product or the customer’s intent. It is that customers are at different stages of maturity in how they use and operationalize the product.

In this guide, we’ll break down the key stages of the customer maturity model and explain how CSMs can recognize each stage, guide customers forward, and create stronger long-term outcomes.

Key takeaways

• The customer maturity model helps CSMs understand where customers are in their adoption journey and what support they need next.
  
  
• Customers typically progress through five stages: initial adoption, early engagement, growth and expansion, strategic partnership, and advocacy.
  
  
• Guiding customers through maturity stages helps increase product adoption, retention, and expansion opportunities.
  
  
• CSMs play a critical role in helping customers move forward by providing proactive guidance and aligning product usage with business outcomes.
  
  
• Using data, playbooks, and customer success platforms can help teams track maturity progression and intervene when customers stall.

What is a customer maturity model

Definition of the customer maturity model

A customer maturity model is a framework that describes how customers evolve in their use of a product over time. Instead of measuring success only through high-level metrics such as retention or usage, the maturity model focuses on how deeply customers have integrated the product into their workflows and business processes.

Customers rarely move from onboarding to full value immediately. Most progress through several stages, starting with basic adoption and gradually advancing toward strategic, organization-wide use. The maturity model helps customer success teams map these stages so they can better understand how customers develop over time.

By identifying where a customer currently sits in the maturity model, CSMs can determine what type of support, guidance, and engagement will help that customer progress further.

How it helps align customer goals with product adoption

One of the biggest challenges for CSMs is ensuring that product usage actually connects to the outcomes customers care about. A customer may be actively using the platform, but that does not always mean they are achieving meaningful results.

The customer maturity model helps bridge this gap by linking product adoption with customer objectives. Each stage of maturity typically reflects a deeper level of value realization.

For example:

• Early-stage customers may focus on basic onboarding and initial setup
  
  
• Mid-stage customers begin integrating the product into daily workflows
  
  
• Advanced customers use the platform strategically to drive measurable business outcomes

By recognizing these stages, CSMs can tailor their engagement accordingly. Instead of pushing advanced capabilities too early or repeating basic guidance with experienced customers, the maturity model helps ensure that conversations remain relevant to where the customer is in their journey.

What is the role of a CSM in navigating the customer maturity model

Core responsibilities of a CSM

Customer Success Managers play a central role in helping customers progress through the stages of the customer maturity model. Their responsibility goes beyond answering questions or resolving issues. Instead, CSMs are responsible for guiding customers toward deeper adoption and stronger outcomes over time.

Core responsibilities typically include:

• Helping customers understand how the product supports their business goals
  
  
• Guiding onboarding and early adoption to ensure customers reach initial value
  
  
• Monitoring product usage and engagement signals
  
  
• Identifying opportunities to expand adoption across teams or workflows
  
  
• Addressing risks that could prevent customers from progressing to the next stage

By actively monitoring customer behavior and engagement, CSMs can identify when customers are ready to move forward or when additional support is needed.

How CSMs act as guides through the maturity journey

Customers rarely progress through the maturity model on their own. Even when the product is intuitive, many organizations need guidance to understand how the platform fits into their broader processes and goals.

This is where CSMs act as strategic guides. They help customers navigate the maturity journey by introducing capabilities and strategies at the right time.

For example:

• Early in the relationship, a CSM may focus on helping the customer achieve quick wins and early activation.
  
  
• As adoption grows, the CSM may introduce advanced features, integrations, or workflow improvements.
  
  
• In more mature stages, the conversation often shifts toward strategic outcomes, measurable ROI, and expansion opportunities.

This staged approach prevents customers from feeling overwhelmed while ensuring they continue progressing toward deeper value.

Balancing customer advocacy with business outcomes

Another key aspect of a CSM’s role is balancing the needs of the customer with the goals of the business. While CSMs advocate for customer success, they must also ensure that the relationship supports long-term retention and growth.

Navigating the maturity model helps achieve this balance. When customers progress through maturity stages, they typically see increasing value from the product. This naturally leads to stronger retention, expansion opportunities, and deeper partnerships.

By focusing on helping customers achieve their desired outcomes, CSMs create relationships that benefit both the customer and the business.

The stages of customer maturity

Customers typically progress through several stages as they adopt, integrate, and eventually rely on a product to achieve meaningful outcomes. The customer maturity model helps customer success teams understand where each account currently sits and what actions will help them move forward.

Recognizing these stages allows CSMs to guide customers more effectively, introduce capabilities at the right time, and avoid overwhelming customers before they are ready.

Stage 1: Initial adoption

At the initial adoption stage, customers are new to the product and are primarily focused on getting started. Their main objective is to understand how the platform works and complete the basic setup required to begin using it.

During this stage, customers often face several challenges:

• Learning the product interface and core workflows
  
  
• Configuring integrations or initial data imports
  
  
• Understanding how the platform supports their specific use case

The CSM’s primary focus at this stage is onboarding and early value delivery. Helping customers reach their first meaningful outcome quickly is critical because early success strongly influences long-term retention.

Key priorities for CSMs include:

• Guiding customers through onboarding milestones
  
  
• Providing training resources and product walkthroughs
  
  
• Helping customers achieve an initial “quick win” that demonstrates value

The goal of this stage is activation. Customers should leave onboarding with a clear understanding of how the product supports their goals.

Stage 2: Early engagement

Once customers are comfortable with the basics, they begin exploring the product more actively. This stage is characterized by increased curiosity and experimentation as users discover additional features and capabilities.

Customers at this stage may:

• Explore new workflows within the platform
  
  
• Begin using more advanced features
  
  
• Involve additional team members in the product

However, engagement can still be fragile. Without guidance, customers may struggle to understand which features matter most or how to use them effectively.

Early activation is critical because the onboarding phase heavily influences long-term retention. Research shows that up to 70% of customer churn happens within the first 90 days, making the initial onboarding experience one of the most important moments in the customer lifecycle.

This is where training and proactive support become important. CSMs should help customers focus on the product capabilities that deliver the most value for their specific use cases.

Effective strategies at this stage include:

• Hosting training sessions or enablement workshops
  
  
• Sharing best practices and relevant use cases
  
  
• Helping customers connect product capabilities to their business objectives

The goal is to deepen engagement while ensuring customers adopt the features that will drive meaningful outcomes.

Stage 3: Growth and expansion

At the growth stage, customers begin integrating the product into their regular workflows. The platform becomes part of how teams operate day to day rather than an optional tool used occasionally.

Customers at this stage typically show signs of deeper adoption, such as:

• Consistent product usage across multiple users
  
  
• Integration with other tools in their tech stack
  
  
• Use of more advanced workflows and automation

Because the product is delivering real operational value, this stage often presents expansion opportunities. Additional teams may adopt the platform, or customers may explore higher tiers, add-ons, or complementary products.

The role of the CSM evolves from onboarding support to value amplification. Instead of focusing solely on usage, the conversation shifts toward helping customers scale the value they are already experiencing.

Typical CSM activities at this stage include:

• Identifying opportunities to expand usage across teams
  
  
• Recommending advanced features that improve efficiency
  
  
• Supporting upsell and cross-sell conversations when aligned with customer goals

The objective is to help customers scale their success while naturally expanding the relationship.

Stage 4: Strategic partnership

When customers reach the strategic partnership stage, the product has become deeply embedded in their operations. It is no longer just a useful tool but a critical part of how the organization achieves its goals.

Customers in this stage often:

• Depend on the platform for key business processes
  
  
• Align product usage with long-term strategic objectives
  
  
• Engage in executive-level conversations about outcomes and ROI

At this point, the CSM’s role shifts significantly. Rather than focusing on product education, the focus becomes long-term value creation and strategic alignment.

CSMs may support customers by:

• Running executive business reviews that highlight measurable outcomes
  
  
• Aligning product capabilities with the customer’s strategic initiatives
  
  
• Helping customers optimize workflows and operational efficiency

The relationship becomes more collaborative, with both sides working together to maximize the impact of the product.

Stage 5: Advocacy and innovation

The most mature customers eventually become advocates for the product and the company behind it. At this stage, customers are not only achieving strong outcomes but are also actively engaged in shaping the future of the product.

Customers in this stage often:

• Recommend the product to peers and industry networks
  
  
• Participate in case studies, testimonials, or events
  
  
• Provide valuable feedback that influences product development

This stage represents a true partnership between the company and the customer. The relationship extends beyond product usage to collaboration and innovation.

For CSMs, this stage offers opportunities to:

• Develop customer champions and references
  
  
• Collaborate on new use cases or advanced workflows
  
  
• Establish feedback loops with product and leadership teams

Advocacy-stage customers often become some of the most valuable relationships a company has. Their success stories not only strengthen retention but also contribute to brand credibility and future growth.

Common pitfalls to avoid

While the customer maturity model provides a helpful framework, many customer success teams struggle to apply it effectively in practice. Several common pitfalls can prevent customers from progressing through maturity stages or cause CSMs to miss opportunities for deeper engagement.

Recognizing these challenges early helps teams apply the maturity model more effectively and guide customers toward long-term success.

Treating all customers the same

One of the most common mistakes is treating every customer as if they are at the same stage of maturity. In reality, customers progress at different speeds depending on their goals, internal processes, and resources.

When teams apply a one-size-fits-all engagement approach, several problems can occur:

• New customers may feel overwhelmed by advanced recommendations
  
  
• Mature customers may feel underserved if they receive only basic guidance
  
  
• Engagement efforts may fail to align with the customer’s actual needs

The maturity model helps avoid this issue by encouraging CSMs to tailor their engagement strategy based on where the customer is in their journey.

Overlooking early warning signs of churn

Another pitfall is missing early signals that a customer is struggling to progress through the maturity stages. Customers rarely churn suddenly. In most cases, warning signs appear weeks or months in advance.

Common early indicators include:

• Declining product usage
  
  
• Delayed onboarding milestones
  
  
• Reduced participation in check-ins or reviews
  
  
• Unresolved support issues or recurring frustrations

If these signals go unnoticed, customers may remain stuck in early maturity stages or disengage entirely.

CSMs who actively monitor engagement signals and customer feedback can identify these issues early and intervene before the relationship deteriorates.

Focusing only on short-term wins

Quick wins are important, especially during onboarding, but focusing only on immediate usage can limit long-term customer growth.

For example, customers may reach basic adoption milestones but never progress to deeper workflow integration or strategic usage. When this happens, the product may appear helpful but not essential, which increases the likelihood of churn during renewal discussions.

CSMs should focus not only on early activation but also on guiding customers toward higher maturity stages where the product becomes more deeply embedded in their operations.

Introducing advanced capabilities too early

Another common mistake is introducing advanced product capabilities before the customer has fully mastered the basics.

While it may seem helpful to showcase the full power of the platform early, doing so can overwhelm customers who are still learning core workflows. This often leads to confusion rather than adoption.

A maturity-based approach helps CSMs introduce new capabilities at the right time, ensuring customers are ready to adopt them successfully.

Failing to connect product usage to business outcomes

Product usage alone does not guarantee customer success. Customers may use the platform regularly but still struggle to achieve meaningful business results.

If CSMs focus only on feature adoption without linking usage to customer goals, the product may feel like a tool rather than a solution.

To avoid this pitfall, CSMs should continuously connect product usage to measurable outcomes such as efficiency improvements, revenue growth, or operational improvements.

Ignoring opportunities for expansion and advocacy

Finally, some teams focus heavily on struggling customers while overlooking highly successful ones. Mature customers who are achieving strong outcomes often present opportunities for expansion, advocacy, and strategic collaboration.

Failing to recognize these opportunities means missing valuable growth potential.

By actively identifying customers who have reached advanced maturity stages, CSMs can develop stronger partnerships, unlock expansion opportunities, and build long-term advocates for the product.

Best practices for new CSMs to navigate customer maturity models

For new Customer Success Managers, the customer maturity model can initially feel abstract. Understanding the stages is one thing, but applying them consistently across a portfolio of customers requires a structured approach.

The following best practices help CSMs guide customers through maturity stages while building stronger relationships and delivering measurable outcomes.

Build trust early in the relationship

Progress through the maturity model depends heavily on trust. Customers are more likely to adopt recommendations, explore new capabilities, and share challenges when they view the CSM as a reliable partner rather than a product support contact.

New CSMs can build trust quickly by:

• Understanding the customer’s business goals and success metrics
  
  
• Delivering early wins during onboarding
  
  
• Following through on commitments and action items
  
  
• Communicating proactively rather than waiting for issues to arise

When customers feel confident in the relationship, they are more open to deeper adoption and strategic collaboration.

Focus on outcomes, not just features

Customers often struggle to understand how product features translate into real business value. Simply explaining what a feature does rarely drives meaningful adoption.

Instead, CSMs should focus on outcomes and impact.

For example:

• Instead of highlighting a reporting feature, show how it helps teams make faster decisions
  
  
• Instead of discussing automation capabilities, demonstrate how it reduces manual work
  
  
• Instead of introducing integrations as technical capabilities, explain how they streamline workflows

Connecting product usage to tangible outcomes helps customers understand why progressing to the next maturity stage matters.

Use storytelling to demonstrate value

Storytelling is a powerful way to help customers visualize what success looks like.

Sharing examples of how other organizations progressed through maturity stages can help customers understand what is possible and inspire them to adopt new workflows.

For instance, a CSM might explain:

• How another customer moved from basic adoption to automating key processes
  
  
• How feature adoption improved operational efficiency for a similar company
  
  
• How strategic use of the platform helped another team scale their operations

These stories make abstract capabilities feel practical and achievable.

Create repeatable playbooks for each maturity stage

Customer success teams become far more effective when they build structured playbooks that correspond to each maturity stage.

Instead of improvising engagement strategies for every account, teams can develop repeatable workflows that guide customers forward.

For example:

• Initial adoption playbook focused on onboarding milestones and early activation
  
  
• Early engagement playbook centered around training, feature discovery, and workflow setup
  
  
• Growth playbook designed to expand usage across teams and introduce advanced capabilities
  
  
• Strategic partnership playbook focused on executive alignment, ROI tracking, and long-term planning

These playbooks help CSMs maintain consistency across the team while ensuring customers receive the right support at the right time.

Use customer data to understand maturity progression

One challenge many CSMs face is accurately determining where a customer sits within the maturity model. Without clear signals, it can be difficult to know whether a customer is ready to progress to the next stage.

Tracking customer data and engagement signals can make this much easier.

Platforms like Velaris, a highly rated software on G2, help CSMs monitor signals that indicate customer maturity, including:

• Product adoption patterns and feature usage that reveal how deeply customers are engaging with the platform
  
  
• Customer health scores that combine multiple signals into a clear view of account health
  
  
• Communication insights from meetings and emails that highlight customer sentiment or emerging risks

Velaris capabilities such as Headlines can surface important account developments automatically, while CallSense helps analyze customer conversations to identify risks, blockers, or expansion signals. AI Topics can identify recurring themes across customer communications, helping teams detect patterns that indicate where customers are in their maturity journey.

These insights allow CSMs to make more informed decisions about when to introduce new capabilities or intervene when engagement declines.

Prioritize proactive engagement

Customers rarely progress through maturity stages without guidance. Waiting for customers to request help often leads to stalled adoption or missed opportunities.

CSMs should focus on proactive engagement, which includes:

• Reaching out when adoption signals indicate readiness for the next stage
  
  
• Scheduling regular check-ins to review progress and goals
  
  
• Sharing relevant resources and best practices before customers encounter problems

Proactive guidance helps customers progress more smoothly through the maturity model while strengthening the relationship between the CSM and the customer.

Continuously learn from mature customers

Finally, some of the best insights come from customers who have already reached advanced maturity stages. Observing how these customers use the product can reveal patterns that help guide others.

CSMs should look for opportunities to:

• Document successful customer workflows and playbooks
  
  
• Identify common behaviors among highly successful customers
  
  
• Share these insights across the team and with newer customers

Learning from mature customers helps organizations refine their maturity model and make it easier for future customers to reach the same level of success.

Conclusion

Navigating the customer maturity model allows Customer Success Managers to move beyond reactive account management and guide customers toward deeper, more meaningful adoption. By understanding where each customer sits in their maturity journey, CSMs can tailor onboarding, engagement, and value conversations to help customers progress steadily toward long-term success.

As customer portfolios grow, managing these maturity signals manually becomes increasingly difficult. Platforms like Velaris, a highly rated software on G2, help customer success teams centralize customer data, track adoption patterns, monitor health signals, and surface insights that reveal where customers are in their maturity journey.

Book a demo to see how Velaris helps customer success teams monitor customer maturity, identify risks earlier, and guide customers toward long-term success.