Keep the Customer or Let Him Go

Scoring Weights

Default weights reflect standard CRIF methodology. Adjust only when your business context requires it.

When to adjust weights

↑ Current ARR — if you are in a defensive revenue-protection mode and every lost euro is critical. ↓ Decrease if you are in growth mode and prepared to let small accounts go to free up capacity.

↑ Expansion Potential — if your model is heavily NRR-dependent (PLG, usage-based pricing, seat expansion). ↓ Decrease if you have fixed-price annual contracts where expansion is rare.

ICP Fit (default: highest weight) — reduce only if your ICP is still evolving and fit is genuinely unclear. In all other cases this is the most predictive long-term factor — do not reduce without a specific reason.

↑ Customer Sentiment — if you are early in building your CS practice and relationship recovery is your primary tool. ↓ Decrease if you have a mature practice with strong ICP fit data — then sentiment is less determinative on its own.

💰 Current ARR

25%

Default 25% — present value is important but not the only factor. Increase in defensive revenue-protection mode.

📈 Expansion Potential

20%

Default 20% — lower than ARR because expansion requires effort and carries more uncertainty. Increase for usage-based or PLG models where upsell is the primary motion.

🤝 ICP Fit

30%

Default 30% — highest weight because ICP fit is the most predictive long-term factor and the hardest to change. Reduce only if your ICP is still actively evolving.

💬 Customer Sentiment

25%

Default 25% — significant but recoverable. Increase if you are early in CS practice-building and relationship recovery is your main tool. Decrease in mature practices with strong ICP data.

Total

100% ✅ Ready

Step 1 — Value Map

What is this customer worth? Score each dimension from 1 (below median) to 4 (well above median) based on your portfolio.

💰

Current ARR

Live contracted revenue — the most reliable measure of present value. Compare against your portfolio median.

Weight: 25%

📈

Expansion Potential

The maximum additional revenue this account could realistically generate — not the probability of expansion, but the size of the opportunity. Calibrate against your portfolio: what does a high-potential account look like in €, or as a multiple of current ARR? Consider unseated licences, adjacent modules, and active pipeline (0–6 months) plus structural ceiling based on company size and trajectory (6–24 months). Score 1 = minimal additional revenue possible. Score 4 = significant expansion headroom confirmed.

Weight: 20%

Step 2 — Relationship Map

Can we win this customer back? Sentiment is changeable — ICP fit is largely fixed. Score both honestly.

🤝

ICP Fit

Does your product genuinely solve their core problem? Is their internal maturity right for your offering? This is the most predictive long-term factor.

Weight: 30% — highest weight in the model

💬

Customer Sentiment

Current relationship state — health scores, NPS, CSAT, engagement, escalation history, renewal conversation tone. Changeable with the right intervention.

Weight: 25%

Step 3a — Company-level reality check

Before stress-testing this account, sense-check your company's own CS cost rate against the external industry reference. This is a once-a-year, company-wide check — it does not change any individual account's score, only how much confidence to place in your internal baseline.

Company total ARR (€/year)

Company total annual CS/Support cost (€/year)

—

your company CS cost rate

Company ARR	Median CS / Support spend
Below €0.9M	5% of ARR
€0.9M – €2.6M	8% of ARR
€2.6M – €4.4M	10% of ARR
€4.4M – €8.8M	8% of ARR
€8.8M – €17.5M	9% of ARR
Above €17.5M	10% of ARR

Source: SaaS Capital, 2026 Spending Benchmarks for Private B2B SaaS Companies

Step 3b — Account cost stress test

Is the cost justified for this specific account? The account's cost rate is compared against your own portfolio median — not against the external benchmark above.

1. Portfolio median account CS cost rate

%

Formula: Account CS cost rate = annual CS/Support cost for an account ÷ that account's ARR × 100%. Portfolio median = the middle value once every reviewed account's rate is sorted low to high.

This figure is a:

	A: Account	B: ARR	C: CS Cost	D: Rate
1	Acme Corp	180,000	16,200	9.0%
2	Beta Inc	95,000	7,600	8.0%

2. This account's ARR and CS cost

This account's ARR (€/year)

Annual CS / Support cost for this account (€/year)

Formula: Account CS cost rate = annual CS/Support cost for this account ÷ this account's ARR × 100%.

—

cost rate on this account

Industry reference for this account (context only — not used in scoring)

Fill in Step 3a and this account's ARR to see an illustrative reference.

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Customer Retention Investment Framework · Natalya Cherepanova, ITIL Ambassador

This tool is based on the Customer Retention Investment Framework — a three-step methodology for the save-or-let-go decision in Customer Success.
Read the full methodology document →