CS Vision, Mission and Charter Template

Write down where Customer Success is going, how your team gets there every day and exactly what CS owns, so leadership and your team work from the same page.

Ask a CS leader what their team is accountable for and you'll almost always get a number. Ask who set that number, what customer data went into it and when anyone last confirmed it, and the room gets very still. When nobody has written down what CS owns, CS ends up owning whatever nobody else wants: the billing question, the bug sitting in the queue, the promise Sales made on the last call.

This template puts it in writing. Your vision covers where CS is going three years out, and your mission covers how the team operates every day, clearly enough that a CSM can make a call without asking you. The charter pins down everything around them: the mandate leadership gave you, what CS owns, shares and does not own, the metrics you're measured against and who set each target, what's true about the customers who succeed and the ones who leave, how each metric turns into a revenue story, and what you need from every other team in return for what you commit. It ends with a review log and sign-off, because if your CEO won't sign it, you don't have a mandate yet.

What's included

• CS Vision, Mission and Charter template in Word, plus a make-a-copy link for Google Docs

• 12 sections: charter snapshot, vision, mission, mandate, what CS owns, success criteria, ideal success profile, translate CS into revenue, cross-functional commitments, reflection, next 30 days, and review and sign-off

• Example vision and mission statements to react to

• A step-by-step PDF guide with a made-up example for every section, a four-week plan to get it confirmed and the mistakes to avoid

• A Steal This charter readiness check

Who it's for

CS leaders who are new in the seat, coming out of a reorg, or running a team that has become the catch-all for work nobody else owns.

How it works

Digital download. Your files are ready right after checkout. Open the Word file, or use the link included with your download to make your own copy in Google Docs. No physical item will be shipped.

Bundle and save

This template is part of the CS Operating Model Bundle (9 templates for $89) and the New CS Leader Bundle (8 templates for $79), each about half the price of buying the templates one at a time. Want everything? The Complete Architect Collection has every template in the collection for $299.