What kind of KPIs can I hold my team accountable for if they're extremely bandwidth constrained?
When bandwidth is extremely tight, focus on high-leverage KPIs that align with essential business outcomes and don't create unnecessary admin overhead:
Must-Have Metrics
Critical account retention rates
Revenue at risk identification
Core product adoption milestones
Basic customer health scoring (simple red/yellow/green) - AI generated and not CSM-owned (NO MANUAL SCORING!)
Minimum touch frequency for key accounts
Efficient Activity Metrics
% of proactive vs reactive work
High-risk account coverage
Essential QBR completion (top accounts only)
Response time to critical issues
Key milestone completion rates
Crucial Adjustments:
Segment customers ruthlessly - focus metrics on top/strategic accounts
Simplify reporting - weekly numbers only for what's truly critical
Automate what you can (basic health scores, usage alerts)
Cut nice-to-have activities entirely
Accept "good enough" on non-critical accounts
What to Skip:
Detailed activity tracking
Complex scoring systems
Non-essential customer touchpoints
Granular feature adoption metrics
Extensive documentation requirements
The key is choosing 3-5 metrics maximum that:
Have clear business impact
Are simple to track
Don't require manual data entry
Focus team on highest-value work
KPIs are the ultimate indicator of where you want your team to spend their time. The old adage that people do what they're get paid to do holds true. If you're paying people to do QBRs, they'll do them. If you're not, it will be harder for them to do so. So as you're developing your KPIs, think about where you want your team to spend their time. If that's where they're spending their time today, great. Write some KPIs that will add motivation to their already busy days. If, however, they're spending times on areas where you don't want them to focus, use the KPI rollout to pivot their time and attention to an area that will be a better use of their time.
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