CS Ops Consulting Case Study: How 90 Days Transformed NRR
TL;NR
This post shows how a fractional CS Ops consulting engagement can fix onboarding, retention, and expansion in just 90 days.
-What the client’s challenges were
-What we actually implemented
-The impact on NRR and forecasting
-Why short-term consulting often beats a full-time hire
The Challenge
A SaaS company with 4 CSMs and $10M ARR was hitting a wall.
Renewals were unpredictable
No shared onboarding process
Dashboards weren’t trusted by leadership
Expansion was happening by accident
They knew they needed CS Ops but didn’t want to hire full-time yet.
The Approach: 90 Days of CS Ops Consulting
We scoped the work into three sprints:
Month 1: Audit & Setup
Mapped customer journey end-to-end
Defined core metrics (TTFV, NRR, Expansion %)
Cleaned Salesforce + HubSpot integration
Month 2: Playbooks & Workflows
Built onboarding checklist with TTFV targets
Automated renewal countdown playbook
Added expansion alerts based on usage triggers
Month 3: Dashboards & Alignment
Built NRR dashboard execs could trust
Created renewal forecast reviews with Sales + CS Ops
Documented CS Ops roadmap for the next 6 months
The Results
Time-to-First-Value: cut from 45 → 28 days
Renewal forecast accuracy: improved from ~50% → 85%
Expansion pipeline: identified $1.2M in upsell opportunities
CSM admin time: reduced by 30% through automation
Why Consulting Worked Better Than a Hire
Faster start (1 week vs 2–3 months to hire)
Cheaper ($30k project vs $120k+ annual salary)
Outcome-focused vs role-focused
For early-stage or mid-stage teams, consulting provides clarity and systems before you commit to full-time.
Final Thought
CS Ops isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s the engine of retention and expansion.
And you don’t always need a full-time hire to get it.
Ready to See What CS Ops Consulting Could Do for You?
📞 Book a free consultation
In 90 days, you can turn churn chaos into predictable NRR.
