General & Definitions

Customer Success Portal

A shared workspace between a Customer Success Manager and their assigned accounts for joint success planning, business reviews, and ongoing communication.

Also known as: CSM portal, customer success manager portal

A customer success portal (or CSM portal) is the customer-facing surface used by Customer Success Managers to share executive business reviews, success plans, milestones, renewal materials, and ongoing communications with their accounts. It differs from a general customer service portal (which is support-focused) by emphasizing the proactive, strategic relationship between the CSM and the customer’s stakeholders.

Tools that specialize in CSM portals include Gainsight, Vitally, and Dock. For the SaaS terminology landscape, see our SaaS industry page.