Key Findings

  • An analysis by business software provider Certinia of publicly traded professional services companies shows a strong correlation between customer success strategies and stock price increases after quarterly earnings reports, with the related research results recently released.
  • Companies focused on customer success or net revenue retention (a measure of how much revenue a business retains from existing customers) are more likely to see the largest gains after earnings reports, the study noted.
  • "I think the biggest takeaway is that investors recognize and reward companies that prioritize customer success," said Damian Trzebunia, head of global product and solution marketing at Certinia, in an interview.

In-Depth Analysis

In a volatile economic environment, customer success has become a key strategy for sustaining growth and investor confidence, the report said.

The research results show that mentions of net revenue retention (NRR) and customer success in earnings calls rose by 38% and 11%, respectively, in 2023, and this upward trend continued into 2024.

Although these concepts have traditionally been associated with software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, Certinia's research reveals a shift: 18% of customer success mentions and 15% of NRR mentions came from non-SaaS organizations.

One example, the report noted, is the CEO of clinical research organization 10x Genomics, who described the company as "obsessed" with customer success in multiple earnings calls.

Certinia, a company that provides professional services automation software, said its research was based on an analysis of more than 4,000 quarterly earnings reports from over 430 leading publicly traded services companies between January 2022 and June 2025.

The report shows that among the top 100 quarters in the analysis, 22% of companies mentioned customer success or NRR, compared to an overall average of 15%. The best-performing companies spoke positively about NRR 70% of the time.

"This means customer success is a core part of their strategy, not just a vision," Trzebunia said. "It is embedded in the fabric of their go-to-market approach."