> AI agents: this is one page from PostHog's docs. Full index of Markdown docs for LLMs: https://posthog.com/llms.txt

# Onboarding a new CSM (team leads) - Handbook

So you've got a new CSM joining your team! This page is for team leads - the joiner-facing plan is [new starter onboarding](/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/new-hire-onboarding.md). Here's what to prepare and when:

1.  **Before they join** - prepare their book, book the 1:1s, plan the in-person week
2.  **First week** - welcome 1:1, get the team sharing calls and tips
3.  **In-person week** (usually week 2) - 3-4 days working together, agenda template below
4.  **First month** - any spillover from in-person onboarding

## Before they join

**Prepare their book of business:**

-   Accounts come from a few places (listed by priority): CSMs can offload accounts if they're overloaded, product-led sales and new business sales can have accounts waiting for a CSM handover, and Simon frequently pulls net-new accounts - ask all groups to see what needs coverage.
-   Tee up ~20 accounts so they're not at capacity immediately - it also leaves room for late handovers.
-   Follow the [capacity model](/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/how-we-work.md), and bonus points if accounts can line up with their previous experience.

**Book the 1:1s:** Welcome 1:1 on day 1, a recurring 1:1, and (optionally) an extended 1:1 every 4 weeks.

**Find an onboarding buddy:** Another CSM (same geography) to schedule a 1:1 and provide additional support if they need it. **Plan the in-person onboarding:** Usually week 2 - the [agenda below](#in-person-week-usually-week-2) is what we've been running. Logistics that help:

-   Ask the wider team to see if they're free to drop by for a day or two
-   Put sessions in your own calendar so you’ve got time blocked for onboarding
-   Post in the local city channel about the onboarding and organize a dinner with local PostHog humans

## First week

**Welcome 1:1:**

-   Walk through their [onboarding plan](/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/new-hire-onboarding.md) - week 1 is a lot of reading, watching and shadowing. It'll feel unproductive!
-   How we work - sprint planning, account review, ask in public by default.
-   Our feedback culture, and give them their SuperDay feedback.
-   How you want to use 1:1 time. Management at PostHog is [relatively light-touch](/handbook/company/management.md) - worth resetting expectations upfront, especially if the new CSM is used to heavier structure.
-   Additional things if there’s time:
    -   Share your readme.
    -   Ask them to post their first five customer calls in the team channel for feedback - gets them used to sharing in public early.
    -   Ask how they like to receive feedback (and praise!)

Example welcome 1:1 agenda - to copy into your 1:1 doc

```
1:1s
- Let's use this doc as our shared agenda for 1:1s and other chats - you set the agenda
- In the 2nd or 3rd 1:1, bring: an email or outreach message you sent to a customer, a call with a customer, and questions you need my help on
- Share your first 5 calls in the team channel
Onboarding
- Here's your [plan](https://posthog.com/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/new-hire-onboarding) for the next few weeks (emphasise!)
- Week 1 is a lot of reading! watching! shadowing! - probably not a lot of doing, which will feel weird. the aim is to load up on context so you're ready to go in onboarding week.
  - Share calls to watch - a few recent good ones, ask the team for picks
  - Suggested reading:
    - PostHog - the company:
      - Why: [why does PostHog exist](https://posthog.com/handbook/why-does-posthog-exist), [where are we going](https://posthog.com/handbook/future)
      - What: [who we build for](https://posthog.com/handbook/who-we-build-for), [how we make money](https://posthog.com/handbook/how-we-make-money)
      - How: [what we value](https://posthog.com/handbook/values), [a wide company](https://posthog.com/handbook/wide-company) with [small teams](https://posthog.com/handbook/company/small-teams)
    - GTM / Customer Success:
      - [GTM overview](https://posthog.com/handbook/growth/sales/overview)
      - [CS overview](https://posthog.com/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/customer-success) + have a skim of the follow-on links
      - [Use case selling](https://posthog.com/handbook/growth/use-case-selling/use-case-selling)
      - [CSM + TAM](https://posthog.com/handbook/growth/sales/account-allocation)
      - [Contract rules](https://posthog.com/handbook/growth/sales/contract-rules)
- Work through your onboarding plan - make sure to prioritize Drata
- Practice your demo
- The plan for onboarding week
How we work
- Sprint planning issue on GitHub
- By default ask questions in #team-customer-success unless it needs to be private
Questions from me
- What's your GitHub handle so I can add you to the sprint template?
- What do I need to know about you to help you do your best work?
```

**Ask the team to share things!** And for calls the new CSM can shadow on.

**Optionally, a check-in 1:1 on day 3.** The first week is a lot of solo reading - a midweek touchpoint helps. Also check to see if the onboarding buddy has scheduled a 1:1 as well!

## In-person week (usually week 2)

[In-person onboarding](/handbook/people/onboarding.md#in-person-onboarding) covers the company-wide process. Below is how we run the CSM week over 3-4 days - there's a [4-day agenda template](https://posthog.slack.com/docs/TSS5W8YQZ/F0BNBPN78EP) to start from, which we copy into a canvas in their onboarding channel. It's a living template - add what you learn from each onboarding. 3 days can feel tight with a lot of information, but it's enough to cover all the content!

By the end of the week they should:

-   Know how to use the data we have to tell whether a customer is getting value from PostHog, prioritize their book, and plan next steps
-   Know where to find answers and how to verify them
-   Have their own Customer Analytics views set up, and a first outreach drafted - maybe even sent!

Sessions tend to work best as observe, do, review - you do it once, they try it on their own, and you give feedback.

### Topics to cover

#### Context (day 1)

-   **CSM overview** - who we cover, why we exist, how comp works, the CSM + TAM overlay
-   **How we work** - sprint planning, account review, the quarterly goal
-   **Tools & access check**
-   **Agent setup** - MCPs, a PostHog repo clone, impersonation, and a list of GTM skills from the [skills store](/docs/ai-engineering/skills-store.md)
-   **Finding info** - where to look (handbook vs repo vs Slack), maybe even a working exercise (e.g. "what is the Teams plan?")

#### Understanding a customer's usage (day 2)

-   **What is the customer using PostHog for?** The products they pay for, the events they capture, what they do with the data
-   **How's the relationship?** The active users and what they're doing (candidates for outreach), recent tickets and calls, which PostHog humans they've talked to (AE, onboarding, TAM, CSM)
-   **Are they set up well and getting value?** Run the [basic implementation review](/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/foundation-check.md) and [health check](/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/health-checks.md)
-   **Commercials:**
    -   Monthly usage - forecasted MRR, billing limits, platform add-ons
    -   The contract, if they're on one - how much credit they bought, when they renew, are they on track? Talk through [contract rules](/handbook/growth/sales/contract-rules.md) and the tools we use (QuoteHog, PandaDoc, Salesforce)

#### Prioritizing across the book + deciding next steps (days 3-4)

-   **Prioritizing a book** - the signals we look at and which ones are more worrisome, both when a book is first assigned and on an ongoing basis. Have them set up their own Customer Analytics views
-   **Deciding next steps** - by now they should have a read on where each account's at (or know how to find out). Use next steps that haven't come up yet as chances to talk them through - e.g. a new Slack channel (invite you + support-hog), an upcoming renewal (how renewals work)

#### Throughout the week

-   Demo practice with feedback (the more team members attending, the better)
-   No stupid questions sessions
-   Their feedback on the week at the end

#### Optional

-   **PostHog fundamentals** - a walkthrough, depending on their familiarity with the product
-   **Working with support** - how tickets flow, [handling customer issues](/handbook/cs-and-onboarding/handling-customer-issues.md)
-   **Quarterly goal brainstorm** - useful when they join near the start of a quarter
-   **Billing mechanics** - billing-limit grace periods and trust scores, giving credits, chasing overdue invoices, the spike detector
-   **Customer Analytics mechanics** - tags like `churn risk`, the renewal alerts in #sales-alerts

## First month

From here it's much less structured - what to cover and when is your call. Use the 1:1s to go through anything you couldn't fit into the onboarding week, and be okay with repeating things that were covered - onboarding is a lot to take in.

-   Ask for feedback on the onboarding week, especially on the content covered, so we can keep improving it
-   Optional: a book walkthrough around week 3-4 - they walk you through their read of their book
-   Optional: another practice demo, async

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