Through my experience supporting customers at HubSpot, I’ve seen how challenging it can be to balance retention and customer outcomes. That’s where health scores become truly invaluable, cutting through the complexity and letting you zero in on what matters most. If you’ve ever wished for a clearer way to prioritize your day or a smarter way to plan renewals, this guide is for you. Let’s dive in and unlock the potential of retention health scores together!

 

What is a Health Score? 

 

A health score is a simple number that shows how well a customer is doing with your company. It’s like a quick health check: the score combines things like how often the customer uses your product, their engagement with your team, how many support tickets they have, and what kind of feedback they give. A high score usually means the customer is happy and doing well, while a lower score can be a sign that they might need some extra help or attention.

 

How to set up a Health Score? 

 

Service Hub Professional customers can create 1 health score. With Enterprise, you can create up to 10 health scores. 

 

• Define customer health: Start by clarifying what “customer health” means for your business. Determine which outcomes or behaviors signal that a customer is thriving or at risk (for example, product usage frequency, support tickets closed, NPS, renewals, or engagement rates). This definition should align with your goals for customer success.

• Set your predictive metrics: Identify specific, measurable indicators that can predict customer health status. These might include usage data, logins, product adoption rates, time to first value, or customer satisfaction survey results. Choose metrics that are both actionable and aligned with your definition from Step 1.

• Create a scoring system: Develop a system that assigns values to each metric and combines them into a single health score. Decide how each metric will be weighted based on its importance, and establish thresholds for what counts as “healthy,” “at risk,” or “needs attention.” This could be a simple points system or a more advanced algorithm, depending on available data.

 

To get started with Health Scores, head to the Customer Success Workspace in your HubSpot account. Click the settings icon in the top right-hand corner and navigate to the Health Scores tab. Choose “Create Health Score”—you’ll have the option to pick a prebuilt template or start from scratch. 

• With a template, you can tailor suggested groups like Engagement or Ticket Volume, removing any that don’t fit your strategy. If you’d rather build your own, simply add the relevant groups and rules that make sense for your customers.

When configuring your score, set rules that track the properties or behaviors most important to your business, such as product usage, feedback, or support ticket volume. Assign weights to each group to reflect what matters most for a healthy customer. 

• For example, if product usage drives retention, give it a higher weight. Keep your groups focused—three to five is best practice—and ensure the total adds up to 100 points.

Once you’ve set your weights and rules, review your score setup, preview the results, and save. Remember, you can update your health score anytime as you learn and your customer strategy evolves. This flexible approach keeps your scoring meaningful as your business grows.

Here are step-by-step instructions with further details on creating a health score in the customer s...

 

Where to find my live Health Score? 

 

You can find the health score in two main places within HubSpot. First, when viewing an individual contact or company record, the health score will appear as a card on the sidebar, making it easy to see that customer’s status in detail. 

 

 

 

 

Second, in the Customer Success Workspace, you can add the “Health Score” column to your view, allowing you to quickly scan and compare the status of all your customers at a glance. Here are instructions on editing your Customer Success Workspace view and how to access the Health Score Card. 

 

 

 

Best ways to leverage Health Scores:  

 

• Spot customers who might need help: In the Customer Success Workspace, use the Health Score column to quickly find customers with low scores.
• Focus your time: Create customized views or saved filters in HubSpot to see which customers need support the most, so you can reach out sooner.
• Personalize your service: Check each customer’s health score on their record sidebar and adjust your playbook or conversation using HubSpot’s call and email tools.
• Act early: Set up workflows to trigger follow-up tasks or reminders in HubSpot whenever a customer’s health score changes.
• Plan for renewals and upgrades: Use Deals and Pipeline features, along with Health Scores, to get ready for renewal talks or to spot expansion opportunities.
• Share results with your team: Build and share dashboards or reports in HubSpot, so everyone can see customer health at a glance and prioritize together.

 

Ready to put your customer health score knowledge into practice? If you’re a Service Hub Professional or Enterprise customer, join our small group coaching session, “Build with HubSpot: Retention Health Scores.” In this live, hands-on workshop, you’ll work with HubSpot experts and peers to build, customize, and analyze your Customer Health Score directly in the Customer Success Workspace. It’s the perfect way to boost retention, predict churn, and transform your customer success strategy using real data. Register for an upcoming session here! 

For ongoing learning and best practices, check out these helpful self-service resources:

• Customer Success and Account Health Checks – HubSpot Academy
• HubSpot Academy Short Video: Health Scores
• Customize a Health Score in the Customer Success Workspace – HubSpot Knowledge Base

Let these resources and our live session guide your journey to improved retention and stronger customer relationships!