t0ddc3by/claude-for-customer-success/capacity-planner

/cs-ops:capacity-planner

Know whether CSMs have too much on their plate — and what to do about it.

[PROPOSED]

Use when

• Quarterly planning requires current CSM load vs. target ratio analysis
• Building a headcount request and need data to justify the hire
• A CSM is departing and you need to assess coverage impact and redistribution options
• Red-tier concentration in a segment suggests a coverage problem rather than a

product or relationship issue

• A segment analysis has flagged a coverage gap and you need the capacity follow-up

Downstream dependency: After this skill produces capacity analysis, use the Rev-Ops plugin's closed-won-to-cs-capacity-modeling skill to model whether CS can absorb projected closed-won volume given current capacity (if the rev-ops plugin is installed, run /rev-ops:closed-won-to-cs-capacity-modeling).

Do NOT use for

• Segment-level health analysis (use /cs-ops:segment-analyzer)
• Updating target CSM-to-account ratios in config (use /cs-ops:customize --section ratios)
• Updating the CSM team roster (use /cs-ops:customize --section team)
• Individual account ownership reassignment (handle directly in CRM)

Typical Activation

• /cs-ops:capacity-planner — current capacity snapshot across all segments (default)
• /cs-ops:capacity-planner --current — same as default; explicit current-state view
• /cs-ops:capacity-planner --headcount — headcount requirement analysis with hire justification
• /cs-ops:capacity-planner --redistribution — account redistribution options given current team
• /cs-ops:capacity-planner --departure <csm-name> — coverage impact of a named CSM departure

Pre-flight

Read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-customer-success/cs-ops/CLAUDE.md and ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-customer-success/company-profile.md.

If either is missing or contains [PLACEHOLDER] markers, stop and prompt for /cs-ops:cold-start-interview.

Critical configuration to apply:

• Target CSM-to-account ratios per segment and motion
• Total CSM headcount and motion breakdown
• Segment definitions and assignment method
• CS motion type per segment

G-code dependency: All G-code guardrails referenced in this skill (G1–G9) are defined in the CLAUDE.md config loaded above. If Pre-flight halts or config is missing, G-codes are undefined — do not proceed with partial config.

Reasoning Protocol

Before generating output, apply these primers:

1. CLASSIFY: What type of capacity planning request is this?

• Current-State Audit: Snapshot of existing capacity — actual vs. target ratios, load distribution, overloaded/underloaded CSMs. Default mode.
• Headcount Justification: Building a hiring case — required FTEs at current or projected ARR against target ratios. Needs cost context and growth assumptions.
• Redistribution / Rebalancing: Balancing load across existing CSMs without adding headcount — account moves constrained by relationship continuity and renewal proximity.
• Departure / Coverage Crisis: CSM leaving or on leave; portfolio must be absorbed with urgency triage. Red accounts and imminent renewals get 24-hour assignment SLA.

1. CONSTRAINTS: What limits the solution space?

• G4: Verify a named capacity alert escalation path is configured before surfacing over/under-allocation flags — no generic "tell your manager."
• G5: Capacity reports contain ARR, contract terms, and per-CSM load — confidentiality check required before distributing beyond CS leadership.
• G7: Flag stale data with source date — CRM >7 days, CS Platform >3 days. Never silently present stale ratios as current state.
• G1: Capacity ratios are targets, not verdicts. A CSM at 110% is a flag, not a failure — surface deviation with context, not judgment.
• G2: Red accounts and accounts within 60 days of renewal are not movable without a warm handoff plan — redistribution math must respect relationship constraints.

1. EXPERT CHECK: What would a veteran CS Ops leader verify first?

• Are segment-level ratios decomposed, or is a healthy portfolio average masking a segment at 2x target? Always decompose before declaring capacity healthy.
• Are unassigned accounts (no CSM owner) surfaced separately with ARR and health distribution, or silently excluded from per-CSM averages?
• In departure scenarios: is the portfolio triaged into immediate-priority (Red + renewal <60 days + active escalation) vs. standard-priority, with different assignment SLAs?

1. ANTI-PATTERNS: Common capacity planning mistakes to avoid:

• Reporting portfolio-wide account-per-CSM averages without segment and motion breakdown — averages mask pockets of severe overload.
• Recommending account redistribution purely by count without checking renewal proximity, health status, or active escalations — relationship-blind moves worsen churn risk.
• Producing headcount recommendations without cost context or interim redistribution plan — hiring takes 3-6 months; the gap needs a bridge.
• Distributing a departing CSM's accounts evenly without urgency triage — flat distribution treats a Red account approaching renewal the same as a healthy Green account.
• Assigning accounts to receiving CSMs without showing their post-assignment capacity — solving one overload by creating another.
• Excluding unassigned accounts from the analysis — every account without a CSM owner is a coverage gap that must be surfaced.

After execution, verify:

• Does the assessment answer the implicit question ("do we have enough CSMs, and are they allocated correctly")?
• Are all ratios decomposed by segment and motion, not just portfolio-wide averages?
• Is the output mode (--current / --headcount / --redistribution / --departure) matched to the actual need?
• Confidence: [High] if CRM + CS Platform live and ratios configured / [Medium] if user-provided roster or partially stale / [Low] if ratios assumed or conversation-context only — state which.

Mode

--current: Current capacity state — actual vs. target ratios per CSM, load distribution, overloaded and underloaded CSMs. Default.

--headcount: Headcount requirement analysis — how many CSMs are needed based on current ARR, segment mix, and target ratios. Suitable for hiring requests or board presentations.

--redistribution: Account redistribution plan — which accounts should move between CSMs to balance load without hiring. Produces a specific redistribution recommendation.

--departure <csm-name>: Coverage plan for a CSM departure or leave — how to redistribute their accounts, which accounts need immediate attention.

Data gathering

Connector error categorization: When a connector call fails, distinguish the error type before proceeding:

• Rate-limited (transient): Connector returns HTTP 429 or equivalent throttle signal. Note the rate limit explicitly in output ("CRM data temporarily rate-limited — retry in 60 seconds recommended") and offer to retry rather than proceeding with degraded output.
• Unavailable (permanent for this session): Connector is not configured, authentication has expired, or service is down. Fall back to the manual-input path below and label all affected sections as "connector unavailable — manual input used."

Do not conflate these — a rate-limited connector will return data shortly; an unavailable connector will not.

Pull from connected integrations:

• CRM: account list with ARR, segment, CSM owner
• CS Platform: health scores per account, lifecycle stage, active CTAs
• CS-Ops config: target ratios per segment, headcount, motion assignments

If nothing is connected:

"For capacity planning, I need: total accounts, ARR, segment, health tier,

and CSM owner for each account. Share a roster export and I'll run the analysis."

Minimum required: account count per CSM, segment classification per account, and configured target ratios.

Current capacity assessment (--current)

CSM Capacity Assessment [Date] · [N] CSMs · [N] accounts · $[total ARR] · INTERNAL

Portfolio capacity summary

CSM-level capacity view

Capacity flags:

For each CSM carrying more than the configured target:

"[CSM name] is carrying [N] accounts vs. the [target]-account target for

[motion] CSMs — [+N] over capacity. Their Red account count is [N],

which is [above / at / below] the expected proportion for an over-capacity CSM.

This load should be relieved before the next renewal cycle." [review]

For each CSM carrying fewer than 80% of target:

"[CSM name] is at [N] accounts ([%] of target). They have available

capacity to absorb [N] additional accounts without exceeding the target ratio."

Capacity by segment

Segment interpretation: [1-2 sentences on the most significant segment capacity finding — where the gap is worst, and what it implies for health outcomes in that segment.]

Headcount requirement analysis (--headcount)

Headcount Requirement Analysis [Date] · For planning / hiring request use

Baseline inputs:

• Current ARR: $[total]
• Current accounts: [N]
• Target ratios: [Enterprise 1:[N] / Mid-market 1:[N] / SMB 1:[N]]
• ARR growth assumption: [If provided by user / Not provided — analysis uses current ARR only]

Required CSM headcount at current ARR:

Scenario: [N]% ARR growth (if growth assumption provided):

Headcount recommendation:

"[N] additional CSMs are needed to bring coverage to target ratios at current

ARR. Prioritize hiring for [segment] — this segment has the largest gap and

the highest ARR concentration. If headcount cannot be approved, redistribution

within the current team will bring [segment] to [N] accounts per CSM — still

above target, but lower than the current [N]." [review — confirm with CS lead]

Cost context: [If CSM fully-loaded cost is configured or provided: "At [cost] per CSM, [N] additional hires represent $[amount] in annualized cost." Otherwise omit.]

Account redistribution plan (--redistribution)

Account Redistribution Plan [Date] · For load balancing without hiring