How do you think about shared KPI’s with your sales team? And what are ones that customer success teams often miss?

Unlike a lot of Customer Success departments, we’ve chosen to align our team to customer KPIs rather than commercial/upsell targets. As such, we have less overlap in goals between CS and Sales. Of course, we’re both targeting Gross Renewal Rate and ensuring we maintain the customer base, but we don’t extend that to upsell targets in the same way as commission-based CS teams.

Currently, we’re focused on exploring how we can share “time spent” efficiency and reach KPIs to help keep us accountable for spending as much face time with our customers, tech, and agency partners as we can over the course of many key city hubs whilst being mindful of the cost of trips.

Shared KPIs between sales and customer success teams foster collaboration and alignment toward common goals, and it depends on how the organization is structured regarding these shareable metrics with departments.

Key shared KPIs include Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), Customer Retention Rate, Net Promoter Score (NPS), Expansion Revenue, Customer Onboarding Time, and Customer Satisfaction Metrics.

Additionally, the ones we miss often or should track are Product Adoption and Usage, Health Scores, Customer Journey Milestones, and Customer Education and Training to drive long-term success and to the lagging indicators.

Yes, I think it is great to have share KPIs between Customer Success and Sales Teams.

Alignment: Shared KPIs foster alignment between Sales and Customer Success, ensuring that both teams are working towards common objectives.

1. Collaboration: Encourages collaboration and communication between sales and post-sales teams, leading to a more cohesive customer experience.

2. Accountability: Shared ownership of KPIs promotes accountability and a sense of shared responsibility for customer outcomes.

3. Customer-Centric Focus: Allows both teams to focus on the entire customer journey rather than just their respective parts, leading to improved overall customer satisfaction and retention.

By sharing KPIs, Sales and Customer Success teams can work hand-in-hand to acquire, retain, and grow customer relationships effectively, ultimately driving sustainable business growth and success.

Best KPIs for Customer Success and Sales Team Shared Ownership

1. Customer Retention Rate (CRR)

   • Reason: Both teams share responsibility for ensuring that customers continue their relationship with the company.

2. Churn Rate

   • Reason: Helps identify how many customers discontinue services and understand the effectiveness of customer satisfaction efforts.

3. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV or CLTV)

   • Reason: Indicates the total revenue a business can reasonably expect from a single customer account, emphasizing collaborative efforts to maximize customer value.

4. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

   • Reason: Reflects customer satisfaction and loyalty, indicating the likelihood of customers referring the company to others.

5. Upsell and Cross-sell Revenue

   • Reason: Highlights how well both teams collaborate to drive additional sales and expand within existing customer accounts.

6. Time to First Value (TTFV)

   • Reason: Measures how quickly a new customer starts realizing value from the product or service, essential for setting the initial tone and expectations.

Effective Shared KPIs:

1. Deal Quality Metrics

• % of deals meeting minimum readiness criteria

• Technical fit score accuracy

• Implementation scope accuracy vs reality

• Time from close to successful onboarding

2. Revenue Collaboration

• Account expansion rate from CS-identified opportunities

• Renewal rates by sales rep/deal type

• Joint upsell win rates

• Reference customer creation rate

Commonly Missed Opportunities:

1. Pre-Sale Engagement Impact

• Win rates with CS involvement vs without

• POC success rates with CS guidance

• Risk assessment accuracy

• Technical validation completion rates

2. Early Warning Signals

• Implementation milestone variances

• Usage vs committed volumes

3. Deal Quality Feedback Loop

• % of deals requiring unplanned resources

• Customer effort scores in first 90 days

• Feature usage alignment with sales use cases

• Actual vs forecasted support needs

Key Success Factors:

• Share visibility into metrics both ways

• Define clear handoff criteria

• Create regular feedback mechanisms

• Align compensation on shared outcomes

• Build joint account planning process