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What are your nonnegotiable Rev Ops metrics specifically for Customer Success and Renewals? (I.E., Retention revenue-focused KPIs.)

I lead CS and Renewals Management and view our partnership with Rev Ops as critical to scaling success.
Sowmya Srinivasan
HubSpot Vice President of Revenue OperationsNovember 27

When we think of some core KPIs, the buckets that are critical to understand - 

  • Direct impact on revenue/growth: These metrics directly reflect your ability to retain/grow customers and generate recurring revenue and accelerate growth.

  • Actionable insights: Insights enable outcomes. Identify areas for risk and opportunity to operationalize the CS strategy

  • Leading indicators:While outcomes are paramount, key metrics, like CSAT, usage insights (product adoption), customer engagements etc can help assess risk and opportunity, and help us take proactive steps to deliver the right business and customer outcomes.

Here are some critical CS Revenue focused KPIs (not necessarily in order) -

  • Revenue Retention (NRR/GRR):  Measure Gross & Net Revenue Retention. It tells  how much recurring revenue we are getting from existing customers, factoring in upsells, cross-sells, and churn. NRR > 100% ⇒means we are not just retaining revenue, but growing it from an existing customer base.  

  • Customer Churn Rate (Full Churn & Contraction): The flip side of retention. It measures the rate at which we are losing customers.. I would say this is the most important indicator, as even small increases can significantly impact the bottom line. Deeply analyze, understand drivers to identify areas impacting customer experience and need attention.  

  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): This predicts the total revenue we can expect from a customer throughout their relationship with your company. A higher CLTV means more profitable customers, so focus on strategies that increase it (e.g., onboarding, engagement, upselling).  

  • Renewal Rate: A straightforward but crucial metric. It shows the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions. Track this over time and dig into why customers don't renew to address any underlying issues.  

  • Product Adoption- Usage : This measures how well customers are using the product or service. Higher adoption usually correlates with higher satisfaction and retention. Monitor feature usage and identify any roadblocks hindering adoption.  

  • Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS): These gauge customer experience and happiness. While not directly revenue-focused, they're strong indicators of future retention. Unhappy customers are more likely to churn, so address issues promptly and proactively.  

  • Time to Value (TTV): How long does it take customers to realize value from the product? A shorter TTV leads to quicker wins, increased satisfaction, and higher retention. Optimize onboarding and ongoing value process to accelerate TTV. 

It is also important to understand the leading indicators (for your core KPIs) to ensure you are able to operationalize the strategy to impact both top line and bottom line growth. Good Luck!

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