Top 10 Customer Success metrics and KPIs

Customer Success is a strategic approach that focuses on driving customer satisfaction, retention, and business growth. To effectively manage and enhance the customer experience, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential. In this post, we delve into the top 10 Customer Success KPIs that are crucial for evaluating and optimising the success of customer-centric initiatives.

Join us as we explore these metrics that provide insights into customer satisfaction, engagement, loyalty, and the overall health of customer relationships. By aligning your efforts with these KPIs, you can deliver exceptional value to customers, drive business growth, and foster long-term success.

Benefits of tracking Customer Success metrics and KPIs

Having Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) around Customer Success is crucial for businesses as it enables them to:

• Measure Customer Satisfaction: KPIs help track and assess customer satisfaction levels, allowing businesses to understand how well they are meeting customer needs and expectations.
• Retain and Grow Customer Relationships: By monitoring KPIs related to customer retention and expansion, businesses can identify at-risk customers, take proactive measures to address their concerns, and nurture relationships for long-term success.
• Drive Business Growth: Effective Customer Success KPIs enable businesses to align their strategies and efforts with customer needs, leading to increased customer loyalty, positive word-of-mouth referrals, and ultimately, business growth.
• Enhance Customer-Centric Approach: KPIs foster a customer-centric culture within an organisation, as they encourage teams to prioritise customer success and focus on delivering value.

By tracking relevant metrics, businesses can make data-driven decisions, align their efforts with customer needs, and continuously improve their products, services, and processes.

The top 10 Customer Success KPIs and metrics

#1 Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction measures the level of satisfaction and happiness among customers with the products or services they have received. It provides insights into the overall customer experience, identifies areas for improvement, and helps build strong, long-lasting relationships. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Zendesk
• HubSpot
• SurveyMonkey

#2 Customer Retention Rate

Customer Retention Rate measures the percentage of customers that a business retains over a specific period. It indicates the effectiveness of customer retention strategies, reflects customer loyalty, and helps in identifying areas for improvement. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Salesforce
• Intercom
• Mixpanel

#3 Churn Rate

Churn Rate measures the percentage of customers who cancel or stop using a product or service over a given period. It helps businesses understand customer attrition and the effectiveness of retention efforts. Lowering churn rate is essential for business growth. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Totango
• ChartMogul
• ProfitWell

#4 Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a measure of customer loyalty and satisfaction. It assesses the likelihood of customers recommending a product or service to others. NPS helps businesses understand customer sentiment and identify brand advocates. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Delighted
• Medallia
• Promoter.io

#5 Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) represents the predicted net profit a customer will generate throughout their relationship with a business. It helps measure the long-term value of customers and guides decision-making regarding customer acquisition and retention strategies. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Kissmetrics
• CleverTap
• Gainsight

#6 Customer Engagement Score

Customer Engagement Score measures the level of interaction and involvement customers have with a brand, product, or service. It helps assess the effectiveness of customer engagement strategies and indicates the overall health of customer relationships. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Pendo
• Amplitude
• Mixpanel

#7 Upsell/Cross-sell Revenue

Upsell/Cross-sell Revenue tracks the additional revenue generated by upselling or cross-selling to existing customers. It measures the success of upselling and cross-selling strategies, highlights growth opportunities, and helps increase customer lifetime value. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Pipedrive
• HubSpot CRM
• Salesforce

#8 Customer Effort Score (CES)

Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the level of effort customers have to put in to interact with a company or use its products or services. It evaluates the ease of doing business and helps identify areas where customer experience can be improved. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• GetFeedback
• Nicereply
• SurveyMonkey

#9 Product Adoption Rate

Product Adoption Rate measures the rate at which customers adopt and start using a new product or feature. It helps evaluate the success of product launches, feature rollouts, and onboarding processes. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• Amplitude
• Mixpanel
• Pendo

#10 Customer Referral Rate

Customer Referral Rate measures the percentage of customers who refer others to a product or service. It indicates customer satisfaction and loyalty, helps identify brand advocates, and facilitates organic growth through word-of-mouth referrals. SaaS tools that can provide this KPI include:

• ReferralCandy
• Ambassador
• Extole

How to use Customer Success metrics with OKRs

To maximize the impact of Customer Success initiatives and drive organizational success, it is essential to combine your KPIs with Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). While OKRs provide a framework for setting ambitious goals and outlining desired outcomes, KPIs offer the necessary metrics to track progress and evaluate performance.

Here's how to effectively integrate Customer Success KPIs with OKRs:

1. Align KPIs with OKRs: Select measurable KPIs that directly contribute to achieving the desired outcomes outlined in the OKRs.
2. Set ambitious targets: Establish specific and challenging targets for each KPI to drive continuous improvement aligned with OKRs.
3. Monitor and track progress: Regularly monitor and track the performance of KPIs in relation to the corresponding OKRs.
4. Analyze and evaluate results: Analyze the data collected from KPIs to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives in achieving OKR outcomes.
5. Make data-driven adjustments: Utilize insights from KPIs and OKR progress to optimize strategies, resource allocation, and interventions for better alignment and progress towards organizational goals.

Best tools to track OKRs with KPIs:

• Tability
• Google Sheet