SaaS Metrics Palooza 2023 (Event Summary)

Customer Success Metrics That Investors Love

with Kelly Capote, Gainsight

DEAR = deployment engagement adoption ROI
CS BoD Slide Template Pack
Know your cost to retain – average CS spend as a % of ARR = 5.1% (down from 6% in 2022)
CS = customer outcomes (CO) + customer experience (CX)
Adoption is necessary and but sufficient; in addition, measure verified outcomes relative to customer goals

with Bill Binch, Battery Ventures

Demos are a leading indictor & pipeline is a lagging indicators
Present a 5 quarter view so you can see trends and seasonality
Average revenue per employee (APE) targets by ARR band:
- $20-50M: $100-$150K
- $50-100M: $150-175K
- $100-200M: $175-200K
- $200-300M: $200-300K
- $300M+: > $300K
Measure the % of reps at/above quota each quarter
Benchmark your pipeline conversion rate (what % of your start of Q pipeline did you actually convert in Q)
Each Monday morning, look at the number of customer/prospect meetings each AE has scheduled for the week. In addition, look at the number they complete including those that were created & closed in the week.
Know your actual quota capacity relative to plan
Net pipeline (daily/weekly/monthly):
- + new business added
- – new business lost
- + expansion added
- – expansion lost
- + dollars pulled in from future quarters
- – dollars pushed out to future quarters
https://www.battery.com/blog/must-have-dashboards/
Excessive data in a board deck signals that you are defending (or trying to obfuscate) poor performance

Ryan Neu, Vendr

The buying cycle (not sales cycle) is 44 days for new purchases and 58 days for renewals
The three yeses: finance, legal, and security
Negotiation is the longest phase of the buying cycle taking 22 days. Legal takes 11 days and security 9 days. A big reason is because sellers have control of pricing & discounting.
Buyers who buy because of an attractive discount are less likely to renew.
Provide transparency into the variables that go into discounts or simply eliminate discounting.

with Amit Bendov, Gong

When rep attainment is poor, start by figuring out if people are doing what you are asking them to do. If they are not, then you need to coach the individual. If they are, then you need to change your strategy/approach.
Measure the extent to which your buyer’s CxOs are involved in your deals
Reps only follow up with 50% of emails within 24 hours

with Patrick Campbell, ProfitWell/Paddle

Besides spending on ads, there are two other ways to create pools of people who are aware of you
- Premium/PLG
- High value content (ex: podcast; teardowns; etc.)
Treat direct traffic you cannot attribute as ‘word of mouth’ and measure it as a source where cost is spending on brand
Hug your content die-hards even if they are not viable buyers since they will help you amplify your message
Make sure your other channels are in a good place before investing in media such as podcasts
Treat audience building like a product. Audience building requires producing strong enough content that people want to tune in week after week. Get their feedback and optimize.

with Alex Clayton, Meritech Capital

with Byron Deeter & Sameer Dholakia, Bessemer Partners