Customer Success Metrics
Metrics for measuring customer health, retention, and expansion.
Note: NRR and GRR definitions follow SMSB standards as defined in Core Metrics.
Retention Metrics
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
See Core Metrics for full definition.
Customer Success owns NRR as the primary outcome metric.
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
See Core Metrics for full definition.
GRR isolates the retention component, removing the influence of expansion.
Logo Retention Rate
Definition: The percentage of customers retained over a period.
Formula:
Logo Retention Rate = (Customers at end - New customers) / Customers at start × 100
Or simply:
Logo Retention Rate = 100% - Logo Churn Rate
What it tells you: Customer retention independent of revenue. Are you keeping relationships?
Health Metrics
Customer Health Score
Definition: A composite score predicting likelihood of retention or churn.
Formula:
Health Score = Weighted average of health indicators
Core indicators (choose 5-10):
| Indicator | Typical Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Product usage frequency | 25-35% | Are they using it regularly? |
| Feature adoption depth | 15-25% | Are they using key features? |
| Support sentiment | 10-20% | Are support interactions positive? |
| Engagement/responsiveness | 10-15% | Do they respond to outreach? |
| Contract/renewal status | 5-15% | How long until renewal? |
| Payment health | 5-10% | Do they pay on time? |
| Onboarding completion | 5-10% | Did they fully onboard? |
Important: Weights should be customized based on correlation with actual churn in your business. Usage and adoption typically carry the most weight. Segment customers (by size, industry, lifecycle stage) for more accurate scoring.
Scoring:
- 0-40: At risk (red)
- 40-70: Needs attention (yellow)
- 70-100: Healthy (green)
What it tells you: Which customers need attention before they churn.
Industry adoption: Only ~42% of CS teams track health scores, despite evidence that AI-enhanced scoring can predict churn 3-6 months in advance with 85%+ accuracy.
Sources:
- Gainsight: Customer Health Score
- Vitally: Customer Health Score Guide
- Custify: Customer Health Score Guide
Health Score Coverage
Definition: The percentage of customers with a health score calculated.
Formula:
Health Score Coverage = Customers with health score / Total customers × 100
Target: 100% of managed accounts, or all accounts above a revenue threshold.
What it tells you: Whether you have visibility into customer health.
At-Risk Customer Rate
Definition: The percentage of customers flagged as at-risk.
Formula:
At-Risk Rate = Customers with health score < 40 / Total scored customers × 100
Benchmarks:
- Below 5%: Healthy portfolio
- 5-10%: Normal, requires attention
- 10-20%: Elevated risk
- Above 20%: Portfolio in trouble
Engagement Metrics
Quarterly Business Review (QBR) Completion Rate
Definition: The percentage of eligible accounts that completed a QBR.
Formula:
QBR Completion = QBRs completed / QBRs scheduled × 100
Target: 90%+ for enterprise/strategic accounts
What it tells you: Are you maintaining strategic relationships?
Executive Sponsor Coverage
Definition: The percentage of accounts with an identified and engaged executive sponsor.
Formula:
Exec Sponsor Coverage = Accounts with active exec sponsor / Total managed accounts × 100
What it tells you: Do you have senior relationships? Predicts resilience during renewals.
Contact Coverage
Definition: Average number of engaged contacts per account.
Formula:
Contact Coverage = Total engaged contacts / Number of accounts
Target: 3+ contacts per account
What it tells you: Are you single-threaded? Multi-threading reduces churn risk.
Expansion Metrics
Expansion Revenue Rate
Definition: Expansion MRR as a percentage of beginning MRR.
Formula:
Expansion Rate = Expansion MRR / Beginning MRR × 100
Benchmarks:
- Below 10%: Limited expansion motion
- 10-20%: Moderate, typical for early-stage
- 20-30%: Strong, solid benchmark for growth stage
- 30-40%: Excellent, typical at $15M+ ARR
- 40%+: Exceptional, common in usage-based or high-ARPA models
By company stage:
- Early stage (<$1M ARR): ~10% from expansion (90% new customers)
- Growth stage ($1M-$20M ARR): 20-30% from expansion
- Scale stage ($20M+ ARR): 35%+ from expansion
- Mature ($200M+ ARR): Up to 66% from expansion
What it tells you: Are you growing existing customers? As companies mature, expansion becomes the dominant growth driver.
Sources:
Upsell Rate
Definition: The percentage of eligible customers who upgraded.
Formula:
Upsell Rate = Customers who upgraded / Customers eligible for upgrade × 100
What it tells you: Upgrade conversion effectiveness.
Cross-sell Rate
Definition: The percentage of customers who purchased additional products.
Formula:
Cross-sell Rate = Customers who bought additional product / Total customers × 100
What it tells you: Multi-product adoption and stickiness.
Renewal Metrics
Renewal Rate
Definition: The percentage of contracts renewed at term.
Formula (by logo):
Renewal Rate = Contracts renewed / Contracts up for renewal × 100
Formula (by value):
Renewal Rate = ARR renewed / ARR up for renewal × 100
Always specify logo or value basis.
Benchmarks:
- Below 85%: Concerning, indicates retention problem
- 85-90%: Below average
- 90-95%: Good (90% is the industry norm per 2025 data)
- 95%+: Excellent, top-quartile performance
By segment:
- SMB: 85%+ is good (higher churn expected)
- Mid-market: 90%+ is good
- Enterprise: 95%+ expected
Sources:
Renewal Forecast Accuracy
Definition: How accurately renewals were predicted.
Formula:
Forecast Accuracy = 1 - |Forecasted renewals - Actual renewals| / Actual renewals
Target: >90%
What it tells you: Can you predict revenue? Important for planning.
Days to Renewal
Definition: Average number of days until upcoming renewals.
What it tells you: Renewal workload distribution. If clustered, capacity may be strained.
Productivity Metrics
Accounts per CSM
Definition: The number of accounts assigned to each Customer Success Manager.
Formula:
Accounts per CSM = Total managed accounts / Number of CSMs
Benchmarks by touch model:
| Model | Accounts per CSM | Typical ACV |
|---|---|---|
| High-touch Enterprise | 10-50 (median ~22) | $100K+ |
| Mid-touch | 50-100 (median ~49) | $25K-$100K |
| Low-touch/SMB | 100-250 | $5K-$25K |
| Tech-touch/Digital | 300-500+ | <$5K |
By account value:
- <$25K ACV: Up to 200 accounts
- $25K-$100K: 100-150 accounts
- $100K-$500K: 50-100 accounts
- $500K+: 10-25 accounts (high-touch required)
Important: There’s no universal standard. The right ratio depends on product complexity, customer needs, and engagement model. Calculate based on capacity: reserve ~2/3 of CSM time for customer-facing work.
Sources:
ARR per CSM
Definition: Total ARR managed by each CSM.
Formula:
ARR per CSM = Total managed ARR / Number of CSMs
Benchmarks:
| Segment | ARR per CSM |
|---|---|
| Enterprise | $2M-$5M (69% manage >$2M) |
| Mid-market | $2M-$5M (spread across more accounts) |
| SMB | $1M-$2M |
Distribution (Gainsight data):
- Median (50th percentile): $1.4M
- Top quartile (75th percentile): $4.2M
Common rule of thumb: Hire 1 CSM per $2M ARR.
CS team cost benchmark: Customer Success should cost 5-15% of ARR (under 10% for companies >$100M ARR).
What it tells you: CSM productivity and capacity planning.
Sources:
- Gainsight: CS Team Planning & Cost Benchmarks
- ChurnZero: CS Capacity Planning
- Tomasz Tunguz: How Much ARR Can a CSM Manage?
Summary Table
| Metric | Type | Primary Indicator Of |
|---|---|---|
| NRR | Retention | Revenue sustainability |
| GRR | Retention | Baseline retention health |
| Customer Health Score | Health | Churn risk prediction |
| At-Risk Rate | Health | Portfolio risk level |
| Expansion Rate | Growth | Upsell/cross-sell effectiveness |
| Renewal Rate | Retention | Contract renewal success |
| Accounts per CSM | Productivity | Team capacity |