Customer Success Metrics Every CSM Should Know

Are you tired of juggling too many metrics and still feeling unsure about your customers' true health? For many Customer Success Managers (CSMs), the challenge isn’t a lack of data – it’s figuring out which metrics really matter and how to track them effectively. 

In this blog, we’ll walk through the key customer success metrics you should focus on and how to manage them efficiently. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to use these metrics to improve your processes and learn how certain tools can help along the way. 

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Customer Health & Satisfaction Metrics

1. Customer churn rate

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Churn rate refers to the percentage of customers who leave or stop doing business with you over a given period. 

You need to track how many customers you lost in a specific period and divide it by the number of customers you had at the start of that period.

It’s one of the most critical metrics for Customer Success Managers because high churn rates directly impact your company’s growth and long-term sustainability. If customers are leaving faster than you can replace them, you’re in trouble.

The main challenge here is that churn is often the result of multiple issues – poor onboarding, lack of engagement, or misaligned expectations. To combat this, tracking and analyzing churn regularly helps identify the causes early on, allowing you to intervene before it’s too late.

You can calculate the churn rate of your business easily with this calculator. 

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer satisfaction and loyalty by asking a simple question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” A high NPS indicates strong customer loyalty, while a low NPS signals areas for improvement.

NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors (those who rate 0-6) from the percentage of promoters (those who rate 9-10) on a 0-10 scale. The higher the score, the more loyal your customers are.

One challenge with NPS is gathering timely and actionable feedback. Relying on manual surveys often results in incomplete data, making it harder to take meaningful action.

Automating these surveys is a great way to ensure consistent feedback collection and analysis. With Velaris, you can build customized NPS surveys and automatically analyze the responses in one place, enabling faster and more efficient feedback loops.

Find out the NPS score for your customers with the help of this calculator. 

3. Customer Health score

A Customer Health score is a predictive measure that uses various data points (like engagement, product usage, and support interactions) to assess the overall satisfaction and loyalty of your customers. It’s a vital metric for anticipating potential churn and identifying opportunities for upselling.

However, tracking all the necessary data points to calculate an accurate health score can be tricky. Many CSMs struggle to consolidate data from different sources, leading to an incomplete or inaccurate picture of customer health.

One way to fix this is by creating a template for health scores that your team can use to ensure you’re tracking the same metrics each time. The next way would be by automating the process using a system like Velaris that integrates data from all relevant touchpoints. 

Velaris offers the ability to monitor a customized customer health score by pulling in data from across your teams, ensuring you always have an up-to-date view of your customers’ well-being.

4. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) measures how satisfied your customers are with your product or service. It is typically collected through a survey after an interaction with your customer support or success team.

To calculate CSAT, you take the sum of customer satisfaction scores and divide it by the total number of respondents. Multiply by 100 to convert it into a percentage.

CSAT provides a snapshot of customer sentiment after a particular interaction, often related to support or success touchpoints. The key to maximizing CSAT is context: understanding not only the score but also the underlying reasons for it. 

A low CSAT score following a support interaction, for example, could reveal pain points in your support process or product issues. Dive deeper into the “why” behind the score, including factors like response time, ease of interaction, and resolution quality, to improve future customer experiences.

Use this calculator to find out your CSAT score easily. 

5. Customer Effort Score (CES)

Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the ease of a customer’s experience with your product or service. It is typically gathered after a support interaction or any service request.

CES is a powerful metric for understanding the friction in the customer experience. A high CES suggests customers are experiencing frustration, which can lead to disengagement or churn. 

To make the most of CES, look at trends over time and correlate them with specific touchpoints in the customer journey. Is the effort required higher during certain stages, like onboarding or renewals? 

By identifying stages where customers struggle the most, you can fine-tune your processes to minimize effort and create a smoother overall experience.

Revenue & Retention Metrics

6. Net Revenue Retention

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) measures the percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers over a specific period, factoring in expansions, downgrades, and churn.

To calculate NRR, take the starting revenue from existing customers at the beginning of the period, add any expansion revenue from upsells or cross-sells, subtract any revenue lost due to churned or downgraded customers, then divide the result by the starting revenue and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

A high NRR indicates strong customer retention and expansion, reflecting customer satisfaction and the value they find in your product. Companies with high NRR grow revenue without relying solely on new customers, signaling healthy business growth.

NRR can be tricky to track, since it involves several other metrics which can complicate revenue measurement. Churn rate, for instance, has a delayed impact on revenue, particularly in businesses with annual contracts. This lag can make it harder to track the immediate effect of customer losses.

Having real-time analytics and deep visibility into customer revenue trends is crucial for overcoming the complexities of monitoring NRR. 

Use this calculator to help you out in calculating NRR. 

7. Renewal Rate

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Renewal Rate measures the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions at the end of a contract period. A higher renewal rate indicates strong customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

To calculate Renewal Rate, divide the number of customers who renew their subscriptions during a given period by the total number of customers who were eligible for renewal, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

This metric focuses on the ability of your customer success team to retain customers year-over-year. It’s essential to track this metric against customer segmentations, as certain segments (such as long-term customers) might have a higher renewal rate than others. 

By identifying which customer types are renewing versus those that aren't, you can uncover potential risk factors. Offering personalized renewals based on the customer's journey or usage history can also increase the likelihood of retaining them.

8. Customer lifetime value (CLV)

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Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a projection of how much revenue a customer will bring to your business over the course of their relationship with you. It’s an essential metric for understanding the long-term impact of your customer relationships and making strategic decisions about resource allocation.

To calculate Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), multiply the average revenue per customer by the average customer lifespan (in years or months), which gives you the total revenue expected from a customer over their entire relationship with your business.

Calculating CLV can be challenging, especially if data is siloed across sales, marketing, and support teams. Without a comprehensive view, it’s difficult to gauge the full impact of a customer relationship. As we said before, integrating tools that unite this data would be a more efficient way of accurately measuring such metrics.

This calculator can also make things easier in calculating CLV. 

9. First Contact Resolution (FCR) 

First Contact Resolution (FCR) measures the percentage of customer issues that are resolved on the first interaction. A high FCR suggests that your support and success teams are highly efficient.

First Contact Resolution is an important efficiency metric, but it’s also closely tied to customer satisfaction. Customers appreciate when their issues are resolved immediately without having to escalate. 

Tracking this metric over time allows you to identify common issues that often require follow-up, giving your team an opportunity to address these proactively through better training, FAQs, or more thorough troubleshooting tools.

Engagement & Adoption Metrics

10. Product Adoption Rate

Product Adoption Rate measures the percentage of customers actively using your product’s features. This metric gives insight into how well customers are engaging with the core aspects of your product.

A low adoption rate can indicate that your customers aren’t experiencing enough value to fully engage with the product. 

To get actionable insights from this metric, track it against specific customer segments, such as onboarding progress or feature usage frequency. This enables you to understand which features are popular and which may need improvement or better user education.

11. Time to Value (TTV)

Time to Value (TTV) measures the time it takes for a customer to realize the value of your product or service after onboarding. A shorter TTV means customers are more likely to see the product’s benefits quickly, which can lead to higher retention.

Tracking TTV by customer segment and correlating it with churn and satisfaction levels can provide useful insights. For instance, does TTV vary depending on the product version or customer type? 

By accelerating TTV through streamlined onboarding and targeted customer success interventions, you can improve overall retention and satisfaction.

You can use this calculator to calculate TTV.

12. Feature Usage 

Feature Usage tracks how often specific features of your product are being used. This metric helps identify which features your customers value most.

It’s important to not just measure overall usage but also which specific features are being used and which are being ignored. 

This gives you valuable insights into how customers are benefiting from the product, and can highlight areas where additional training or onboarding may be needed. 

Also, it provides opportunities for cross-selling or upselling underused features that could provide additional value to customers.

Customer Acquisition & Growth Metrics

13. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing, sales, and other associated costs. 

To calculate CAC, divide the total sales and marketing expenses by the number of new customers acquired during a specific period.

Beyond simply calculating this, look at it alongside your CLV to determine whether your customer acquisition strategies are sustainable in the long run. 

A high CAC can indicate inefficiencies in your marketing or sales approach, while a low CAC might mean you're not investing enough in attracting the right customers.

14. Onboarding Completion Rate

Onboarding Completion Rate measures the percentage of customers who successfully complete the onboarding process. A higher completion rate suggests that customers are more likely to fully engage with the product.

A successful onboarding process is critical to customer retention, as it sets the stage for engagement. Tracking which customers complete onboarding versus those who drop off can help you identify friction points in the process. 

For example, a significant drop-off after the first week could indicate that the initial onboarding steps are overwhelming or unclear.

15. Upsell & Cross-sell Revenue

Upsell and cross-sell revenue measures the additional revenue generated from upselling or cross-selling to existing customers. It’s a key indicator of customer expansion and helps you understand the effectiveness of your sales strategy.

This metric provides insight into how well you are nurturing customer relationships and identifying opportunities for growth. 

A strong focus on customer success can lead to natural upsell and cross-sell opportunities by ensuring customers are fully engaged and using your product to its full potential. To improve these numbers, track which upsell offers are most successful and tailor future campaigns accordingly.

In the next section, we’ll explore how to choose the right metrics for your business and why focusing on the most relevant ones will set you up for success.

How to choose the right metrics for your business

One of the biggest hurdles in Customer Success is figuring out which metrics to focus on. It’s easy to get caught up in tracking everything, thinking that more data will lead to better decisions. 

But in reality, tracking too many metrics can be overwhelming. Instead of giving you clarity, it often causes confusion and dilutes your focus. Here are some guidelines to pick the right metrics: 

Align with Business Goals

Keep it simple and focus on the metrics that directly impact your business goals and customer satisfaction. Ask yourself: what do you need to know to ensure your customers are happy, and how does that connect to your company’s bottom line? 

For example, if you want to increase retention, focus on metrics like churn rate and NRR.

Map the Customer Journey

You can map out your customer lifecycle and identify key stages. Then you can choose metrics that reflect success at each stage.

For example:

• Acquisition Stage: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Conversion Rate.
• Onboarding Stage: Time to Value (TTV), Onboarding Completion Rate.
• Engagement Stage: Feature Adoption, Active Users.
• Retention Stage: NPS, Renewal Rate, Churn Rate.

Prioritize Actionable Metrics

Select metrics you can influence through specific actions. For instance, if low product usage impacts retention, you can run campaigns to encourage feature adoption or provide targeted training.

Avoid focusing on vanity metrics (e.g., high page views) that look good but don't offer meaningful insights by themselves.

Adapt Regularly

Metrics that are relevant today may not remain so as your business evolves.
For example, Early-stage startups may prioritize CAC, while mature businesses might focus on NRR and CLV.

Regularly assess your chosen metrics and refine them based on shifting goals and market dynamics.

By narrowing your focus to a few key metrics, you’ll not only gain better insights but also reduce the complexity of your day-to-day operations. 

Next, we'll dive deeper into how you can automate the process of tracking these metrics.

Automating your customer success metrics tracking

When you’re handling multiple customer accounts and tracking various metrics, manual processes can quickly become overwhelming. It’s easy for important details to slip through the cracks, and the time spent managing these processes often outweighs the benefits. That’s why automation isn’t just a luxury – it’s a necessity for today’s Customer Success teams. 

Reducing manual tasks and increasing efficiency

Manual tracking can lead to errors, inconsistencies, and wasted time. You’re stuck sifting through data, updating spreadsheets, and manually analyzing trends. This not only makes your job harder but also delays the actionable insights you need to improve your customer relationships. 

Automating routine tasks – like updating customer health scores or tracking NPS responses – frees up your time to focus on high-impact activities, like strategic planning or customer engagement.

With automation, you can ensure accuracy and reduce human error. Instead of spending hours on repetitive tasks, you can rely on tools that handle the data collection and analysis for you, giving you more confidence in the metrics you’re tracking. 

For instance, you can automate key aspects of your processes using Velaris' drag-and-drop automation builder. This tool allows you to set up workflows that track and monitor customer success metrics without the need for constant manual input.

Real-time visibility for better decision-making

Another challenge many CSMs face is dealing with outdated or fragmented data. Real-time visibility into your key metrics helps you make informed decisions faster, whether it’s identifying an at-risk account or spotting upsell opportunities.

A centralized dashboard is essential for bringing all your metrics into one view. Instead of jumping between multiple systems, you can track customer health, churn risk, and customer satisfaction in real time, ensuring that you’re always up to date. 

Velaris’s dashboard provides this kind of unified visibility, making it easier to stay on top of your metrics and make quick, data-driven decisions that benefit both your team and your customers.

By automating your customer success metrics tracking and gaining real-time visibility, you’ve already taken a big step toward a more efficient and proactive approach to managing your customer relationships. 

Conclusion

Focusing on the right customer success metrics is essential to truly understanding your customers and making informed decisions that drive long-term success. 

But tracking those metrics manually can lead to errors, lost time, and missed opportunities. By automating your processes and bringing all your key metrics into one place, you can eliminate inefficiencies and act on insights much faster.

If you’re looking to reduce manual work and gain better control over your customer success metrics, book a demo today and see how Velaris can help you address the challenges you face.