Customer success is difficult to measure because the goal — retained and expanded customers — is a lagging indicator. By the time churn shows up in your MRR, it's too late to intervene. The metrics below measure leading indicators that predict retention.
The 8 metrics that matter
1. Customer Health Score — composite leading indicator of churn risk. Use the Customer Health Score Calculator.
2. Time to First Value (TTFV) — days from signup to first meaningful outcome. Benchmark: < 7 days for self-serve, < 30 days for enterprise.
3. Feature Adoption Rate — % of customers using core features. Benchmark: 70%+ for the top 3 features.
4. Net Revenue Retention (NRR) — MRR from existing customers (including expansion, minus churn and contraction) / prior period MRR. Benchmark: > 100% (negative net churn).
5. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) — per-interaction satisfaction. Benchmark: > 85%.
6. Net Promoter Score (NPS) — willingness to recommend. Use the NPS Calculator.
7. Expansion MRR rate — new MRR from existing customers / total MRR. Benchmark: > 20% for healthy CS teams.
8. Churn Rate — % of customers (or MRR) lost each month. Use the Subscription Churn Calculator.