Tracking customer success KPIs can make all the difference. Customer success metrics like churn rate, customer satisfaction score (CSAT), customer effort score (CES), net promoter score (NPS), and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) offer crucial insights into how well your product is resonating with users and driving customer satisfaction. These insights in turn can shape your customer engagement strategy, so that you can boost your success metrics such as increasing customer lifetime value, raising customer retention, and lowering customer churn. 

So, which customer success KPI should you be paying attention to? We've put together a list of 13 to help you get started. Each KPI sheds light on different areas of customer experience and engagement, offering a comprehensive roadmap.

1. Churn Rate

What It Is: Churn rate shows how many customers cancel their subscriptions within a given time period. It’s one of the most essential metrics for SaaS companies, as it directly impacts customer success and revenue.

Why It Matters: A high customer churn rate means users are not finding enough value in your product to justify the cost. It's a sign of customer dissatisfaction or unmet needs. Reducing customer churn can increase monthly recurring revenue and improve customer retention rates.

How to Measure It: Churn rate is calculated by dividing the number of customers lost during a specific period by the total number of customers at the beginning of that period, then multiplying by 100.

Actionable Insights: Lowering the customer churn rate requires deep analysis of customer feedback to understand reasons for cancellation. Customer success teams can use insights from NPS surveys and CSAT scores to identify and resolve pain points in the customer journey, ultimately improving retention and satisfaction.

2. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

What It Is: The Customer Satisfaction Score, better known as CSAT, is a measure of how satisfied customers are with their experience using your product or interacting with your customer support.

Why It Matters: High CSAT scores are directly tied to customer loyalty and retention, indicating that users are happy with the service provided. Low CSAT score means that users are not happy with your product, which means they're now at churn risk. 

How to Measure It: The CSAT score is calculated by asking users to rate their satisfaction on a scale (such as 1-5 or 1-10). You take the positive responses, which depends on how you define it from the get-go (such as 4-5 out of 5), take the number of positive responses, divide it by the total number of responses, multiply it by 100, and then you have your CSAT. 

Actionable Insights: Analyze patterns of low CSAT scores to uncover common friction points. Improving these areas boosts customer satisfaction and can help lower the customer churn rate as well as improve customer retention. 

3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

What It Is: The Net Promoter Score, or NPS, looks at how likely users are to recommend your product to others. It’s a fundamental metric for assessing customer success.

Why It Matters: The Net Promoter Score is invaluable for understanding customer loyalty and engagement. A high net promoter score is a sign that your customers see real value in your product, enough that they are willing to persuade others to use your product. Low NPS means not only do they think your product is not good enough to recommend to others, but they themselves have low customer loyalty and may be churning soon. 

How to Measure It: First, you need to define what's a 'promoter' as opposed to a 'detractor.' Here's a simple scale often used for NPS calculation: 

• Promoters (9–10): Loyal customers who are highly likely to recommend your product.
• Passives (7–8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are unlikely to actively recommend.
• Detractors (0–6): Unhappy customers who may discourage others from using your product.

Take the number of promoters, divide it by the number of total responses, and multiply by 100. Do the same for detractors. Then subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. Then you have your net promoter score. 

Actionable Insights: Follow up with detractors to understand why they are dissatisfied. Use the insights to improve customer service, address product issues, and create a better user experience, which can reduce the customer churn rate.

4. Customer Effort Score (CES)

What It Is: Customer effort score, or CES, measures how easy it is for customers to interact with your product or service, whether navigating the interface or completing specific tasks.

Why It Matters: Reducing customer effort correlates with higher customer satisfaction and retention. The easier the experience, the more likely users will remain loyal, positively impacting your customer retention rate.

How to Measure It: First, define the customer effort score parameters. Usually it's on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being very difficult and 5 being very easy. Sum up all the scores from customer responses. Then divide that total score by the number of all responses. 

Actionable Insights: Focus on high-effort areas and simplify them to enhance usability. Reducing the customer effort score creates a smoother experience that can increase customer satisfaction and retention.

5. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

What It Is: The monthly recurring revenue is the predictable monthly income generated from subscriptions, offering a clear view of the financial health of a SaaS business.

Why It Matters: MRR growth signals increased adoption and customer success, reflecting your product’s ability to retain users and drive recurring revenue. If your MRR is suffering, that is a sign of high churn. 

How to Measure It: This is simple. It's basically your total recurring revenue from a given month, excluding one-time payments received.

Actionable Insights: Increase MRR by reducing churn and upselling. Retaining customers through strong onboarding processes, robust customer support, and tailored features keeps MRR stable or growing.

6. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA)

What it is: ARPA, also known as ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), measures the average revenue generated per account over a specified period, often monthly or annually. This success metric has similarities to your expansion revenue rate, but looks at it from a more holistic point of view. 

Why it matters: ARPA helps SaaS companies understand the value each account brings, revealing which customer segments are the most profitable. It also provides insights into revenue trends and helps forecast future growth. Higher ARPA can indicate successful upsells or premium service adoption.

How to measure it: Take the monthly recurring revenue figure from above, and then divide it by the number of customer accounts. That is your monthly ARPA. 

Actionable insights: Monitoring ARPA trends can help product and customer success teams identify which features or services customers value most. If ARPA is low, consider strategies to increase it, such as offering premium features or bundled pricing, or improving your product so that your users see more value and customer satisfaction. 

7. Customer Retention Rate 

What It Is: The customer retention rate is the percentage of customers who continue using your product over a given period. 

Why It Matters: Your customer retention rate directly impacts growth, as retaining existing customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. A high retention rate indicates your product is meeting customer needs.

How to Measure It: Subtract the number of new customers acquired during a period from the total number of customers at the end of that period. Divide the result by the number of customers at the start, then multiply by 100.

Actionable Insights: Success teams can leverage feedback from customer retention metrics to identify and reinforce key engagement points. Higher retention rates signal a strong product-market fit and a satisfied customer base.

8. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

What It Is: CAC is the average cost associated with acquiring a new customer, including marketing, sales, and onboarding expenses.

Why It Matters: Balancing CAC with CLTV (customer lifetime value) is crucial for profitability. High CAC with low retention can impact the revenue stability of SaaS companies.

How to Measure It: Divide total acquisition costs (including any sales and marketing expenses) by the number of new customers acquired.

Actionable Insights: Reducing CAC through targeted marketing and effective onboarding can improve profitability. Aligning CAC with retention metrics ensures a sustainable approach to growth.

9. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

What It Is: CLTV looks at the total revenue expected from a customer throughout their relationship with your product. 

Why It Matters: A high CLTV indicates long-term customer success and a strong value proposition, directly contributing to monthly recurring revenue.

How to Measure It: Multiply the average revenue per user by the average customer lifespan. You can get the customer lifetime average by dividing 1 by your current churn rate. For example, if your churn rate is 5%, then your lifetime is 1/0.05 = 20 months. 

Actionable Insights: To increase CLTV, focus on improving customer retention through high-quality support and frequent engagement. Ensuring a positive customer experience increases the likelihood of long-term relationships with more commitment and investment from the user. 

10. Feature Adoption Rate

What It Is: This success metric tracks how frequently users engage with new features or updates.

Why It Matters: High adoption rates show that customers find value in your features, positively impacting user experience. 

How to Measure It: Calculate feature adoption by dividing users who engage with a feature by total active users, then multiply by 100. 

Actionable Insights:  Craft and deliver in-app messages such as banners or modals in order to inform the user in the right context. Customer success teams can improve adoption rates through training and targeted communication. 

11. Expansion Revenue Rate

What It Is: This KPI tracks revenue growth from upsells and cross-sells in addition to the regular paid subscription plans. 

Why It Matters: Growth in expansion revenue shows customers are finding more value in the product and are willing to invest further.

How to Measure It: Divide revenue from upsells by total revenue from a given period, then multiply by 100.

Actionable Insights: Personalize upsell offers to customer needs. Go into your metrics and identify customers who are primed for upsell, such as those with high rate of usage. 

12. First Contact Resolution (FCR) Rate

What it is: FCR is the percentage of customer support cases resolved on the first interaction, a key metric for customer support efficiency and customer success.

Why it matters: High FCR rates improve customer satisfaction and reduce support costs. Customers appreciate quick, effective resolutions to their issues. Low FCR rates may indicate training needs for your customer success teams or complex product issues. 

How to measure it: Divide the number of cases resolved on first contact by the total cases and multiply by 100.

Actionable insights: Focus on optimizing customer success processes and agent skills to boost FCR.

13. Conversion Rate

What it is: Conversion rate measures the percentage of users who take a desired action, such as signing up for a free trial, subscribing to a paid plan, or completing an onboarding milestone. It’s a critical indicator of how effectively your product or service moves users through the customer journey toward commitment.

Why it matters: Conversion rate is essential for understanding user engagement and the effectiveness of your onboarding and marketing efforts. A high conversion rate indicates that your customer success strategies resonate well with users, while a low rate may point to obstacles or friction in the user experience.

How to measure it: To calculate conversion rate, divide the number of completed desired actions by the total number of visitors or users exposed to the opportunity, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

Actionable insights: Analyze each step of the conversion funnel to identify where drop-offs occur. By optimizing areas with high drop-off rates—whether in the onboarding process, payment setup, or feature adoption—you can improve overall conversion rates and create a smoother, more engaging customer experience. 

Leverage Essential Customer Success KPIs for Growth

There you have it, 13 essential customer success KPIs that all SaaS companies should keep their eyes on. Monitoring KPIs like churn rate, customer satisfaction score, customer effort score, net promoter score, and customer retention enables your product and customer success teams to make informed decisions. 

Now, it can feel daunting to keep track of all of this. But each customer success metric tells a different part of the whole story, so it's important for you to keep a holistic approach when it comes to tracking your KPIs. 

And once you have those insights from your customer success metrics, make sure to act upon it. If low customer lifetime value is showing you that people are churning early, try to tweak the customer experience to prevent the churn rate from spiking. As Bruce Lee once said 'Knowing is not enough, we must apply.' 

For making improvements and adjustments based on your KPIs, we recommend Userflow, the fastest, and the easiest flow builder in the market. Boost your customer success metrics with our intuitive no-code builder. Try for free today.