Top KPIs for CROs at Growth-Stage PE-Backed Companies

As the simplest level, here are the fundamental KPIs every Chief Revenue Officer should focus on in Growth PE.

 

New Logo Sales  / New Customer Acquisition

Note: these should be measured per segment / per team / per territory, etc.

  • # of New Business (aka New Logo) Opportunities in the Sales Pipeline (and inflow over 4-8 quarters, by month)
  • % Win Rate (only after your Sales Process is well-engineered, defined and optimized)
  • $ACV / $TCV (and ACL – average contract length)
  • $MRR / $ARR over time
  • Win Cycle (aka Sales Cycle Duration – can be per segment/vertical/team/geo/prod)
  • $ New Business Bookings (sales bookings for New Business, aka: New Logo Sales)
    • don’t confuse $ARR with $Bookings – $ARR can increase even if $Bookings don’t
  • Pipeline Inflow (Opportunities Created)
    • by # Count and $ Amount
  • Sales Efficiency
    • CAC Ratio & CAC Payback

 

Expansion Sales

  • $ Cross-Sell
    • products from add-on acquisitions
  • $ Upsell
  • Expansion CAC Ratio
  • Expansion $MRR and $ARR

 

Customer Retention

  • % GRR – Gross Revenue Retention
  • % NRR – Cohort Analyses & NRR (good = 115%+)
    • i.e. not Churn
  • Renewal rates
  • Logo Retention

 

Overall Revenue and Customer Growth & Health

  • Net $MRR and Growth Trend
    • i.e. Net $MRR = Existing $MRR + ($ New Business + $ Expansion + $ Reactivation) – ($ Down-sell Contraction + $ Churned)
  • Net $ARR and Growth Trend
  • Customers – # and % Growth
  • Customer NPS
  • $ARPA