Once your customers have decided to buy, strategic metrics can help keep track of how your customers are using your product and your capacity for growth in the long term. (Please note, we use the label “strategic” for metrics that typically capture the Lead and Expand stages.)

For example: what is the # of Daily Active Users (DAU)? Monthly Active Users (MAU)? Out of all your users, what % are active? Though these basic metrics will be helpful, there’s probably a better, more specific usage metric for your particular product. For example, for Slack the key usage metric was the number of messages sent by a particular date.

When it comes to your long term growth, the most important numbers are your $ Gross Renewal, % Renewal, and Net Promoter Score (NPS). How many of your customers are choosing to renew, and how many would recommend you to others? What is your $ of Upsells? What is your % Expand and your % penetration of the market?

Key strategic metrics:

• Gross $ Renewals. What % of the revenue you booked last year renewed this year? How sticky is your product, how important is it to your customers?
• Expand %. How many of your customers are expanding?
• Net $ Retention. How much money are your existing customers giving you per year? If your Net Retention is over 1, your customers are giving you more money every year.
• Cohort Analysis can help you compare progress on all these metrics over time.

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