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KPIs and Targets

Principle: measure 10 things well, not 100 things poorly. Every team has 2-3 north-star metrics, 3-5 leading indicators, and 2 health indicators. Anything not in this doc is a vanity metric.

1. The KPI cascade​

                        Board metric (1)
                        ARR + NRR + Runway
                              │
                ┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
                ▼             ▼             ▼
         Exec metric    Exec metric    Exec metric
         (CRO)          (CMO)          (VP CS)
         New ARR        Pipeline       NRR + Churn
              │             │             │
        ┌─────┼─────┐  ┌────┴────┐  ┌────┴────┐
        ▼     ▼     ▼  ▼         ▼  ▼         ▼
       AE   ISR   BDR  Demand Brand  Onbrd Reten
                                     ing

2. Board-level KPIs (monthly to board, quarterly published)​

KPIDefinitionFY26 targetFY27 targetCadence
ARRAnnual run-rate revenue₹22 Cr₹120 CrMonthly
NRRNet revenue retention (existing customers, incl. expansion + churn)≥ 108%≥ 115%Quarterly
GRRGross revenue retention (no expansion)≥ 92%≥ 94%Quarterly
Logos (paying)Customers paying KeyNova4502,000Monthly
CAC paybackMonths to recover blended CAC from gross margin≤ 18 mo≤ 14 moQuarterly
LTV/CACLifetime value : CAC ratio (3-yr)≥ 3.0≥ 4.0Quarterly
Gross margin(Revenue - COGS) / Revenue≥ 70%≥ 75%Monthly
Burn multipleNet burn / net new ARR≤ 2.5≤ 1.5Monthly
Runway (months)Cash / monthly burn≥ 18≥ 24Monthly
NPS (customer)Net Promoter Score, weighted≥ +45≥ +55Quarterly

3. Sales KPIs​

CRO / VP Sales — primary​

KPIFY26 targetFY27 targetNote
New ARR (gross)₹16 Cr₹85 Crsourced + influenced
Quota attainment (team-weighted)≥ 85%≥ 92%
Pipeline coverage3.5× quota4.0× quotarolling 90d
Sales cycle (median by tier)per tier in [[Sales Process]]-10% YoY
Win rate (qualified pipeline)≥ 28%≥ 35%tier-blended
Average Contract Value (ACV)₹6 lakh₹7 lakhblended
Net new logos2001,550excluding T1 PLG

Inside Sales (ISR) — per rep​

KPITargetNote
Quota (annual ARR)₹70 lakhT2/T3 mix
Activity: dials/day50tracked via Aircall
Activity: demos/month12qualified
Activity: proposals/month4sent
Activity: closed deals/quarter6T2/T3 mix
Win rate≥ 30%
Pipeline self-coverage3×rolling 60d

Enterprise AE — per rep​

KPITargetNote
Quota (annual ARR)₹3.5 CrT4/T5
Named accounts25active engagement on 80%+
Demos delivered8/monthsenior stakeholders
Pilots in flight2-3continuous
Closed deals/year8T4/T5 mix
Average deal size₹50 lakh
Pipeline coverage4×rolling 120d

SDR/BDR — per rep​

KPITarget
Meetings booked / month22
Conversion to demo≥ 65%
Conversion meeting → SQL≥ 40%
Outbound emails/day80
InMails/day15
Dials/day50
Cold response rate≥ 4%

4. Marketing KPIs​

CMO — primary​

KPIFY26 targetFY27 target
Marketing-sourced pipeline (₹ Cr)860
Marketing-influenced pipeline (₹ Cr)22130
MQL / month (steady state)6002,500
SQL / month100400
MQL → SQL conversion≥ 16%≥ 18%
SQL → opportunity conversion≥ 35%≥ 40%
Brand search volume (monthly)4,00030,000
Cost per SQL≤ ₹14k≤ ₹9k
Marketing-sourced CAC≤ ₹3 lakh≤ ₹2.5 lakh
Marketing share of pipeline35%40%

Demand Gen lead​

KPITarget
Paid CPSQL≤ ₹14k
Webinar attendees (per session, avg)≥ 250
Webinar attendee → SQL conversion≥ 8%
Event SQL ROI (per event)per event-specific target
Email open rate≥ 26%
Email CTR≥ 4%

Content + SEO lead​

KPIFY26 targetFY27 target
Pillar articles published cumulative60200
Organic monthly visitors35,000200,000
Top-10 ranking keywords25100
Top-3 ranking keywords840
Domain Authority2540
Backlinks earned80250
Organic-driven SQLs/month60250

Customer Marketing lead​

KPIFY26 targetFY27 target
Published case studies840
Reference-able customers60200
CAB members active1218
Customer-generated content (testimonials, social)20100
Win-stories captured50200

5. Customer Success KPIs​

VP Customer Success — primary​

KPIFY26 targetFY27 target
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)≥ 108%≥ 115%
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)≥ 92%≥ 94%
Logo churn rate≤ 12%≤ 8%
Revenue churn rate≤ 8%≤ 6%
Customer NPS (30-day)≥ +45≥ +55
Customer NPS (annual)≥ +40≥ +55
Expansion ARR as % of total ARR10%20%
Customer Health Score average≥ 75≥ 80

CSM (per rep)​

KPITarget
Books retained ($)≥ 95% YoY
Expansion within book ($)≥ 15% YoY
Health Score for book (avg)≥ 75
CSAT≥ 4.4/5
At-risk customers managed proactively100% within SLA

Implementation Manager​

KPITarget
Implementations on time≥ 90%
Implementations on budget≥ 95%
Day-30 NPS≥ +40
Day-90 NPS≥ +50
Hyper-care P0 incidents0

Support​

KPITarget
First response SLA met (P0/P1)≥ 98%
Resolution SLA met≥ 95%
CSAT per ticket≥ 4.5/5
Ticket reopen rate≤ 5%
24×7 staffing coverage100%

6. Partnerships KPIs​

Director of Partnerships — primary​

KPIFY26 targetFY27 target
Total partners signed3580
Producing partners (1+ closed deal)1850
Partner-sourced pipeline (₹ Cr)1260
Partner-sourced closed-won (₹ Cr)3.525
Partner-sourced as % of total pipeline15%30%
Partner NPS≥ +30≥ +50
Annual partner churn≤ 25%≤ 15%

7. PLG-specific KPIs​

PLG Lead — primary​

KPIFY26 targetFY27 target
Paid PLG customers2001,500
Trial signups / month6002,500
Trial → paid conversion≥ 30%≥ 35%
Activation rate (first reservation < 24h)≥ 65%≥ 75%
Time to first paid usage< 7 days median< 5 days median
PLG NPS≥ +40≥ +50
PLG LTV/CAC≥ 4×≥ 5×
PLG ARPU (annual)₹40k₹45k
Monthly active rate≥ 85%≥ 90%
PLG churn (monthly)≤ 3%≤ 2%

8. Compensation tied to KPIs​

RoleVariable %Tied to
VP Sales / CRO50%New ARR + NRR
Enterprise AE40%Personal quota + win rate
ISR30%Personal quota + activity
SDR/BDR35%Meetings booked + qualified pipe
CMO35%Marketing-sourced pipe + brand metric
Demand Gen lead30%CPSQL + SQL volume
VP CS40%NRR + GRR + customer NPS
CSM30%Retained $ + expansion $ + NPS
Implementation Manager25%On-time delivery + Day 30 NPS
Partnerships Director35%Partner-sourced ARR
PLG Lead30%Paid customers + activation + churn

9. Reporting cadence​

Daily (15 min, standup)​

  • New deals closed
  • New PLG signups
  • Open P0 incidents
  • Hot-leads queue depth

Weekly (60 min, exec)​

  • New ARR + pipeline by stage
  • Top 10 deals walked through
  • Top 10 customer health concerns
  • Hiring updates

Monthly (4 hours, exec offsite)​

  • Full board-pack dry run
  • All KPIs vs plan
  • Cash burn vs runway
  • Hiring vs plan
  • Roadmap adherence

Quarterly (full day)​

  • Strategy retro
  • Pricing review
  • Competitive teardown refresh
  • Comp adjustment review
  • Customer Advisory Board input

Annual​

  • Board strategy day
  • Pricing reset
  • Comp design review
  • Hiring plan reset
  • Brand health survey

10. Dashboard hierarchy​

"One Dashboard Per Persona" rule​

Every role gets a single dashboard. No clicking through 5 tabs.

CEO Dashboard (weekly)​

  • ARR + NRR trend (12-month)
  • Cash runway
  • Pipeline coverage
  • Closed-won by tier
  • Customer NPS

CRO Dashboard (daily)​

  • Pipeline by stage, by source
  • Quota attainment by rep
  • Top 20 deals at risk
  • Win/loss ratio (rolling 90d)

CMO Dashboard (daily)​

  • MQL/SQL volume + trend
  • Pipeline by channel
  • CPSQL by channel
  • Content + SEO health
  • Event ROI

VP CS Dashboard (daily)​

  • Customer Health Scores
  • At-risk customer queue
  • NPS trend
  • Expansion pipeline
  • Renewal forecast (next 6 months)

Founder Hotline Dashboard (real-time)​

  • Active P0/P1 incidents
  • Customer escalations
  • Top deal of the week status

11. Metric definitions (avoid ambiguity)​

Pipeline​

TermDefinition
PipelineSum of (open opportunity ACV × stage probability)
Qualified pipelineStage 2+
Best-case pipelineStage 5+ (Proposal sent)
Committed pipelineStage 6+ (Verbal commit)
Closed pipeline (this period)Closed-won in the reporting window

Revenue​

TermDefinition
ARRAnnual run-rate of recurring contracts (excludes one-time implementation)
New ARRARR from new logos in the period
Expansion ARRARR from existing customers (module add, multi-property, upsell)
Contraction ARRARR lost from downgrades (not churn)
Churn ARRARR lost from customers who left
Net new ARRNew + Expansion - Contraction - Churn

Customer​

TermDefinition
LogoA paying customer entity (could have multiple properties)
PropertyA single property under a customer
ACVAnnual Contract Value (for a single account)
ARPUAverage Revenue Per User (per customer entity)
LTVLifetime value (3-year discounted gross margin)
ChurnCustomer cancels with no expansion remaining

12. The "leading indicator" set​

These tell you next quarter's results before they happen:

Leading indicatorPredicts
Demos delivered / weekPipeline 30 days out
New logos sourced through partnersPartner program health
Trial activation rate (PLG)Paid signups 14 days out
Customer Health ScoreChurn 90 days out
Webinar attendanceMQL volume next quarter
Content publishing velocityOrganic SQLs next 90-180 days
Open ticket queueCustomer churn risk
Hiring velocityQuota capacity next quarter
Decision-maker engagement (T4/T5)Enterprise wins 6 months out

13. Anti-patterns we avoid​

  • Vanity metrics (followers, likes, "reach") that don't tie to revenue
  • Lagging metrics only (ARR is necessary but not sufficient)
  • Hiding bad numbers (we publish every metric to entire company weekly)
  • Comparing to easy benchmarks (compare to best-in-class SaaS, not industry average)
  • Punishing transparency — exec who flags a missed target gets credit, not pressure to hide
  • Adjusting metrics retroactively to match outcome — definitions are locked at quarter start
  • Adding metrics without retiring — every new metric replaces one

14. Year-3 stretch goals​

By end of FY28 (if executing well):

  • ARR: ₹400 Cr
  • Logos: 5,000+
  • NRR: ≥ 130%
  • Burn multiple: < 1.0 (efficient growth)
  • Profitable
  • Series B / C closed
  • Indian #2 PMS by share, gaining on #1

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 — needs board + CFO + CEO sign-off