Let’s just get it out of the way:
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our product to a friend?”
Translation (in SMB SaaS reality):
“Hey customer, can you please give us a number that makes our board deck look pretty, even if we never act on it?”
Welcome to the weird cult of NPS — the most overused, under-actioned metric in B2B SaaS.
But in 2025, your customers need more than a score. You need better signals. And your team? They need metrics that actually tell them how to help, where to act, and what’s driving (or killing) your revenue.
So today, we’re kicking NPS off its pedestal and showing you which customer success metrics actually matter—especially if you’re running a lean SMB SaaS team.
Why NPS Doesn’t Cut It Anymore
Let’s be clear: NPS isn’t evil. It’s just:
- Vague
- Lagging
- Easily manipulated
- Hard to connect to revenue
- And wildly inconsistent across industries, personas, and moods (looking at you, Chad who rated us a 4 because his cat puked during onboarding)
Worse, most SMBs don’t have the bandwidth to close the loop with detractors, let alone activate promoters.
It’s time to graduate to metrics that drive action.
The 5 Customer Success Metrics You Actually Need
Let’s reframe the question: what do you want to know?
You want to know:
- Are customers getting value?
- Are they using what they paid for?
- Are they likely to grow with us?
- Are we at risk of losing them?
- Who’s our next advocate?
Here’s how to measure that.
1. Time to First Value (TTFV)
What it is:
How long it takes a new customer to reach their first meaningful win.
Why it matters:
If they don’t get value early, they don’t stick. Simple.
💡 Benchmark goal: Under 7 days for SMB products
How to measure:
- Define the “aha” moment (usage, outcome, milestone)
- Track time from activation to that moment
- Segment by plan, persona, and industry
2. Feature Adoption Rate
What it is:
Percentage of users actively using key product features
Why it matters:
Churn doesn’t start with a cancellation. It starts when users stop using things that matter.
💡 Pro tip: Measure breadth (how many features used) and depth (how frequently they’re used)
How to act:
- Set adoption targets by plan tier
- Trigger help content, CS outreach, or in-app nudges when users drop off
- Use this data to prioritize onboarding content
3. Customer Health Score (But Actually Useful)
Yes, we’re going there. But this time, no Frankensteined spreadsheets with 17 variables and vibes.
What it is:
A single score to predict risk or readiness—based on behavior that correlates to outcomes.
What it should include:
- Product usage (quantity + consistency)
- Support tickets (too many? too few?)
- Expansion potential (seats added, features explored)
- Billing issues (declines, renewals skipped)
- Engagement (opened onboarding emails, joined webinars)
💡 Tip: 3–5 inputs is plenty. Start simple. Refine over time.
Use it to:
- Trigger proactive CSM engagement
- Prioritize QBRs
- Spot upsell vs churn risk customers
4. Expansion Readiness Score
What it is:
A leading indicator of which customers are primed for upsell or cross-sell.
Why it matters:
Most SMBs treat expansion like a birthday gift. Surprise! It’s time to upgrade!
But revenue teams should be scoring accounts like they score leads.
Sample inputs:
- Feature usage beyond current tier
- Added users in last 30 days
- Power user behavior
- CSAT > 4.5
- Account age > 90 days
Pair with your CSM’s judgment and build a lightweight playbook around it.
5. Activation Rate
What it is:
% of new signups who reach onboarding completion or core setup
Why it matters:
If users don’t activate, they don’t expand. They churn silently.
Activation is your first line of defense.
💡 Bonus: tie activation to retention over 30/60/90-day cohorts and you’ll find your most profitable onboarding flows.
Metrics That Are Nice, But Not Enough
- NPS: Can be helpful if you close the loop (most don’t)
- CSAT: Better for support health than account health
- Support Ticket Volume: Useful, but only when segmented (too much = pain, too little = ghosting)
- Onboarding Completion: Only matters if it maps to value
Use these as supporting context, not your north star.
How to Build a Simple CS Dashboard in 2025
Tools:
- Product analytics (Mixpanel, Amplitude, Pendo)
- CRM (HubSpot or PipeDrive for SMBs)
- Helpdesk (Zendesk, Help Scout, Intercom)
- CS tool (Planhat, Catalyst Lite, or even Notion + Airtable)
Display monthly:
- TTFV by cohort
- Activation rate by plan
- Feature usage trends
- of expansion-ready accounts
- Churn risk accounts flagged
Send this to your exec team 2x/month and watch your internal stock price rise.
Bonus: The 2 Questions Every SMB SaaS Should Ask Customers Quarterly
- “What part of the product is most valuable to you right now?”
→ Tells you what’s working, what to protect, and what to build around. - “If we disappeared tomorrow, what would you miss most?”
→ Reveals differentiation and true stickiness.
If you ask nothing else, ask these. Then act on them.
Wrap Up
NPS is not your enemy—but it’s not your growth engine either.
In 2025, Customer Success leaders at SMB SaaS companies need to be equal parts data nerd, revenue driver, and retention whisperer. And that means using the right metrics.
Metrics that predict value. Reveal risk. Spotlight advocates.
Metrics your team can act on without a PhD in data science.
Keep it simple. Make it useful. Measure what matters.
Want to learn more? DM on LinkedIn or book a time to talk live!
KRP Consulting 