How to Track Quotas for Usage Based Products

RevOps teams are pros at setting targets. They align go-to-market functions, define revenue goals, and roll out the tools to track progress. For traditional one-time deals, that structure works well. But when your revenue depends on how much customers use your product, the old playbook starts to show cracks.

Usage revenue is fluid. It rises and falls with adoption, seasonality, and, sometimes, pure chance. Hitting the number is less about closing one big contract and more about guiding countless micro-transactions in the right direction. Traditional quota tools miss that reality. They watch opportunities. They ignore the revenue that lands after the deal is signed.

Below is a plain look at why quota tracking for usage-based products needs new thinking, and how to get there.

1. Baseline targets are not the problem

Every team sets a goal. According to OpenView, approximately 60% of SaaS businesses offer some form of usage-based pricing today, but many still struggle with forecasting. The issue is not ambition. The issue is execution. Most teams still manage usage in spreadsheets or offline models that never speak to the CRM. Numbers drift. Reps lose trust. Finance scrambles at quarter-end.

Better approach: Keep the baseline, but host it in a platform that pulls real usage data every day. Targets adjust with reality, and everyone sees the same source of truth.

2. The visibility gap

Opportunity pipelines capture deal size, stage, and close date. They do not show how much the customer will actually consume. A McKinsey study found that even firms using analytics for forecasting, such as in finance or demand planning, frequently see errors of around 30 percent or more. Without a live feed of consumption, leaders steer with yesterday’s map.

Better approach: Tie pipeline to usage telemetry. When a customer starts to lag, the account owner gets an alert before the shortfall shows up in the P&L.

3. Motivating reps on usage

Most compensation plans still pay on booked value. Reps close the deal, collect commission, and move to the next prospect. That leaves Customer Success alone to chase adoption.

Why it matters: In a usage model, the bulk of revenue lands after go-live. Without a quota tied to consumption, reps have no reason to stay involved.

Better approach: Pay on recognized revenue, not just booked revenue. Reps keep a stake in customer success, and the company rewards behavior that drives growth.

4. Why current quota tools fall short

Tools built for subscription ARR treat every deal as a snapshot. They measure closed-won, multiply by rate, and call it a day. Usage requires:

• Daily data ingestion. Consumption records can be millions of rows. Many quota tools cap out long before that.
• Rolling targets. Goals should flex with seasonality and product adoption curves.
• Revenue-first logic. The system must calculate commissions from actual usage, not estimated bookings.

Most legacy platforms, including well-known names in the category, were never designed for those tasks. They bolt on a usage module that feels like an afterthought.

5. Building a quota system for usage revenue

1. Unify data. Stream usage metrics, contracts, and customer attributes into a single model.
2. Map targets to behavior. Instead of “grow revenue by 20 percent,” try “increase average daily sessions by 5 percent.”
3. Automate alerts. Notify reps when usage trends off target so they can act early.
4. Link pay to outcomes. Structure variable comp around recognized revenue benchmarks.
5. Forecast continuously. Use machine learning to project usage based on leading indicators from product and pipeline data.

revVana was built on these principles. Our platform connects live usage feeds to Salesforce, updates forecasts in real time, and links compensation directly to the revenue that hits the ledger. Teams see the whole picture, from first call to every swipe, click, or API call that follows.

Usage-based products create rich, recurring revenue streams, but only if teams can track and influence the behavior that drives them. Quota tools rooted in opportunity data will not get the job done. Shift to a revenue-first model, give reps clear visibility, and reward them for long-term customer value. The payoff is a forecast you can trust and a team aligned with growth that lasts.