Pipeline is not the whole story. It tells you what might happen. You also need signals that show how money actually moves through your business, where it gets stuck, and how close your plan is to reality.
Below are the metrics that matter. Each one includes how to measure it, what to watch, and what action to take.
1) Forecast Accuracy
What it is: The gap between your predicted revenue and what you actually book or recognize.
- Measure: | Actual Revenue − Forecast | ÷ Forecast
- Watch: Anything off by more than 10–15% at the monthly level.
- Act: Segment by product, segment, and rep. Replace gut feel with model inputs and real stage aging. Use Salesforce actuals and revVana forecasts to close the loop.
2) Plan-to-Actual Variance (P&L view)
What it is: How your revenue plan is tracking against realized revenue.
- Measure: (Actual vs Plan) by month and quarter.
- Watch: Slippage masked by late quarter pull-forwards.
- Act: Add slippage reasons to opportunities. Tie revVana revenue schedules to actuals from billing to spot drift early.
3) Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
What it is: Are you growing before any new logo sales?
- Measure: (Starting MRR + Expansion − Contraction − Churn) ÷ Starting MRR.
- Watch: NRR below 100% or heavy expansion in one cohort hiding churn in another.
- Act: Tag expansion type. Trigger risk reviews on accounts with usage drop or low adoption.
4) Activation Time to First Value
What it is: Time from close to the first meaningful customer outcome.
- Measure: Close Date → First Value Milestone.
- Watch: Long tails by segment or product.
- Act: Set onboarding SLAs. Auto-alert when milestones stall. Faster time to value = higher renewal odds.
5) Handoff Lag (Marketing → Sales → CS)
What it is: Delay between teams at each transition.
- Measure: MQL timestamp → first sales touch. Close Won → onboarding kickoff.
- Watch: Leads untouched after SLA. Customers waiting weeks to start.
- Act: Enforce SLAs and ownership. Escalate when lag exceeds threshold.
6) Stage Aging and Stalled Deal Rate
What it is: How long deals sit in each stage and how many go stale.
- Measure: Median days in stage. Percent with no activity in X days.
- Watch: A single sticky stage or wide variance across reps.
- Act: Define exit criteria per stage. Coach to the bottleneck, not the total cycle.
7) Pipeline Velocity (Quality-adjusted)
What it is: Speed at which qualified pipeline turns into revenue.
- Measure: (SQLs × Win Rate × Avg Deal Size) ÷ Sales Cycle Length.
- Watch: Velocity drop even when volume rises.
- Act: Cut low-fit sources. Shift enablement to segments with faster motion.
8) Revenue Leakage Rate
What it is: Dollars you should have recognized but didn’t.
- Measure: (Expected Revenue − Recognized Revenue) ÷ Expected Revenue, from orders/schedules.
- Watch: Missed billing events, delayed starts, discounts not tied to approvals.
- Act: Reconcile orders to revVana schedules and invoices. Add reason codes and owners for each leak.
9) Consumption Variance (for usage models)
What it is: How actual usage differs from the forecast pattern.
- Measure: (Actual Usage − Forecasted Usage) ÷ Forecasted Usage by period.
- Watch: Cliff drops, seasonal spikes, and silent under-consumption.
- Act: Create pattern libraries. Trigger success motions when variance crosses thresholds.
10) Cohort Expansion Rate
What it is: Expansion by cohort over time, not just in aggregate.
- Measure: Expansion MRR by cohort ÷ Cohort starting MRR.
- Watch: Early cohorts driving most growth while new ones lag.
- Act: Align onboarding and success playbooks to the cohorts with proven expansion paths.
11) Sales Cycle Consistency (Variance)
What it is: Reliability of your motion, not just average speed.
- Measure: Standard deviation of cycle length by segment.
- Watch: Wide swings that wreck capacity and forecast.
- Act: Standardize steps. Remove one-off approvals and specials that add noise.
12) Win Reasons and Loss Reasons Coverage
What it is: The truth behind outcomes, not just the outcome.
- Measure: Percent of closed opportunities with a reason selected and a short note.
- Watch: “Price” and “Timing” used as catch-alls.
- Act: Curate reason lists. Review top 3 themes monthly and assign fixes.
13) GTM Efficiency
What it is: Revenue for every dollar of sales and marketing spend.
- Measure: New ARR ÷ S&M Spend; also Revenue per Seller and Revenue per CSM.
- Watch: Spend rising faster than ARR, or productivity gaps across teams.
- Act: Rebalance headcount, channels, and territories based on return.
14) Data Freshness Rate
What it is: How up-to-date your core fields are.
- Measure: Percent of open opps with next step, next meeting, amount, and close date updated in the last 7 days.
- Watch: Stale dates and missing next steps.
- Act: Nudge updates before forecast calls. De-weight stale deals in models.
15) Scenario Coverage
What it is: How robust your plan is across downside, base, and upside.
- Measure: % of plan explained by a clear scenario with risks and triggers.
- Watch: Single-threaded plans tied to one product or region.
- Act: Model multiple patterns in revVana. Pre-decide actions for each trigger.
How to Make These Metrics Useful
- Segment everything. By product, region, size, and source. Averages hide problems.
- Set thresholds. Define what “good” looks like. Alert when you cross the line.
- Close the loop. Tie forecasts to actuals and reasons. Adjust models monthly.
- Automate the boring parts. SLAs, nudges, and data checks should run without a meeting.
- Review in this order: reality first (actuals), then forecast, then actions. Not the other way around.
Where revVana fits
- Forecast truth: Link Salesforce pipeline to revVana revenue schedules and actuals, so accuracy is measured, not guessed.
- Pattern forecasting: Model usage, subscription, and hybrid patterns. Monitor consumption variance in near real time.
- Scenario control: Run base, upside, and downside with clear triggers, then compare to actuals without spreadsheet gymnastics.
- Leakage watch: Reconcile orders and schedules to invoicing and recognition to catch misses early.
