Time to Value: The Primary Driver of Gross Retention

Imagine a rocket on the launch pad. It’s intent is to get out of Earth’s gravity, above the atmosphere, and then onto wherever it’s going – a space station, maybe the Moon. Now, think about how the ultimate success of this venture relies so heavily on those first few seconds, that furious blast-off that we hope propels it upwards into space.

Now think of a new customer, also on the launch pad, also with clear intention and lofty goals. How much of their success relies on that blast-off, on those first few moments?

Quite a lot, it turns out. In fact, I’ll wager that there’s no more important time with a customer than that initial engagement. Speed is of the essence, which is why you hear so much about “time to value” and “time to first value” when discussing SaaS businesses. With subscriptions, the clock begins ticking on day one, and every day you don’t ensure they see value from their investment is another day for them to question their choice.

And while you don’t have to battle gravity and atmospheric friction with customers. you do have to fight change. Organizations abhor change and will fight it at every turn. All the more reason to ensure that Time to Value gets focus and tracking.

So, are you tracking time to value? Do you have a dashboard? Are you escalating implementation projects that stretch on? Are you identifying the risk factors that slow things donw, and are you putting proactive energy against those?

Shortening up Time to Value is the number one thing you can do to ensure that customers stay, thereby shoring up your gross revenue retention.