The Two Most Important Revenue Metrics Every Company Should Track

Every company wants to grow. At the end of the month, end of the quarter, and end of the year, we all look at our top-line revenue. How much did we grow? 

What we need to be looking at is one level deeper. These are the the two drivers of revenue growth. Unfortunately, many companies do not look at these simple numbers.

What are the two two revenue metrics?

They come from the two sources of revenue. If you boil it all down, there are only two ways to grow revenue:

1. Net-New: You get more clients
2. Cross-Sell: You sell more to your current clients 

That’s it. The problem is that most companies tend to be good at one or the other. Some are good at landing new deals. Others are good at developing client relationships. Rarely do you find a company that has the processes in place to do both well.

Here’s why that’s important. If you can show modest growth in net-new business and cross-sell business, you can experience exponential revenue growth. (Download the Revenue Growth Calculator, part of the Free Revenue Growth Tool Kit). 

So, what are the two key revenue metrics:

• Number of Clients
• Revenue per Client

Number of Clients

First, you need to be able to answer the question, “How many active clients do we have?” This may take a little bit of work with your finance department, but it is a critical number to have. This becomes your base line. At the end of each month (or day) do the math. How many did we add? How many did we lose?

Revenue per Client

Second, you need to know your revenue per client. The math here is simple. Take your total revenue for a given period (month/quarter/year) and divide it by your number of clients. That’s your revenue per client.

Now, track these numbers. Put them on dashboards in your business. Show them in your management and team meetings. 

Think about revenue growth in these categories:

• Set goals for number of customers and revenue per customer
• Build marketing and sales processes to drive toward these goals
• Compensate and congratulate based on these categories

Remember, if you drive modest growth in each of these two areas at the same time, you can grow exponentially, shortening the time it takes to double your revenue.

Learn more about my book Revenue Growth Engine and get a copy HERE. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Darrell Amy is a growth architect, with a unique perspective on how to grow revenue. Most books are written from the perspective of either sales or marketing. Darrell brings both together to help companies develop and implement strategies to grow.

Darrell’s passion is to make the world a better place. Serving on the board of several non-profits, he has a front row seat to see the impact of financial gifts from successful businesses. Out of this, he helped launch the Grow4Good movement with the goal of helping 10,000 great businesses double revenue so they can grow employment while also giving back to their communities.

Over the past 25 years, Darrell has been deeply involved in both sales and marketing.  He has worked with hundreds of companies ranging from Fortune 100 organizations to local family-owned businesses. During that time, he’s trained thousands of sales people, most recently creating solutions sales training for a global technology company. He’s started several digital marketing agencies, helping companies implement inbound marketing strategies.

You may also contact Darrell at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.