“We have to grow, but we need to do it carefully.”

Sound familiar?

In today’s market, “growth-at-all-costs” is out. Predictability and profitability are in.

That shift has ushered in a new group of stakeholders within the GTM process – the Finance team.

When Finance and GTM partner up, they can generate some game-changing results:

• More accurate forecasting models for executives
• Stronger alignment on funding rounds that match realistic growth trajectories
• Data-driven insights that help GTM teams make faster, smarter decisions

But you can’t just say, “You two work together now” and expect magic to happen. If you want Finance and GTM to collaborate, they need to be aligned on common goals and KPIs.

We know it well – that’s why, in their onDemand webinar “Finance & GTM: Partners in Growth”, Alex Diaz-Asper of Tarsus and Lindsay Frey of demandDrive covered 12 essential KPIs that every GTM team should track:

Let’s break down each one of these crucial KPIs, why they’re important, and how you can implement them within your GTM function.

KPIs for financial health and growth

Tracking financial health KPIs helps GTM and Finance teams move beyond surface-level growth metrics to focus on efficiency, sustainability, and profitability.

It’s not just about increasing revenue—it’s about ensuring that revenue is predictable, cost-effective, and scalable.

The following KPIs provide a clear picture of how well your company balances growth with financial discipline.

1. Revenue Growth: Are you growing efficiently?

Tracking revenue growth may seem obvious, but smart GTM teams look beyond top-line revenue. Instead of focusing solely on net-new deals, they factor in upsells, cross-sells, and expansion revenue—all key indicators of sustainable growth. A well-balanced revenue strategy involves Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success, ensuring that growth isn’t just about acquisition but also retention and account expansion.

What revenue growth really tells you

Revenue growth isn’t just about increasing sales—it signals how well your business is expanding market share, acquiring customers, and keeping them engaged. It also informs hiring, budgeting, and quota planning.

How to turn revenue growth into predictable momentum

If revenue is accelerating, adjust quotas and incentives to push for higher performance. If it’s slowing, identify bottlenecks—whether in lead generation, sales execution, or customer retention. A revenue slowdown often signals issues in churn or market fit that need immediate attention.

2. Burn Multiple: Are you spending efficiently to generate revenue?

Burn Multiple tracks how much a company is spending relative to the revenue it’s generating. A low Burn Multiple means your GTM motions are efficient, while a high Burn Multiple suggests your company is overspending to achieve growth.

What Burn Multiple exposes about your GTM strategy

Even if revenue is growing, an excessive Burn Multiple indicates inefficiency in acquisition or operational costs. This can impact funding rounds and long-term sustainability.

How to improve capital efficiency without killing growth

If Burn Multiple is high, optimize sales targeting to focus on high-margin customers, shorten deal cycles, and improve close rates. Marketing should reassess spending on underperforming channels, and CS should work on expansion revenue strategies like upsells and cross-sells to increase customer value.

3. Gross Margin Payback Period (GMPP): How quickly do you recover acquisition costs?

GMPP measures how long it takes to recoup the cost of acquiring a customer, factoring in all sales and marketing expenses. A shorter GMPP means customers become profitable faster, which is crucial for capital efficiency.

What GMPP reveals about your business

This metric ensures that your GTM efforts are sustainable—if it takes too long to recover acquisition costs, you’re burning cash faster than you can replenish it.

How to shorten GMPP and scale efficiently

Refine your targeting to focus on customer segments that generate revenue quickly. Reallocate budget to high-performing acquisition channels and adjust incentives to encourage higher-value deals.

If GMPP is too long, you may need to reduce Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) or improve monetization strategies to shorten the payback window.

KPIs for customer acquisition & profitability

Growth is only sustainable if it’s profitable. While acquiring new customers is critical, focusing solely on top-line growth without considering cost efficiency and long-term value can lead to financial strain.

The following KPIs help GTM teams measure acquisition efficiency, customer value, and overall profitability, ensuring that growth efforts lead to scalable, sustainable revenue.

4. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Are you acquiring customers efficiently?

CAC measures how much you spend to acquire a new customer, factoring in sales, marketing, and operational costs. If CAC is too high relative to revenue, it can severely limit growth.

What CAC tells you beyond the dollar amount

High CAC suggests inefficiencies in lead quality, messaging, or sales execution. When CAC outweighs customer value, profitability suffers.

How to lower CAC without sacrificing pipeline quality

Refine lead qualification to focus on high-intent prospects. Optimize marketing campaigns to reduce waste and double down on cost-effective channels. Reduce churn and improve retention so that the customers you acquire stick around long enough to justify the acquisition cost.

5. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): Are you maximizing revenue per customer?

CLTV measures the total revenue a customer generates over their lifecycle. A high CLTV means you’re attracting the right customers, keeping them engaged, and maximizing their value through retention and expansion.

What CLTV tells you about your customer relationships

CLTV helps GTM teams shift from a short-term revenue mindset to a long-term growth strategy. If CLTV is too low, it means customers aren’t staying long enough or spending enough to justify acquisition costs.

How to maximize CLTV and make every customer more valuable

Adjust targeting to focus on customers with high retention potential. Build loyalty programs and retention campaigns to drive engagement. Improve customer onboarding and support to reduce churn and increase expansion revenue.

6. Profitability: Are you generating sustainable revenue?

Profitability measures how much of your revenue turns into actual profit after covering all costs—sales, marketing, operations, and beyond.

It’s not just about driving more sales; it’s about ensuring that each dollar earned delivers meaningful returns. A company can experience rapid growth, but if margins are too thin, that success won’t last. Without profitability, even the fastest-growing businesses risk burning out before they truly scale.

What profitability really measures

A profitable GTM strategy means every dollar spent—on acquisition, retention, and operations—drives measurable ROI. Low profitability often signals inefficiencies in pricing, targeting, or cost management, which can derail long-term growth.

How to increase profitability without cutting corners

Sales should prioritize high-margin deals, rather than chasing volume. Marketing should optimize ad spend for maximum ROI and double down on high-value customer segments.

Customer Success (CS) should focus on cost-effective retention strategies, ensuring that support and engagement efforts are aligned with revenue potential.

KPIs for customer retention and satisfaction

Customer retention and satisfaction are just as important as acquisition—if not more. Keeping existing customers engaged and happy reduces churn, increases lifetime value, and creates organic growth through referrals and advocacy.

These KPIs help GTM teams measure customer loyalty, retention trends, and overall satisfaction, ensuring that the business builds long-term, profitable relationships.

7. Churn Rate: Are you losing customers too fast?

Churn Rate measures the percentage of customers who leave over a given period. It’s a direct indicator of customer satisfaction and product-market fit.

What churn rate reveals about your GTM motion

A high churn rate suggests poor onboarding, low engagement, or a misalignment between expectations and experience. If churn is rising, acquisition efforts become less effective since you’re constantly replacing lost customers.

How to cut churn before it kills momentum

Identify common churn signals early and adjust sales targeting accordingly. Strengthen onboarding to set customers up for long-term success. Implement feedback loops to proactively address issues before they lead to churn.

8. Customer Retention Rate: How well are you keeping customers?

Retention Rate is the flip side of churn, measuring the percentage of customers who stay over a given period.

Why retention rate is your best profitability indicator

Retention is cheaper than acquisition—acquiring a new customer costs 5-7x more than keeping an existing one. Strong retention means higher CLTV, lower CAC, and more predictable revenue.

How to improve retention and increase revenue predictability

Ensure brand messaging aligns with actual product value to reduce early churn. Develop customer engagement strategies that keep users active and invested. Prioritize proactive Customer Success efforts to increase renewals and expansion opportunities.

9. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) & Net Promoter Score (NPS): Are your customers happy and engaged?

CSAT and NPS provide direct insight into customer sentiment, helping GTM teams understand how well they’re meeting expectations and fostering loyalty.

CSAT measures short-term satisfaction, typically after key interactions like onboarding, product usage, or support requests.

NPS gauges long-term loyalty by measuring how likely a customer is to recommend your company.

What CSAT and NPS reveal about your future revenue

High CSAT and NPS scores indicate strong customer relationships and growth potential. Low scores, on the other hand, can signal retention risks, dissatisfaction, or product misalignment. Left unaddressed, this can lead to higher churn and declining CLTV.

How to turn customer feedback into retention gold

Sales teams should prioritize high-CSAT customer segments—those who expand usage and advocate for your brand. Marketing can use CSAT and NPS insights to refine messaging, highlighting the aspects of your product that customers love most. CS teams should proactively engage with at-risk customers before dissatisfaction leads to churn, using feedback to improve onboarding, support, and retention strategies.

KPIs for performance and forecasting

A well-optimized GTM strategy isn’t just about hitting revenue targets—it’s about ensuring predictability and efficiency in how that revenue is generated.

Performance and forecasting KPIs help teams identify bottlenecks, refine sales strategies, and make data-driven decisions about growth investments.

When these metrics are dialed in, GTM teams can improve pipeline health, increase deal velocity, and create more accurate revenue projections to scale with confidence.

10. Return on Investment (ROI): Are your GTM efforts delivering real returns?

ROI measures how efficiently your company turns sales, marketing, and retention efforts into profit. A high ROI means resources are being allocated effectively, while a low ROI signals inefficiencies that could be costing the business time, money, and growth opportunities.

What ROI actually tells you about your go-to-market strategy

Tracking ROI ensures that your GTM teams aren’t just spending budget, but investing it wisely. If revenue growth requires excessive spending to sustain, scaling becomes a challenge—and profitability suffers.

How to maximize ROI and turn every dollar into growth

• Improve sales efficiency: If ROI is low, sales teams may need better lead qualification, stronger enablement tools, or an optimized sales process.
• Reallocate marketing budget: Focus spend on high-performing channels, messaging, and campaigns to maximize returns.
• Double down on retention: Since keeping customers costs less than acquiring new ones, increasing CLTV and retention rate can improve overall ROI and drive long-term profitability.

11. Sales Pipeline Metrics: Are your deals moving efficiently?

A strong sales pipeline is the backbone of predictable revenue. If deals are stalling, conversions are low, or cycles are too long, growth becomes inconsistent and difficult to scale. Three key metrics determine pipeline health:

• Lead conversion rate: The percentage of leads that become customers. Low conversion rates indicate poor lead quality, ineffective nurturing, or friction in the sales process.
• Pipeline velocity: The speed at which deals move through the pipeline. A slow-moving pipeline suggests delays in outreach, decision-making, or deal approvals.
• Sales cycle length: The average time it takes to close a deal. Longer cycles drive up CAC and slow revenue recognition, making it harder to scale efficiently.

Why pipeline metrics matter beyond just numbers

A slow or inefficient pipeline causes revenue unpredictability, higher acquisition costs, and missed opportunities. By tracking and optimizing these metrics, GTM teams can ensure a steady, scalable revenue stream.

How to make your pipeline work for you, not against you

• Refine follow-up cadence: Speed up deals with proactive, timely outreach.
• Improve lead qualification: Focus on high-intent prospects who are more likely to convert.
• Remove friction in the buying process: Address objections early, streamline approvals, and provide sales enablement resources to keep deals moving.

12. Forecast Accuracy: Can you predict revenue with confidence?

Forecast accuracy measures how closely your projected revenue aligns with actual performance. It’s not just a financial metric—it’s a critical GTM necessity.

If revenue predictions are off, everything from hiring and budgeting to sales strategy and marketing spend can be thrown into disarray.

Overestimating forecasts can lead to over-hiring and wasted resources, while underestimating them can result in missed opportunities and under-investment in growth. When your forecasts are accurate, you can set realistic targets, allocate resources effectively, and scale with confidence.

What accurate forecasting means for your business

Accurate forecasting helps GTM teams set realistic targets, allocate resources efficiently, and scale with confidence. When forecasts are accurate, leadership can make data-driven business decisions instead of reactive guesses.

How to improve forecast accuracy and plan with confidence

• Set achievable sales quotas – If forecasts are inflated, reps get unrealistic targets, leading to burnout and missed expectations.
• Allocate marketing budget effectively – Forecasting helps marketing teams justify spend on high-ROI campaigns instead of guesswork.
• Reduce operational bloat – Poor forecasts lead to over-hiring or under-hiring, both of which can negatively impact revenue.

Take control of your GTM KPIs for smarter growth

Your go-to-market strategy is only as strong as the data behind it. Tracking the right KPIs helps you move beyond surface-level growth metrics to build a more predictable, scalable, and profitable business.

But knowing what to measure is just the first step—optimizing these metrics to drive real impact is where the magic happens.