Here are some top books about SaaS product metrics:
- “Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster” by Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz. This book focuses on how to use data to make informed decisions when building and growing a SaaS startup. It covers a wide range of topics related to SaaS product metrics, such as product-market fit, customer acquisition, retention, and revenue. This book covers metrics for both B2B and B2C SaaS companies, but provides specific guidance on B2B metrics such as sales pipeline velocity and lifetime customer value. It also recommends identifying the right customer segments and developing products that meet their specific needs.
- “Product Analytics: Applied Data Science Techniques for Actionable Consumer Insights” by Devin Gaffney, Matt LeMay, and Ben Gaines. This book focuses on how to use data science techniques to gain actionable insights into customer behavior and improve product development. It covers topics such as user engagement, churn analysis, and A/B testing. While this book covers both B2B and B2C metrics, it provides specific guidance on B2B metrics such as lead conversion rates, customer retention rates, and customer lifetime value. It also recommends using data science techniques such as cohort analysis and funnel analysis to gain insights into customer behavior and optimize product development.
- “Data-Driven: Creating a Data Culture” by Hilary Mason and DJ Patil. This book focuses on how to build a data-driven culture within a company. It covers topics such as data infrastructure, data analysis, and data visualization. While it is not specifically focused on SaaS product metrics, the principles and techniques covered in this book can be applied to SaaS companies.
- “The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback” by Dan Olsen. This book focuses on how to use lean startup principles to develop successful b2b SaaS products. It covers topics such as customer discovery, MVP development, and product-market fit. It provides guidance on identifying customer pain points, developing a minimum viable product (MVP), and conducting effective customer discovery. It recommends tracking metrics such as lead generation, sales velocity, and customer acquisition cost.
- “Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success” by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown. This book focuses on how to use growth hacking techniques to drive rapid growth for SaaS companies. It covers topics such as customer acquisition, retention, and optimization. This book covers both B2B and B2C growth hacking tactics, but provides specific guidance on B2B tactics such as personalized outreach and upselling to existing customers. It also recommends tracking metrics such as customer acquisition cost, conversion rates, and customer lifetime value.
All of these books share a focus on using data and metrics to improve SaaS products and companies. They also emphasize the importance of understanding customers and their needs. However, they differ in their specific focus and approach. For example, “Lean Analytics” and “The Lean Product Playbook” both emphasize the use of lean startup principles, while “Product Analytics” and “Data-Driven” focus more on data science techniques. “Hacking Growth” takes a more tactical approach, emphasizing specific growth tactics and strategies. Overall, these books offer a range of perspectives and insights on SaaS product metrics, and can be valuable resources for anyone looking to improve their SaaS product or company.
Frameworks
The books listed earlier generally recommend different data metrics frameworks to track and measure the performance of SaaS products. Here are some of the frameworks that these books recommend:
- AARRR: This framework, also known as the “Pirate Metrics” framework, was popularized by Dave McClure of 500 Startups. It stands for Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue. The AARRR framework is commonly used for B2C SaaS products, but can also be applied to B2B SaaS products.
- RARRA: This framework is similar to the AARRR framework but with a slight modification for B2B products. The RARRA framework stands for Reach, Acquisition, Retention, Revenue, and Advocacy. The Reach stage is added to the beginning of the framework to emphasize the importance of building awareness and credibility in the B2B market.
- North Star Metric: This framework is a single, high-level metric that captures the core value that a SaaS product delivers to its customers. The North Star Metric is intended to align the entire organization around a single, overarching goal. While not specific to B2B or B2C products, the North Star Metric can be used for both.
- OKRs: OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, is a goal-setting framework that is used by many technology companies, including Google and LinkedIn. The framework involves setting ambitious, measurable goals and tracking progress against them. While not specific to SaaS products, OKRs can be used to track a variety of metrics for B2B and B2C SaaS products.
Overall, the books listed earlier recommend a variety of data metrics frameworks, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to choose the framework that aligns best with your product’s goals and business model.
Specially recommended to B2B SaaS companies
Here are some SaaS product metrics and frameworks that the books I mentioned earlier recommend specifically for B2B companies:
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): This metric represents the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing, sales, and onboarding costs. B2B companies typically have higher CACs than B2C companies, so it’s important to track this metric to ensure that customer acquisition costs don’t exceed the revenue generated by new customers.
- Sales Pipeline Velocity: This metric measures the rate at which prospects move through the sales funnel, from initial contact to closed deal. B2B companies typically have longer sales cycles than B2C companies, so it’s important to track pipeline velocity to identify bottlenecks and optimize the sales process.
- Lifetime Customer Value (LCV): This metric represents the total revenue that a customer generates over the entire lifetime of their relationship with a company. B2B companies typically have higher LCVs than B2C companies, so it’s important to track this metric to understand the long-term value of your customers and allocate resources accordingly.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): This metric measures the likelihood that a customer will recommend your product to others. B2B companies typically rely heavily on word-of-mouth referrals, so it’s important to track NPS to understand how satisfied your customers are and identify opportunities to improve your product.
- RARRA framework: As mentioned earlier, the RARRA framework stands for Reach, Acquisition, Retention, Revenue, and Advocacy. This framework emphasizes the importance of building awareness and credibility in the B2B market before focusing on acquisition, retention, and revenue metrics.
Overall, the books I mentioned earlier provide a range of SaaS product metrics and frameworks that are specifically relevant for B2B companies. Tracking these metrics can help B2B companies understand the health of their business, optimize their sales and marketing processes, and identify opportunities to improve their product.
The specific metrics that top B2B SaaS product companies measure and track may vary depending on their industry, target market, and business goals. However, many of the metrics I mentioned earlier are commonly used by B2B SaaS companies and are considered important indicators of business health and growth.
For example, Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Lifetime Customer Value (LCV), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Monthly Active Users (MAU) are all metrics that are commonly used by B2B SaaS companies to track their performance and identify opportunities for growth.
Additionally, the RARRA framework is a widely recognized framework for measuring and optimizing the performance of B2B SaaS products. Many top B2B SaaS companies use variations of this framework to track and prioritize their metrics.
Overall, while the specific metrics that top B2B SaaS companies track may vary, the metrics and frameworks I mentioned earlier are generally considered important for measuring and optimizing the performance of B2B SaaS products.
