What is the difference between CAC and CPA?
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) measures the total marketing and sales cost required to convert a prospect into a paying customer, by dividing all expenses in the period by the number of new customers acquired. CPA (Cost Per Action or Cost Per Acquisition in the strict sense) measures the cost of a specific action - such as a click, a form submission, or the acquisition of a lead - and does not imply that the subject became a paying customer. Using them interchangeably leads to systematically underestimating the true cost of acquisition.
What distinguishes an MQL from an SQL?
An MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) is a lead that has met marketing's engagement criteria (lead scoring, digital behavior) but has not yet been contacted by the commercial team. An SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) is an MQL that sales has contacted, evaluated, and confirmed as having a real need, budget, decision-making authority, and defined timeline. The MQL-to-SQL transition is the formal handoff moment between marketing and sales.
How is LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) calculated?
LTV is estimated by multiplying the average order or contract value by the annual purchase frequency and by the average relationship duration in years. For subscription models, LTV can be approximated as average MRR per customer divided by the monthly churn rate. An LTV:CAC ratio ≥ 3 is generally considered healthy, while LTV:CAC < 1 indicates an unsustainable acquisition model.
What is the Net Promoter Score and what are its limitations?
NPS is a loyalty metric that classifies customers as promoters (9-10), passives (7-8), and detractors (0-6) based on the question "How likely are you to recommend us?" Its advantage is simplicity: it is calculated with a single question and is easily comparable over time. Its limitations are low granularity - it does not indicate why customers are dissatisfied - and sensitivity to cultural differences in ratings, which makes absolute comparison between different markets not always reliable.
How is the marketing-to-sales handoff managed in the CRM?
The handoff is managed by defining an explicit SLA specifying within how much time (e.g., 1 business hour) an SQL must be contacted by the commercial team, and recording in the CRM the exact moment when the lead is elevated from MQL to SQL. CRM automations send notifications to salespeople, create tasks with deadlines, and track SLA compliance. SLA compliance reports identify handoff process inefficiencies.
What does NRR > 100% mean?
A Net Revenue Retention above 100% means recurring revenues from existing customers grew compared to the previous period, despite cancellations. This occurs when expansion MRR (upsell, cross-sell, seat expansion) exceeds churn MRR. NRR > 100% - often called "negative churn" - indicates the company grows on revenues from existing customers even without new customers, and is considered one of the strongest signals of product-market fit in SaaS models.
How can churn be reduced through the CRM?
Churn reduction begins with proactive monitoring of the customer health score - which aggregates product usage signals, open tickets, NPS, and engagement. Customers with declining health scores are flagged to the CSM before the contract renewal date for proactive intervention. The CRM automates triggers such as "no login in the last 30 days" that launch re-engagement sequences. Analysis of churn reasons feeds product and onboarding process improvements.
What is lead scoring and how is it configured?
Lead scoring assigns numerical scores to leads based on demographic criteria (industry, role, company size) and behavioral criteria (pages visited, emails opened, content downloaded, webinar participation). The criteria are weighted based on their historical correlation with conversion. Above a preset threshold, the lead is elevated to MQL and forwarded to sales. Advanced models use machine learning on historical conversion data to automatically calibrate the weights.
How does sales forecasting work in the CRM?
The forecast aggregates pipeline opportunities by multiplying each one's value by the close probability associated with its stage. An opportunity in the "proposal sent" stage with 60% probability and value of $50,000 contributes $30,000 to the forecast. Advanced CRMs supplement manual forecasts with predictive models based on historical conversion data for each stage. Comparing bottom-up (salespeople) and top-down (management) forecasts is a common alignment practice.
What are pipeline stages and how are they defined?
Pipeline stages are the phases of the commercial process that an opportunity moves through from qualification to closure - typically: Qualified, Discovery, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed Won/Lost. Each stage corresponds to a specific milestone (e.g., demo completed, proposal sent, contract signed) and has an associated close probability. The number of stages must balance analytical granularity with operational practicality for salespeople.
How is pipeline velocity calculated?
Pipeline velocity is calculated using the formula: (Number of opportunities × Average opportunity value × Win rate) / Average sales cycle duration in days. For example, 100 opportunities × $20,000 × 25% win rate / 60 days = $8,333/day. Tracking velocity over time allows identifying which of the four variables has the greatest impact on generated revenue.
How is an ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) defined?
The ICP is built by analyzing the cohort of customers with the best success indicators: high NPS, low churn, high LTV, fast time-to-value. Common characteristics are identified: industry, organization size (employees, revenue), primary buyer role, technology stack, geography, digital maturity. The ICP is a living document updated with new customer cohort data and used to qualify incoming leads.
What are CRM automations and when should they be used?
CRM automations automatically execute repetitive actions based on triggers or conditions - follow-up email sending after N days of inactivity, task creation for the salesperson, stage advancement when an event occurs, internal notifications. They should be used for low-risk, high-frequency actions: automatic follow-up in the first days after registration, nurturing sequences for leads not yet ready to purchase. Strategic decisions (proposal, negotiation) remain human-driven.
How is campaign effectiveness measured in the CRM?
Effectiveness is measured by tracking campaigns as a source on the leads and opportunities they generate, then calculating: number of MQLs per campaign, MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, generated pipeline value, attributed revenue. The attribution model (first-touch, last-touch, linear, data-driven) determines how credit is distributed among campaigns that touched the same opportunity. Campaign reports in the CRM connect spend to pipeline and revenue, enabling ROI calculation.
Why does CRM data become stale and how is it kept up to date?
CRM data degrades because people change roles or companies, companies merge or close, and historical data is not updated. The B2B contact obsolescence rate is estimated at 25-30% annually. Data hygiene strategies include: automatic enrichment from external sources (LinkedIn, Clearbit), periodic deduplication, incentives for salespeople to update records after each interaction, and automatic email verification before campaigns.