Ten SaaS Metrics Every Training Company Should Track
- LMSPortals
- Jul 22
- 6 min read
Running a training company in today’s SaaS-driven market means more than just delivering great content. Whether you’re selling online courses, corporate training platforms, or certification programs, the success of your business hinges on understanding the metrics behind it.
SaaS businesses live and die by data. The same applies to training providers who offer subscription-based learning products. You need to know who’s using your product, how long they stick around, how much they spend, and when they’re likely to leave. And most importantly—what you can do about it.
Here are the ten essential SaaS metrics every training company should track if they want to grow smarter, retain better, and compete harder.
1. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
What it tells you:
How much predictable revenue your business generates each month.
MRR is the most important financial indicator in any SaaS business. For training companies, it reflects the stability and growth potential of your subscriptions—whether sold to individuals, teams, or enterprise clients.
How to track it:
MRR = Number of paying customers × Average subscription price
You can also break MRR into components:
New MRR: from new subscriptions
Expansion MRR: from upsells and plan upgrades
Churned MRR: lost from cancellations or downgrades
Why it matters:
High MRR growth signals healthy demand. A sudden dip might mean rising churn or falling interest in your training product.
2. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
What it tells you:
The total revenue you can expect from a single customer over the course of their relationship with your company.
For training providers, this includes subscription fees, renewals, course upgrades, and additional services like coaching or consulting.
How to calculate:
LTV = ARPU × Gross Margin × Customer Lifespan (in months)
If your average customer pays $150/month, your gross margin is 80%, and they stay for 18 months:
LTV = $150 × 0.8 × 18 = $2,160
Why it matters:
Knowing your LTV helps you make smart decisions about customer acquisition, pricing, and product development.
3. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
What it tells you:
How much it costs to acquire a new paying customer.
This includes spending on paid ads, sales teams, webinars, demos, onboarding, and lead nurturing.
How to calculate:
CAC = Total Sales & Marketing Cost / Number of New Customers
If you spend $25,000 in a month and gain 100 customers:
CAC = $25,000 / 100 = $250
Why it matters:
You should aim to spend significantly less on acquiring a customer than you earn from them. The LTV to CAC ratio should ideally be 3:1 or better.
4. Customer Churn Rate
What it tells you:
How many customers stop paying for your service during a given period.
This is especially crucial for training companies offering monthly or annual subscriptions. High churn often points to a deeper problem—bad onboarding, weak engagement, or misaligned product fit.
How to calculate:
Churn Rate = Customers Lost / Customers at Start of Period × 100
Example: You start the month with 500 customers and lose 25:Churn = 25 / 500 × 100 = 5%
Why it matters:
Reducing churn by even 1–2% can lead to exponential improvements in long-term growth.
5. Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
What it tells you:
How much recurring revenue you retain from existing customers over time, including upgrades and upsells.
It’s not enough to just keep customers—you want them to expand their spend. NRR is a powerful indicator of product value, especially for B2B training companies with scalable accounts.
How to calculate:
NRR = (MRR at start + Expansion MRR – Churned MRR) / MRR at start × 100
If you started with $40,000 MRR, added $5,000 in upsells, and lost $3,000 to churn:
NRR = (40,000 + 5,000 – 3,000) / 40,000 × 100 = 105%
Why it matters:
If your NRR is over 100%, your business is growing even before you acquire a single new customer.
6. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)
What it tells you:
The average amount of revenue you earn per customer per month.
Tracking ARPU helps you see how much value each customer brings and where you might improve pricing or packaging.
How to calculate:
ARPU = MRR / Total Active Customers
If your MRR is $60,000 and you have 300 customers: ARPU = $60,000 / 300 = $200
Why it matters:
Rising ARPU means customers are spending more—possibly thanks to premium features, higher-tier plans, or bundled content.
7. Activation Rate
What it tells you:
How many users take the key first step that signals they’ve received value.
For training companies, this could mean:
Completing the first course module
Logging in multiple times
Inviting team members to a platform
Completing onboarding training
How to calculate:
Activation Rate = Activated Users / Total Signups × 100
If 1,000 people sign up and 400 start a course: Activation Rate = 40%
Why it matters:
A low activation rate is an early warning sign of churn. Fixing this often comes down to improving onboarding, guidance, or product experience.
8. Course Engagement Metrics
What they tell you:
How actively users are consuming and benefiting from your training content.
While these are more qualitative, engagement metrics are the heartbeat of any training company.
What to track:
Login frequency
Course completion rates
Assessment scores
Time spent in platform
Repeat usage
Why it matters:
High engagement predicts retention and renewals. Low engagement points to weak content, poor UX, or low motivation—and is a leading indicator of churn.
9. Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate
What it tells you:
How well your free trial or freemium model converts into paid subscriptions.
If your training platform allows users to try before they buy, this metric measures how effective your product is at selling itself.
How to calculate:
Trial Conversion Rate = Paid Conversions / Total Trial Users × 100
If 500 people start a trial and 100 convert: Trial Conversion = 100 / 500 × 100 = 20%
Why it matters:
A high conversion rate means your onboarding, UX, and pricing are aligned. A low rate suggests something is missing in the early experience.
10. Support Tickets per Customer
What it tells you:
How often users need help—and how big your support burden is.
For SaaS training companies, common issues might include login problems, course access bugs, billing errors, or LMS navigation confusion.
How to calculate:
Tickets per Customer = Total Support Requests / Total Active Customers
You can also track:
First-response time
Resolution time
Satisfaction scores (CSAT)
Why it matters:
Spikes in support volume often flag product or usability issues. Decreasing support needs over time indicates platform maturity and better self-service tools.
Summary: Track What Moves the Needle
You don’t need to obsess over every metric all at once. Focus on the ones that match your current growth stage and goals. If you're just getting started, prioritize MRR, CAC, and activation rate. If you’re scaling, shift your focus to LTV, NRR, and churn.
Metrics only matter if you act on them. So build dashboards, create alerts, and review them regularly with your team. Use the data to spot red flags early, double down on what works, and never stop refining your product and processes.
Summary Table
Metric | Why It Matters | What To Watch |
MRR | Revenue baseline | Monthly growth or decline |
LTV | Customer value over time | Longer lifespans = higher LTV |
CAC | Efficiency of acquisition | Keep below 1/3 of LTV |
Churn | Customer loss rate | Drop signals deeper issues |
NRR | Growth from current customers | Over 100% = healthy retention |
ARPU | Average spend per user | Can grow with upsells |
Activation Rate | Early user success | Boost with better onboarding |
Engagement | Ongoing usage and value | Watch for drop-offs |
Trial Conversion | Effectiveness of onboarding | Indicates product-market fit |
Support Load | UX or tech health | Aim to lower over time |
About LMS Portals
At LMS Portals, we provide our clients and partners with a mobile-responsive, SaaS-based, multi-tenant learning management system that allows you to launch a dedicated training environment (a portal) for each of your unique audiences.
The system includes built-in, SCORM-compliant rapid course development software that provides a drag and drop engine to enable most anyone to build engaging courses quickly and easily.
We also offer a complete library of ready-made courses, covering most every aspect of corporate training and employee development.
If you choose to, you can create Learning Paths to deliver courses in a logical progression and add structure to your training program. The system also supports Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) and provides tools for social learning.
Together, these features make LMS Portals the ideal SaaS-based eLearning platform for our clients and our Reseller partners.
Contact us today to get started or visit our Partner Program pages
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