Engineering SaaS Account Growth:

Reversing NRR Decline with Telemetry

 

NRR has eroded from 110.5 to 107.1 since 2023. This isn’t just a laggard problem. Even top performers are seeing retention metrics slide. In this episode, SBI’s Nick Toman sits down with Dan Harmeson and Craig Riley to explore why traditional health scores are failing — and how durable growth lives inside the data you already have but aren’t using: product telemetry.

“If you can’t see it, you can’t shape it.”

The panel breaks down how AI merges CRM data with trillion-event telemetry to uncover the six natural cohorts of customer behavior. By shifting focus from simple login counts to usage consistency, leaders can predict churn and expansion events with up to 90% accuracy — as far as 12 months in advance.

Key Talking Points

  • The NRR crisis: Why 58% of companies are seeing retention slide despite best efforts.

  • The “Usage Consistency” metric: Why volatility predicts churn better than raw volume.

  • The six natural cohorts: Behavioral clusters from “Explorers” to “Strugglers.”

  • Engineering growth: How specific product features move customers into higher-value cohorts.

  • Bridging the gap: Using telemetry signals to align AM and CSM expansion plays.

Featuring

 

 

  • Nick Toman

    Nick Toman

    SBI

  • Dan Harmeson

    Dan Harmeson

    SBI

  • Craig Riley

    Craig Riley

    SBI