Revenue Signals You’re Probably Ignoring

(But Shouldn’t Be)

Author

Mark Stagi
August 07, 2025

Most CS teams are flying blind to the signals that actually drive revenue.

They monitor NPS. They track logins. Maybe they even flag accounts with overdue QBRs.

But here’s the hard truth:

Churn doesn’t show up in a dashboard. It shows up in patterns.

The problem? Most teams haven’t been trained to see the patterns that matter.

If you want to be a commercially-minded CS org, you need to become fluent in the language of revenue signals, those subtle but powerful cues that tell you when an account is ready to expand or at risk of walking out the door.

Let’s break down the revenue signals most teams miss, and how to spot them before it’s too late.

The Churn Signals You’re Probably Ignoring

1. Drop in Usage Velocity (Not Just Total Usage)

  • Most teams look at total usage (e.g., logins, sessions), but velocity tells a better story.

  • Look for: Decline in week-over-week usage or lagging time-to-value milestones.

  • Why it matters: A slow-down in usage velocity often precedes a conversation about ROI.

Remember to set alerts for negative changes in usage velocity among key personas

2. Executive Disengagement

  • Once the exec sponsor stops replying or showing up to QBRs, you’re in trouble.

  • Look for: Changes in calendar invites, drop in LinkedIn activity, or delegation to lower-level contacts.

  • Why it matters: Renewal decisions are made at the top. If they’re not engaged, your deal isn’t either.

Tip: Track engagement at the power-user and exec level separately.

3. Support Ticket Sentiment

  • Not the volume, the tone.

  • Look for: Increase in frustration, passive-aggressive comments, or “checking in again” phrases.

  • Why it matters: These are early signs of dissatisfaction, even if tickets are being resolved.

Tip: Use AI to summarize sentiment trends across tickets and flag accounts with rising negative tone.

4. Budget Year Timing

  • Even happy customers churn when their budget gets slashed.

  • Look for: Fiscal year start/end, new CFO hires, procurement pauses.

  • Why it matters: Your timeline to renew or expand isn’t just tied to usage, it’s tied to their budget cycle.

Tip: Build budget timing into your CRM so you can prioritize expansions before spend gets locked.

5. Change in Product Mix or Feature Abandonment

  • A customer using fewer of your features might not be using you for long.

  • Look for: Deactivation of high-value modules, decline in usage of sticky features.

  • Why it matters: Feature shrink often leads to revenue shrink, especially in usage-based models.

Tip: Track feature-level usage in your CS dashboard and tag key features to monitor.

6. Missing Champions

  • Your strongest champion just left. Did anyone notice?

  • Look for: LinkedIn title changes, email bounces, or no replies from a previously active user.

  • Why it matters: Champion turnover is one of the highest indicators of churn risk.

Tip: Set up automated champion alerts—don’t wait until renewal time to find out they’re gone.

These are all things you can do for one side of the coin: Retention

But there are lots of signals to look for as well when it comes to expansion.

Be on the lookout for next week’s newsletter to learn more about expansion signals to look for!

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