KPI examples by industry and function
A practical reference of the metrics that matter — across SaaS, marketing, sales, manufacturing, retail, finance, and support — plus how to turn a list of KPIs into a strategy you can execute.
A KPI is only useful when it ladders up to a goal. The examples below are organized by industry and function so you can find relevant starting points quickly — but the real work is choosing the few that prove progress on your strategy, defining how each is calculated, and giving every one an owner and a review rhythm. See the Cogliva Method for how KPIs fit into the full path from diagnosis to tactical plan.
SaaS & subscription KPIs
Subscription businesses live or die on recurring revenue and retention. These KPIs track whether growth is efficient and durable.
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) — Predictable subscription revenue normalized to a monthly figure.
- Net Revenue Retention (NRR) — Revenue retained and expanded from existing customers, net of churn and downgrades.
- Customer Churn Rate — Share of customers who cancel in a period — the inverse of retention.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) — Fully loaded sales and marketing cost to win one new customer.
- LTV:CAC Ratio — Lifetime value of a customer relative to the cost to acquire them.
- Activation Rate — Share of new users who reach their first meaningful value milestone.
Marketing KPIs
Marketing metrics should connect spend to pipeline and revenue, not just impressions and clicks.
- Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) — Leads that meet the agreed quality bar to be passed to sales.
- Cost per Lead (CPL) — Total campaign spend divided by leads generated.
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) — Revenue attributed to advertising divided by ad spend.
- Conversion Rate — Share of visitors or leads that complete a target action.
- Marketing-Sourced Pipeline — Value of opportunities originated by marketing activity.
- Organic Traffic Growth — Period-over-period change in non-paid search and referral visits.
Sales KPIs
Sales KPIs reveal where deals stall and whether the team can hit the number predictably.
- Win Rate — Share of qualified opportunities that close as won.
- Average Deal Size — Mean contract value across closed-won deals.
- Sales Cycle Length — Average time from opportunity creation to close.
- Quota Attainment — Percentage of reps hitting their assigned target.
- Pipeline Coverage — Open pipeline value relative to the period's quota.
- Lead Response Time — How quickly inbound leads receive a first sales touch.
Manufacturing & operations KPIs
Operations KPIs focus on throughput, quality, and cost — the levers behind margin and on-time delivery.
- Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) — Availability × performance × quality of production assets.
- First Pass Yield — Share of units produced correctly without rework.
- On-Time Delivery — Percentage of orders shipped by the committed date.
- Cycle Time — Time to produce one unit from start to finish.
- Scrap / Defect Rate — Proportion of output rejected for quality issues.
- Capacity Utilization — Actual output as a share of maximum sustainable output.
Retail & e-commerce KPIs
Retail KPIs balance demand generation, conversion, and unit economics across channels.
- Average Order Value (AOV) — Average revenue per completed order.
- Cart Abandonment Rate — Share of started checkouts that are not completed.
- Inventory Turnover — How many times stock is sold and replaced in a period.
- Sell-Through Rate — Units sold as a share of units received.
- Repeat Purchase Rate — Share of customers who buy more than once.
- Gross Margin Return on Investment (GMROI) — Gross margin earned per unit of inventory cost.
Finance KPIs
Financial KPIs track profitability, liquidity, and efficiency — the health of the business as a whole.
- Gross Profit Margin — Revenue minus cost of goods sold, as a percentage of revenue.
- Operating Cash Flow — Cash generated by core operations in a period.
- Burn Rate — Net cash consumed per month — critical for growth-stage firms.
- Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) — Average days to collect payment after a sale.
- EBITDA Margin — Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization over revenue.
- Working Capital Ratio — Current assets divided by current liabilities.
Customer success & support KPIs
Post-sale KPIs measure whether customers are succeeding — the foundation of retention and expansion.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS) — Likelihood that customers would recommend you, on a -100 to 100 scale.
- Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) — Short-survey rating of satisfaction with an interaction or product.
- First Response Time — Average time to first reply on a support request.
- Ticket Resolution Time — Average time to fully resolve a support case.
- Customer Health Score — Composite signal of usage, engagement, and risk.
- Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) — Revenue retained from existing customers excluding expansion.
People & HR KPIs
People KPIs connect workforce health to performance — turnover, engagement, and time-to-impact.
- Employee Turnover Rate — Share of employees who leave over a period.
- Employee Engagement Score — Survey-based measure of motivation and commitment.
- Time to Hire — Average days from job opening to accepted offer.
- Revenue per Employee — Total revenue divided by headcount — a productivity proxy.
- Internal Mobility Rate — Share of roles filled by internal moves and promotions.
- Time to Productivity — Average time for a new hire to reach full performance.
Turn KPI examples into your own measurement system
A generic KPI list is a starting point, not a strategy. Cogliva reads your business context in a structured diagnostic, proposes KPIs and OKRs tailored to your goals, and carries them into a sequenced tactical plan — with strategic signals keeping targets connected to external change. You get measures that are specific, owned, and ready to review.
Frequently asked questions
What is a KPI?
A KPI (key performance indicator) is a measurable value that shows how effectively an organization is achieving a specific objective. Good KPIs are tied to a goal, quantifiable, and reviewed on a regular cadence so teams can act on them.
How many KPIs should a team track?
Most teams are best served by five to ten KPIs per objective — enough to see the full picture without diluting focus. A small set of leading and lagging indicators usually beats a long dashboard nobody acts on.
What is the difference between a leading and a lagging KPI?
Lagging KPIs measure outcomes that have already happened (revenue, churn, profit). Leading KPIs measure the activities that drive those outcomes (pipeline coverage, activation rate, response time), so you can influence results before they land.
How do you choose the right KPIs for your business?
Start from your strategy and objectives, not a generic list. For each goal, pick the smallest set of indicators that prove progress, define how each is calculated, set a target and review rhythm, and assign an owner. Cogliva produces this structure automatically from your business context.
Get KPIs built around your strategy
Skip the generic checklist. Describe your business and let Cogliva propose the KPIs, OKRs, and tactical plan that actually fit it.