If you're running a customer success team and want to keep tabs on what actually matters, setting up KPIs is non-negotiable. But let's be real—just picking a bunch of numbers and hoping for the best won't get you far. If you're using Centrical to manage your team's performance, this guide cuts through the noise to help you set up KPIs that make sense and show you what’s working (and what’s not). No nonsense—just steps you can follow, pitfalls to avoid, and a few lessons learned the hard way.
1. Figure Out What You Actually Need to Measure
Before you even log in to Centrical, get clear on what matters for your team. Not every shiny metric is worth your time. The “right” KPIs for a customer success team usually fall into these buckets:
- Customer Health: Churn rate, product adoption, NPS, or time-to-value.
- Team Activity: Number of customer check-ins, average response time, tickets resolved.
- Revenue Impact: Expansion revenue, renewals, upsell/cross-sell rates.
Pro tip: Don’t drown yourself in data. Choose 3–5 KPIs your team can actually influence. If you can’t explain why a metric matters in one sentence, drop it.
What’s worth skipping? - Vanity metrics (like “emails sent” or “calls logged” without context). - Anything you’re tracking just because you can, not because you’ll act on it.
2. Map Your Data Sources
Centrical doesn’t magically know everything your team does. Figure out where your data lives:
- CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.): Customer info, renewals, upsells.
- Support Platform (Zendesk, Intercom): Tickets, response times, CSAT.
- Product Analytics (Mixpanel, Pendo): Adoption rates, usage patterns.
Checklist: - Is your data clean? No one wants to chase duplicates or outdated records. - Are all your tools integrated with Centrical? If not, get IT or your admin to connect them before you try to build dashboards.
Heads up: If you have to do manual data dumps every week, you’ll hate your life (and your KPIs won’t be up to date).
3. Set Up KPIs in Centrical
Now for the nuts and bolts. Centrical is flexible, but it’s only as useful as the KPIs you plug in.
a. Define Each KPI
- Go to the KPI setup section in Centrical.
- Give it a clear name. (“Time to First Value,” not “TTFV” unless your whole team speaks acronym.)
- Set the calculation logic. For example, “% of customers completing onboarding within 30 days.”
b. Assign Data Sources
- Map Centrical’s KPI fields to your source data. Double-check the mapping—garbage in, garbage out.
c. Set Targets
- Set realistic targets based on past performance, not wishful thinking. If your average CSAT is 7.5, don’t set 10 as your target “just to be ambitious.”
- Make sure targets are visible to the whole team, not hidden in an admin dashboard.
d. Set Up Visibility Rules
- Who needs to see what? Managers need the full picture; reps might just need their own numbers.
- Use Centrical’s role-based access to avoid overwhelming people with irrelevant data.
Pro tip: Avoid the trap of “set it and forget it.” Make KPI reviews part of your team’s regular routine.
4. Build Dashboards That Don’t Suck
A dashboard full of gauges and widgets looks impressive… until you realize no one is actually using it.
Focus on: - Clarity over quantity. Each dashboard should answer a simple question, like “Are we on track to hit our renewal goals?” - Trends, not just snapshots. Month-over-month changes matter more than this week’s spike in ticket volume. - Actionable views. If someone can look at the dashboard and know what to do next, you’ve nailed it.
Skip: - Overly complicated, multi-tab setups. - Data that’s interesting but not actionable.
How to build a good dashboard in Centrical: 1. Go to the Dashboard section. 2. Add widgets for each key KPI. 3. Use charts that make sense—line charts for trends, simple numbers for targets. 4. Limit colors and avoid clutter. 5. Share the dashboard link with the team (and explain what they’re looking at).
5. Analyze (and Actually Use) Your KPIs
KPIs aren’t magic. They’re just numbers—until you do something with them.
What works: - Regular reviews: Weekly or biweekly check-ins where you talk through what’s going well or not. - Root cause analysis: When a number dips, dig into the “why”—don’t just shrug and hope it bounces back. - Action plans: If you spot a trend (like rising churn), assign someone to take ownership and try a fix.
What doesn’t: - Obsessing over daily changes. Most KPIs only make sense over longer stretches. - Ignoring context. If a metric tanks right after a product launch, look for the story behind the numbers.
If something looks off: - Double-check your data sources. Bad data is more common than you think. - Ask frontline team members for their take. Numbers rarely tell the whole story.
6. Tweak, Simplify, and Repeat
The worst KPI setup is the one you never update. Here’s how to keep things useful:
- Quarterly review: Every few months, ask what metrics you’re actually using. Drop the ones you ignore.
- Feedback loop: Let team members suggest metrics or improvements.
- Adjust targets: If you’re always hitting 100% or always missing, your targets probably stink.
Signs you need to simplify: - No one can remember the KPIs without checking the dashboard. - Meetings devolve into debates about what the numbers mean. - You’re spending more time wrangling data than talking to customers.
Keep It Simple—And Iterate
The perfect KPI setup doesn’t exist, especially not on the first try. Pick a handful of metrics that matter, review them often, and don’t be afraid to ditch what isn’t helping. Centrical is a solid tool, but it’s only as good as the thought you put into it. Start lean, keep it honest, and remember: KPIs are there to help you work smarter, not make your life harder.