Growth Metrics

4 terms in Performance Measurements

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Year-over-Year Growth

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SPM Financial Analyst
Definition

Year-over-Year (YoY) Growth is a performance measurement metric in SPM and ICM that quantifies the percentage change in a sales representative's or team's results — typically revenue, bookings, or gross profit — compared to the equivalent period in the prior fiscal year. Calculated as ((Current Period Value - Prior Year Same Period Value) / Prior Year Same Period Value) x 100, YoY growth is used to set growth-based quotas, trigger growth accelerators in commission plans, and evaluate whether performance improvements are genuine or merely reflections of a larger assigned territory. In compensation design, YoY growth metrics reward sellers who grow their existing book of business or territories over time, creating a retention incentive and acknowledging that a rep who triples their territory revenue has delivered more incremental organizational value than raw attainment alone captures. SPM dashboards display YoY growth alongside attainment to give management a two-dimensional view of performance: hitting quota matters, but so does the trajectory.

Example

A territory rep closed $1,200,000 in revenue in FY2024. In FY2025, she closes $1,560,000 in the same territory. YoY growth = ($1,560,000 - $1,200,000) / $1,200,000 = 30%. Her plan includes a growth accelerator: reps achieving 20%+ YoY growth receive a $15,000 annual growth bonus, which she earns in addition to her standard quota-based commission.

In a Comp Plan
Section 7.1 — Year-over-Year Growth Bonus: Representatives who achieve YoY revenue growth of 15% or greater in their assigned territory (measured as fiscal year total credited revenue vs. prior fiscal year) shall receive a Growth Excellence Bonus of $10,000. Growth of 25% or greater earns $18,000. YoY calculation uses the same territory boundaries in both comparison years; territory realignments are adjusted per Section 7.3 territory normalization provisions.
Report Design

Year-over-Year Growth Report — FY2025 vs. FY2024: Displays rep, territory, FY2024 revenue, FY2025 revenue, YoY growth %, growth bonus tier achieved, and bonus payout. Includes a corporate benchmark line showing average YoY growth across the sales organization. Managers use this to distinguish reps benefiting from market tailwinds vs. those driving growth through skill and effort.

Referenced by

Sequential Growth

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SPM Sales Operations Manager
Definition

Sequential Growth (also called Quarter-over-Quarter or Month-over-Month growth) is a performance measurement that compares sales results in a given period to the immediately preceding period, rather than to the same period in the prior year. Calculated as ((Current Period Value - Previous Period Value) / Previous Period Value) x 100, sequential growth captures momentum, acceleration, and short-cycle trends that YoY comparisons can obscure — particularly in rapidly growing markets or newly ramping territories where prior-year comparables may not exist or may be too small to be meaningful. In SPM, sequential growth metrics are commonly used to measure ramp progress for new hire representatives, evaluate the impact of a recent territory change or product launch, and track whether deal pipeline is building or deteriorating quarter to quarter. Sequential growth is more volatile than YoY and is susceptible to timing effects (deals pulled into or out of a period), so plan designers typically pair it with a minimum absolute threshold to avoid rewarding sequential 'growth' off a very low base.

Example

A new territory rep posts $180,000 in Q1 and $243,000 in Q2. Sequential growth = ($243,000 - $180,000) / $180,000 = 35%. His ramp plan includes a sequential growth kicker: $5,000 bonus for 25%+ sequential growth in any ramp quarter, which he earns. Q3 target is to maintain positive sequential growth while also tracking toward full quota attainment.

In a Comp Plan
Section 8.2 — Sequential Growth Kicker (Ramp Period): During the first four quarters of employment, representatives who achieve quarter-over-quarter revenue growth of 20% or greater shall receive a Sequential Growth Bonus of $4,000 per qualifying quarter. Growth is measured as total credited bookings in the current quarter vs. the immediately preceding quarter. Minimum absolute threshold: current quarter bookings must exceed $75,000 for the kicker to apply.
Report Design

Sequential Growth Tracker — Q3 FY2025: Shows each rep's Q2 and Q3 credited revenue, sequential growth %, and whether the 20% growth threshold was met. Flags reps in ramp status separately from fully-ramped reps. Includes a trend line across four trailing quarters to visualize momentum. Used by Sales Ops to identify reps showing consistent deceleration as an early retention signal.

New Business Growth

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SPM Sales Operations Manager
Definition

New Business Growth is a performance measurement metric that isolates and quantifies revenue or bookings generated from accounts that are new to the organization within a defined lookback window, separating the contribution of customer acquisition activity from base retention and expansion. Unlike total revenue growth (which conflates new and existing customer sources) or raw new logo count (which ignores deal size), new business growth measures the dollar value of new customer revenue and tracks its trajectory over time. In ICM, new business growth may serve as the basis for a standalone new business quota, a component of a blended growth metric, or a qualifying criteria for new logo bonuses. SPM platforms track new business growth by tagging bookings with account vintage flags (new vs. existing) sourced from CRM or the billing system. Compensation plan designers use new business growth targets to drive prospecting behaviors in territories where the rep's incentive would otherwise favor farming the existing base.

Example

A field rep's territory generated $180,000 in new business bookings in H1 FY2024. In H1 FY2025, she closes $270,000 from net-new accounts. New business growth = ($270,000 - $180,000) / $180,000 = 50%. She exceeds her 30% new business growth target and earns a $12,000 new business growth bonus in addition to her standard quota commission.

In a Comp Plan
Section 7.3 — New Business Growth Component: New business growth is calculated as the percentage increase in new logo bookings (accounts with no prior revenue in the preceding 24 months) in the current fiscal year vs. the prior fiscal year within the same territory. Representatives achieving 20% new business growth earn a bonus of 1.0% of total new logo bookings in the current year. Growth of 35%+ earns 1.5%. Minimum new logo bookings of $100,000 in the current year required to qualify.
Report Design

New Business Growth Summary — FY2025 vs. FY2024: Lists rep, territory, prior-year new logo revenue, current-year new logo revenue, new business growth %, growth bonus tier, and bonus payout. Includes a column for new logo count alongside revenue to distinguish volume growth from ASP inflation. Leadership view shows regional new business growth contribution as a percentage of total revenue growth.

Installed Base Growth

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SPM Sales Compensation Analyst
Definition

Installed Base Growth is a performance measurement metric that quantifies revenue expansion generated from a company's existing customer base through renewals, upsells (increased consumption or higher-tier products), and cross-sells (additional product lines). It is the counterpart to new business growth and is particularly critical in subscription, SaaS, and recurring-revenue businesses where net revenue retention (NRR) is a primary financial health indicator. ICM plans that include installed base growth metrics typically assign account management or customer success overlay reps a quota specifically for expansion and renewal revenue, measured as the dollar growth in recurring revenue across managed accounts period over period. Installed base growth is calculated as ((Current Period Installed Base Revenue - Prior Period Installed Base Revenue) / Prior Period Installed Base Revenue) x 100. Plan designers must carefully define what counts as 'installed base' (active paying customers as of a specific date) and how to handle churn, downgrades, and seat reductions, which reduce installed base growth.

Example

A customer success manager's book of business generated $2,000,000 in ARR at the start of FY2025. Through upsells and cross-sells (and no churn), she grows it to $2,400,000 by year end. Installed base growth = ($2,400,000 - $2,000,000) / $2,000,000 = 20%. Her plan targets 15% installed base growth; at 20%, she hits the 125%+ accelerator tier and earns a 1.4x multiplier on her installed base commission component.

In a Comp Plan
Section 9.1 — Installed Base Growth Component: Installed base growth is measured as the percentage increase in total ARR across a representative's assigned account portfolio from the first day to the last day of the fiscal year. Growth driven by renewals, upsells, and cross-sells counts positively. Churn, downgrades, and cancellations reduce the growth numerator. Target growth rate is 15%. Commission rates: <10% growth = 1.0% of ARR growth; 10–19% = 1.5%; 20%+ = 2.0%. Negative growth (net churn) results in no installed base commission for the period.
Report Design

Installed Base Growth Report — FY2025: Displays CSM/AM name, opening ARR, expansion ARR (upsell + cross-sell), churn ARR, closing ARR, net installed base growth %, growth target attainment, and installed base commission earned. Secondary section breaks expansion ARR into upsell vs. cross-sell categories. Churn waterfall chart shows accounts lost vs. retained. Used by Customer Success leadership to identify at-risk books and coach retention strategy.

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Which term does this describe?

______ (also called Quarter-over-Quarter or Month-over-Month ______) is a performance measurement that compares sales results in a given period to the immediately preceding period, rather than to the …

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