Upsell Myth #1: Wait until Churn < 10%


Don’t worry about upsells until churn is below 10%?

Really? No, this mindset limits growth and stifles potential.

Unless your environment is overtly customer-negative and you have massive churn across your entire customer base, you don’t need to hit some mythical churn threshold before upselling.

Yes, address churn where it’s an issue, but also recognize that some customers are progressing and ready for expansion NOW.

Here’s the truth:

  • Even with higher churn in some cohorts, you have other customers ready, willing, and able to buy more.
  • Waiting to upsell those customers means not meeting their needs when they need it, and missing out on LTV growth and reducing NRR in the process.

By upselling to those ready customers, you can offset churn and achieve NRR over 100%, sustaining and even growing your business while keeping valuations high.

Remember, it’s not about waiting for perfect conditions.

It’s about recognizing and seizing opportunities for your customers to expand where they need to.

Have a great week,

~ Lincoln

BTW: I help SaaS companies maximize LTV through customer-centric Upselling on a performance basis. If what we do doesn't result in expansion revenue from your existing customers, I don't get paid.

Interested in my help? Let me know by replying with details about your company, your KPIs, and why now is the time for my help, and we'll set up a time to chat.

Lincoln Murphy

I help SaaS companies Maximize LTV through Customer-centric Upselling

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