A few years ago, we started dabbling in a question that sounds simple, until you try to answer it honestly.
What metric best reflects whether our software is delivering real value?
John Doerr’s Measure What Matters reinforces a powerful idea: focus on what actually drives outcomes. That framing pushed us toward a related question, not just what matters to us, but what matters most to our clients:
We considered all the usual suspects, revenue, pipeline, feature velocity. But those are company-centric. They don’t always tell you whether clients are getting ROI. So we asked: What metric forces balance across our company and our client’s success?
We landed on the use of our software, or utilization
Our most important metric is utilization, the real, sustained use of our application. Utilization is the clearest indicator that clients are actually realizing ROI. When utilization goes up, it means the software is producing measurable outcomes and ultimately, better business results. This is especially true in the world of rollovers and investment recommendations, where process matters and so do outcomes.
When teams consistently use solutions that standardize analysis, documentation, and oversight,
- advisors can move faster with more confidence,
- firms can reduce friction and rework, and
- clients can capture more opportunities, which directly translates into more growth.
A sneak peek
Utilization didn’t just sharpen focus it created shared purpose. It gave every function a common language for trade-offs. For us, the headline isn’t the percentage increase, but a reflection that clients are using our solutions more deeply, extracting more value, and strengthening their businesses.
A sneak peek: ~12 weeks into the year, utilization is up ~168%, or 2.7X last year. (See chart below.)
