OMTM (One Metric That Matters)

OMTM matters because focus is the scarcest resource in growing organisations, and diffusion of effort across dozens of priorities produces mediocre progress everywhere rather than breakthrough results anywhere. When product, marketing, and sales each optimise different metrics without coordination, you get local optimisations that fail to compound into business-level growth. OMTM creates strategic alignment: if leadership declares "qualified leads" as the OMTM, marketing focuses on lead volume and quality, sales focuses on lead conversion, and product focuses on activation to improve conversion rates—everyone's work clearly connects to the central goal. This clarity also simplifies prioritisation: proposed projects are evaluated against "will this move the OMTM?" rather than endless debate about competing priorities. For resource-constrained startups especially, OMTM prevents the fatal mistake of trying to build everything at once, instead focusing scarce engineering and marketing resources on the bottleneck that most constrains growth. The approach also creates faster feedback loops: rather than waiting for revenue to eventually reflect whether your efforts worked, you optimise a leading indicator that provides signal within days or weeks. Organisations that adopt OMTM frameworks report that the practice forces crucial strategic conversations—debates about which metric truly matters expose unstated assumptions about the business model and what actually drives value. The discipline also prevents vanity metric focus: you can't choose "social media followers" as your OMTM when honest analysis reveals followers don't correlate with revenue.

The One Metric That Matters (OMTM) is the single most important number that you choose to focus on above all others at a given time . In other words, out of all the data and KPIs a business could track, the OMTM is the one metric that you decide truly defines success right now. This concept was coined in 2013 by Alistair Croll in the book Lean Analytics after he observed that many founders were getting distracted by vanity metrics instead of what really drives growth . Crucially, using an OMTM doesn’t mean you ignore other metrics altogether – you still measure many things – but it cuts through the noise so that everyone from marketing to sales can rally around one clear goal.

An OMTM is typically chosen based on your business type, stage, and current objectives. It could be anything from a rate (like conversion percentage or retention rate) to an absolute number (like monthly recurring revenue), as long as it is the metric that best captures what “success” looks like for the immediate future  . Importantly, the OMTM can change over time. A growth team will pick an OMTM they believe they can significantly impact in the next few months (often a 2–4 month sprint ). After that period, they evaluate progress and may choose a new one metric to reflect the next most pressing priority. This flexible, focused approach ensures that at any given moment, everyone knows the one number they’re trying to move.

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Applying the OMTM concept in real life involves understanding your business model and growth stage, then defining a metric that best captures your current growth challenge. Let’s look at five examples of different B2B service companies and how an experienced growth lead might identify and use an OMTM in each case. For each example, we’ll define a possible OMTM and explain how focusing on it can drive growth.

Marketing Agency OMTM

Scenario: A digital marketing agency is struggling with unpredictable revenue streams. They do great work, but most of their clients are short-term projects, causing monthly income to yo-yo. As Head of Growth, you identify Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) as the One Metric That Matters for the next quarter. MRR is the sum of all ongoing monthly client fees – essentially the stable income from retainers or long-term contracts. This metric is critical because it represents the agency’s financial health and sustainability on a rolling basis. In fact, agency experts often consider MRR “the most important metric to track as a regular heartbeat for the health of your agency” . Focusing on growing MRR will encourage behaviors that lead to steadier, compounding growth.

Applying OMTM: Once MRR is chosen as the focus, every team’s efforts align toward increasing it. The sales and account management teams concentrate on converting more clients to retainer deals instead of one-off projects. Marketing refines the agency’s positioning to promote ongoing partnerships. For example, the team might design new service packages or subscriptions that provide continuous value to clients, making it easier to sign monthly or quarterly contracts. They also implement stronger client retention strategies – since retaining clients directly keeps MRR healthy. To track progress, the agency measures MRR weekly and discusses it in all growth meetings. If the MRR isn’t climbing, they dig into why (e.g. are clients churning? Are proposals for retainers not appealing?). By having MRR front-and-centre, the agency quickly learns which tactics move the needle. Perhaps they find that improving client onboarding and showing early results leads to higher client retention – boosting MRR. Maybe they institute monthly performance reports that demonstrate ROI, persuading clients to stick around. All these initiatives come from asking “Will this help grow our MRR?” When the agency focuses on that one metric, it naturally starts to retain clients better and build predictable income. Over the quarter, as MRR rises, it also signals other positive outcomes: it means client relationships are lasting and the agency can forecast revenue and budget more confidently . At the end of the period, the agency can point to a single number and see real improvement. With a stronger MRR base established, they might then choose a new OMTM for the next phase (for instance, improving profit margin or increasing average deal size), but for this quarter, MRR was the guiding light that ensured everyone pulled together to solidify the business.

SaaS Consultancy OMTM

Scenario: A SaaS consultancy (a firm providing consulting services to SaaS companies or implementing SaaS solutions for businesses) wants to grow its client base. They’ve noticed that revenue fluctuates because new client acquisition is inconsistent – some months bring many inquiries, others very few. The Head of Growth decides that the OMTM should be Qualified Leads per Month (or “expressions of interest” from target clients). This is a leading indicator metric: it measures how many potential clients who fit the ideal customer profile are reaching out with interest in the consultancy’s services. Focusing on this one metric makes sense because if you can steadily increase qualified leads, you fill the top of the funnel with opportunities, which will translate into more projects and revenue down the line. In other words, are more of our target clients contacting us about potential work? – that’s the question the OMTM answers .

Applying OMTM: With Qualified Leads per Month as the one metric, the consultancy refines its marketing and business development efforts to drive that number up. The growth team might implement content marketing aimed at the SaaS sector, host webinars or publish case studies that attract the right audience, and step up networking in SaaS communities – all with the goal of generating more inbound inquiries (and even some outbound leads) from qualified prospects. They also tighten the definition of a “qualified lead” (for example, a lead from a SaaS company of a certain size or with a certain need, ensuring they’re likely to convert). By measuring this metric month over month, the team gains clarity on what works. Suppose they notice a spike in leads after a particular webinar or a guest blog post – they’ll do more of that. If social media posts increase vanity engagement but not leads, they’ll recalibrate, remembering not to chase likes at the expense of actual inquiries that matter . The OMTM serves as a filter: it forces the team to prioritise activities that directly impact lead generation, and shelve “nice to have” efforts that don’t move the needle on that metric. They might also set up a simple scoreboard to track qualified lead volume weekly, creating a healthy competition among the team to try new tactics and beat the previous week’s number. Over a few months, this focus can dramatically improve the firm’s pipeline. For instance, by doubling the number of good-fit leads per month, the consultancy ensures its sales pipeline is always full, reducing those feast-or-famine cycles. As a bonus, focusing on lead quality tends to improve conversion rates (since the team learns which channels bring the best prospects). At the end of the period, if the consultancy sees consistent growth in qualified leads (perhaps measured as a three-month rolling average to smooth out volatility ), they know they’ve built a stronger foundation for revenue. They could then switch the OMTM to something like client conversion rate for the next stage, but initially nailing the lead flow was the catalyst for scalable growth.

IT Services Firm OMTM

Scenario: An IT services firm (for example, a managed IT support provider or an IT consulting firm) has a solid roster of clients, but growth has plateaued. On analysis, the Head of Growth realises that client churn is the silent killer – every time they win a new customer, an existing one seems to cancel, so net growth is zero. In B2B services, retaining clients is often more cost-effective and valuable than constantly acquiring new ones. Research famously shows that increasing customer retention by just 5% can lead to a 25%–95% boost in profits . Existing B2B customers also tend to spend more – one study found they spend 67% more on average than new clients . With this in mind, the team chooses Customer Retention Rate (or its inverse, churn rate) as the One Metric That Matters for the next period. This metric tracks the percentage of clients who stay with the firm (renewing their contracts or continuing to purchase services) over a given time frame. By focusing on retention, the goal is to stop the leaky bucket effect and maximise the lifetime value of each client.

Applying OMTM: Once Retention Rate becomes the North Star for the quarter, the IT services firm shifts its strategy accordingly. The customer success and account management teams are mobilised to improve every aspect of the client experience that might influence retention. They might implement regular check-in calls with each client to proactively address issues, offer periodic IT health audits to demonstrate value, and create a faster response protocol for support requests to boost satisfaction. The firm could also roll out a loyalty or incentive programme – for instance, discounted add-on services for clients who renew for multiple years. Internally, the team analyses reasons for past churn by reviewing lost accounts: was it due to service quality, budget cuts, a competitor’s offer? Those insights guide where to focus improvements. All experiments and projects during this period share a common question: “Will this help us keep clients longer?” The growth team tracks retention rate monthly (and perhaps segment it by service or client type to find patterns). With this singular focus, even small changes – like improving onboarding of new clients or providing executive-level reports that prove ROI – are done to serve the retention mission. As the months progress, they monitor churn closely. If a client signals they might leave, the team swarms to save that relationship, because every retained client directly improves the OMTM. This intense focus starts paying off: clients feel more love and value, and the retention percentage inches up. For example, a client that might have left due to slow support is retained because the team launched a 24/7 support line as part of the OMTM initiative. With higher retention, revenue begins to grow again; importantly, the growth is now sustainable because it’s coming from a loyal customer base rather than one-off replacements. The OMTM focus on retention also has cultural effects – it forces the company to become truly customer-centric. By the end of the OMTM cycle, suppose the firm achieved a jump from 85% to 92% annual retention. That is a significant win. They can then pivot the next OMTM to perhaps upselling existing clients (now that they retain them, how to increase each client’s value), but they have successfully reinforced the leaky bucket and can confidently scale on top of a loyal client foundation.

Legal Advisory Firm OMTM

Scenario: A legal advisory firm (for instance, a B2B law practice or consultancy) is looking to grow its practice. They have a good reputation among existing clients, but new client acquisition has been slow and marketing spend isn’t yielding much. Upon reflection, the Head of Growth recognises that most of their best new clients historically came through referrals and word-of-mouth. This is common in the legal industry – studies indicate roughly 38–40% of clients choose a law firm based on referrals . Referred clients also tend to trust the firm more and stay longer. So the firm sets Referral Rate as its One Metric That Matters. Referral Rate here means the percentage of new clients acquired that came from referrals (existing client recommendations, professional network introductions, etc.). The rationale is that by maximising referrals, the firm will efficiently acquire high-quality clients, leveraging its existing satisfied client base to fuel growth.

Applying OMTM: Focusing on Referral Rate as the OMTM transforms how the legal advisory approaches business development. The immediate step is to start tracking this metric rigorously – they establish a system to record how each new lead heard about the firm, categorising those that came via referral. Now, with a baseline in place, the team brainstorms ways to increase that percentage. They might implement a formal client referral programme, where they politely ask happy clients to refer peers (for example, a CFO who had a great experience may be encouraged to introduce the firm to another company’s CFO). Perhaps they introduce an incentive (though in legal services direct monetary referral fees can be tricky ethically; instead it could be something like a free legal health check for any referral). The firm also doubles down on client satisfaction, knowing that only delighted clients will refer others. This means improving responsiveness, producing more educational content for clients to share, and generally providing a “wow” experience in consultations. As part of the OMTM initiative, the firm’s partners might start systematically asking for testimonials and making it easy for clients to recommend them (maybe by providing a short referral email template clients can use). Every marketing meeting reviews the Referral Rate: How many new inquiries this month came via referral? What can we do to increase that? If the rate isn’t budging, they’ll experiment – maybe host a client appreciation event and gently encourage referrals there, or network more in industry groups to spark indirect referrals. This singular focus on referrals also guards against wasting money on broad ads or generic marketing that wasn’t working; it reallocates effort to the channel with the highest trust and payoff. Over the quarter, suppose the Referral Rate climbs from 20% of new clients to 50%. That means half of all new business now comes through trusted recommendations – a very healthy sign. The benefits are multifold: not only are there more leads coming in, but those leads are cheaper to acquire (referrals cost little marketing budget) and more likely to convert. By the end of the period, the firm has grown its client list significantly via referrals, and importantly, it has strengthened relationships with existing clients (since they invested in earning referrals). After achieving a boost in referral-driven growth, the firm might next choose an OMTM related to conversion (like consultation-to-client conversion rate) or capacity (like average billable utilisation per lawyer if demand is high). But during this focused sprint, referrals were king, and the firm’s growth strategy is better for it.

Training Provider OMTM

Scenario: A B2B training provider that offers corporate workshops and professional development courses wants to scale up its business. They get a decent number of companies sending employees to training, but repeat bookings are low – many clients treat it as a one-off transaction. The Head of Growth decides that the best way to drive sustainable growth is to ensure participants love the training and want more. Therefore, they choose Trainee Satisfaction (often measured by post-training survey scores or Net Promoter Score) as the One Metric That Matters. The idea is that if attendees rate the training very highly, several good things will follow: the client company will be more likely to book further courses, attendees might recommend the training to colleagues or other organisations, and the provider’s brand reputation will grow. High customer satisfaction is strongly correlated with increased repeat business and referrals , which in turn fuels growth.

Applying OMTM: With Satisfaction Score as the focal metric, the training provider re-engineers its approach to maximise the training experience quality. The team examines every touchpoint of their service. They might invest in better training materials and more engaging content, ensure trainers are exceptionally well-prepared and dynamic, and improve the logistics of training sessions (easy sign-ups, comfortable venue or seamless virtual experience, follow-up support, etc.). They also refine how they measure satisfaction: for example, using a simple 1–10 satisfaction survey at the end of each session and an NPS question (“How likely are you to recommend this training?”). These scores are then aggregated to give a monthly average satisfaction rating, which becomes the key number everyone watches. Each week, the staff reviews feedback to spot opportunities for improvement that could raise the score. If scores dipped for a particular workshop, they dig in to see why – maybe the content wasn’t relevant enough for that audience, or an instructor was less engaging. The team then acts quickly to fix those issues before the next session. Moreover, the company might introduce new elements to delight trainees: perhaps offering complimentary resources or follow-up coaching calls, anything to turn participants into raving fans. By keeping the OMTM visible (say, a dashboard showing the rolling average satisfaction and NPS), it continually reminds the team that customer experience is the growth lever now. During this period, other metrics like number of new bookings or revenue are still tracked in the background, but they are not the focus. The paradox is that by not directly focusing on sales and instead focusing on satisfaction, sales eventually increase as a result of happier clients. For instance, one delighted client company might decide to enroll their entire department in a series of courses next quarter (a big win that came from delivering exceptional value). Another might refer the training provider to a partner company. These are the ripple effects of high satisfaction. By the end of the OMTM cycle, suppose the average trainee satisfaction score has climbed from 8/10 to 9.5/10. The provider can likely observe a corresponding uptick in repeat bookings and inbound inquiries via word-of-mouth. In essence, by making the training experience outstanding, they’ve planted seeds for organic growth. After this, the company might choose a new OMTM (perhaps focusing on New Business Leads now that the product quality is stellar, as suggested by industry metrics ). But they will carry forward the customer-centric improvements made. The OMTM exercise ensured the whole team learned how crucial client happiness is to the bottom line – a lesson that will benefit every future initiative.

By examining these examples, a pattern emerges: each business identified a key lever (whether it’s steady revenue, lead generation, client retention, referral growth, or customer delight) and made it their one metric that matters for a period of time. B2B marketers and growth leaders can replicate this approach by asking: What is the one metric that, if significantly improved, would have the biggest impact on our growth right now? Once you have that answer, declare it as your OMTM, communicate it across the team, and devote your energy to moving that number. This disciplined focus is what an experienced head of growth brings to the table – it aligns teams, eliminates ambiguity, and drives meaningful, measurable progress. And when the target is hit or the situation changes, you identify the next OMTM and repeat the process. In the dynamic world of B2B marketing, where there are countless things you could measure or optimise, the One Metric That Matters approach is a way to always know what you should be optimising at any given time. By doing so, you ensure that your team’s effort is always concentrated on what truly drives business growth.