The Myth That Holds You Back

"Don't worry about upsells until churn is below 10%."

I hear this constantly. And every time, my response is the same: 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 pursuing expansion.

Churn and Expansion Are Not Sequential

The biggest mistake SaaS leaders make is treating churn reduction and expansion as sequential steps. Fix churn first, then worry about upsells.

That's not how it works. They run in parallel.

Yes, address churn where it's an issue. Absolutely. But also recognize that some customers are progressing and ready for expansion right now.

These are different cohorts with different needs. One group is struggling to get value from your product. Another group has already achieved their initial Desired Outcome and is ready for the next level.

Why would you make the second group wait because the first group hasn't figured things out yet?

What Happens When You Wait

Here's the truth most people miss:

  • 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
  • Those ready customers may start looking elsewhere for the capabilities you already have but haven't offered them

Waiting doesn't just cost you revenue. It costs you customers - the good ones who are growing and need more from you.

Use Expansion to Offset Churn

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

This is basic math that too many companies ignore. If you're losing 8% to churn but generating 15% in expansion, your NRR is 107%. You're growing from your existing base even while some customers leave.

It's not about waiting for perfect conditions. Perfect conditions don't exist.

It's about recognizing and seizing opportunities for your customers to expand where they need to - while simultaneously working to fix the problems causing churn in other cohorts.

Both things. At the same time. That's how you grow.