GRR measures what you keep from existing customers. NRR adds expansion on top. GRR matters more, and the order matters: protect the base before you grow it.
What GRR and NRR should a B2B media or intelligence company target?
An established B2B media or intelligence company should target GRR of 90%+ and NRR above 100%. Substribe’s benchmark medians are 88% GRR and 106% NRR. But the right target follows maturity and strategy, not a sector table.
What is a good NRR for a B2B data or subscription business?
For an established B2B data or subscription business, NRR above 100% is strong. Substribe’s benchmark research puts the median at 106%. What’s driving it matters more than the number.
What is a good gross retention rate for a B2B information business?
For an established B2B information business, GRR of 90% or above is strong, 80-90% signals pressure, below 80% is a problem anywhere. Substribe’s benchmark research puts the median at 88%.
A NRR growth mandate
A PE-backed B2B information business had been through a pricing consultancy exercise under its first owner, done to prime the business for sale. By the time it changed hands to a second owner, every number PE cares about looked strong. New business was up. AOV was up. NRR was high. Margins looked healthy too, partly […]
NRR may stunt your growth
The £20-30M business intelligence company where high growth was hiding a crisis (this Substribe case study is on a NDA). Executive Summary The Impact: Improvement in revenue stability (GRR: 71% → 91%) whilst switching from volatile to sustainable growth. The Story: A PE-backed data intelligence company with 130% NRR. Substribe highlighted they were heading for […]
Trusted Networks: creating must-have b2b insights
When data is no longer asymmetrical enough to be valued in its own right, and artificial intelligence is in every nook and corner, what is the edge you promise to create for your b2b customers? For my money, it’s in the unpublished expertise hiding in groups of leaders, who sense what’s waiting around the next […]
The Value Trap of Legacy Subscription Metrics
Value and Volume Renewal Rates are the markers of legacy B2B subscription metrics. Substribe argues they risk creating a smoke screen around performance issues, holding back long term growth and risking revenue. B2B information companies have long relied on two legacy metrics: volume renewal rate (the percentage of accounts renewed) and value renewal rate (the percentage of revenue renewed). […]
Do your commercial teams fight over crumbs?
Building High Performance Teams in Premium B2B Subscription Settings is about the team not the individual. It’s about using metrics that matter, not “me-tricks” to flatter. I don’t care how many leads or meetings you think you got. I care about quality of conversations converting to continuing value. I think the best B2B subscription businesses […]
Do you close or open a deal ?
Are Your New Customers Sticking Around or dropping like flies? What about your sales forecasts…pipeline or more like a pipedream? Picture this: You’ve just landed a big new client. Champagne corks are popping. The sales team is patting themselves on the back. But fast forward 12 months, and that same client is heading for the […]






