How DocSales found hidden churn by splitting customers into cohorts, mapped journeys, and aligned every team on shared KPIs
Mauricio Kigiela · Docsales
Published September 1, 2022Mauricio Kigiela, CEO and Founder of Docsales shares:
- Why we hit a revenue ceiling
- How to create a 360° view of the revenue leak
- Their Global Goals & KPIs
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Mauricio Kigiela explains how DocSales used process visibility, customer journeys, cohort-aware metrics, and cross-functional ownership to improve sales and retention decisions.
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“because we we had to focus on Brazil and since May we are focusing on the U.S market so over the next 20 minutes I'm gonna discuss a problem that we face it on Doc sales about a year ago so basically what happened was I thought my business was not scalable we were growing actually we were selling but we are not growing our growth rate was flat during”
“make your your life harder after that and you should take care about what people think about the company so people care usually about their goals about their objectives if they are making money or not but they don't are as soon as you have like a very aligned culture in the company people would care just about themselves and not about the others or other departments so when we take a deeper look on all”
“times which means 45 months we spend the first four months to pay the acquisition and then 40 months to make money with that which is really good and the churn in average 1.4 percent per month but when we take a deeper look now we separated all the accountants by group of users all their content with one or two users have just”
“we're not going to able to sell to all of B2B companies in the US it's a little bit different but for for larger accounts we need ACH if I'm just doing credit card probably I'm gonna lose those custom those customers you know so and to solve the problem what we did was to first map all the processes all the journeys of our customer”
“so if sales department hit that there goes but the company doesn't hit other goals they don't get the bonus so everyone now is concerned about what's going on with the company I don't mind if they are selling more or less than 5K I'm concerned about the 15 of growth because it doesn't matter from where at the first moment it doesn't matter for from where is is is coming the money if”
“We started DocSales in Jan'20”
“We Tripled The Number of Paying Customers”
“Let's Drill Down the Group of Accountants”
“What if we could have dynamic vision of the whole customer journey - not just static pictures from different steps of the journey?”
“Our KPIs showed we were doing good”
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Mauricio Kigiela is the Founder and CEO of DocSales, a leading CPQ (Configure Price Quote) SaaS platform empowering sales teams to streamline quotation, agreement, and proposal processes. Mauricio is known for helping businesses innovate and create impactful solutions. Under his leadership, DocSales has emerged as a prominent player in the B2B sales software landscape, revolutionizing how organizations approach sales processes.
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
29 passages
Mauricio Kigiela CEO, Founder of Docsales Founder500, Sept 2022 How RevOps doubled our MRR in 3 mo.
DocSales began with an international focus, then the pandemic led the team to concentrate on Brazil through May 2022. The slide sets the context for the company’s later growth and operating changes.
Context We started DocSales in Jan'20 Our idea was to be "international-first" Covid-19 pandemic made us change our plans. We focused in the Brazilian market till May'22 Made in Brazil
The talk follows three steps: identify the growth problem, assess the customer and revenue data, then align departments around shared goals and KPIs. The company’s reported indicators looked healthy even as churn and a revenue ceiling emerged.
Over the next 20 minutes: We hit revenue ceiling I’m going to show you OUR PROBLEM ASSESSMENT ACTIONS High Churn Rate Our KPIs showed we were doing good Break Customer KPIs into cohorts Create a 360° view of the revenue leak DocSales findings Global Goals & KPIs Align all departments RevOps: Does it worth?
The MRR chart climbs from $24.9k in December 2021 to $69.1k in August 2022, with the largest jumps in July and August. The slide also states annual revenue of 373K in 2021 and 1.34M in 2022.
DocSales Revenue Growth 2021 = 373K 2022 = 1.34M
When new sales only offset churn, growth stays flat, even when sales goals are met. The slide argues that retention problems and revenue leakage can remain hidden behind headline KPIs.
Let’s Start With the Problem New Sales - Churn = FLAT GROWTH RATE I’m going to show you IS DOCSALES SCALABLE? CHURN KPIs Many reasons for low retention …but sales goals were hit… Revenue leakage is invisible at first sight
Growth had stalled even as average revenue per user more than doubled. The chart shows customer revenue per month trending upward, illustrating how a stronger average account value can coexist with a broader growth problem.
Growth Rate Became Stagnant, but… ARPU’s More Than Doubled
The chart shows average revenue per user climbing from $30 in November 2020 to $61 in May 2022. The subtitle pairs that increase with a tripling of the customer base within one year.
ARPU has Doubled in Less Than A Year… ARPU’s More Than Doubled We triple our customer base within 1 year and doubled ARPU (from $30 to $61)
The customer chart rises from 289 to 889 paying customers between November 2020 and February 2022. Its stacked bars distinguish new and existing customers, reactivations, and churn along the way.
We Tripled The Number of Paying Customers From 289 to 889 Paying Customers
The chart’s overall churn line stays relatively low, but monthly revenue lost to churn varies substantially. The final month is highlighted, reinforcing the need to inspect the underlying revenue impact rather than rely on the average rate alone.
…Churn Rate was at a very reasonable rate
The report describes flat new MRR and logo churn alongside rising total MRR, then outlines changes to lead qualification, scoring, and follow-up. It notes that trial volume and sales activity did not show whether reps were reaching the best-fit leads.
Investor Report - Sep-Oct'21
This build zooms in on the planned sales improvements: qualify leads with better questions, score trial behavior around key moments, and trigger tailored conversations. When a high-scoring lead replies, a salesperson takes over the conversation.
Investor Report - Sep-Oct'21
The team believed it understood the problem and its solution, then realized its assumptions were wrong. This reset introduces a more systematic assessment of customer and revenue data.
We thought we knew the problem. We thought we knew how to fix it. But in reality, we didn't have a clue!
The assessment combines a definition of RevOps, a 360-degree view of revenue sources and customers, and a real case based on DocSales data. This structure connects the concept to the company’s own findings.
Let’s jump in to ASSESSMENT What is it? Is it for you? I’m going to show you REVOPS 360° VIEW A REAL CASE KPIs for each of Revenue source Customers analysis What we figured out analyzing our numbers
For the accountant customer segment, the Q1 and Q2 2022 snapshot reports $1,399 in lifetime value, 45 for LTV divided by ARPU, and 1.4% churn. These measures establish a baseline for comparing customer groups.
First Step: Deeply understand your customers Assessment by Industry: "Accountants" DocSales: Q1 & Q2'2022
Among accountant customers, the 6-8 user group has the highest displayed LTV/ARPU at 102, while the 1-2 user group has the highest churn at 5.3%. Churn falls as group size rises, from 5.3% to 0.4%, against a 1.4% overall rate.
Let's Drill Down the Group of Accountants Deep understanding of customer by group (industry, size, etc) DocSales: Q1 & Q2'2022
Overall churn is only one signal; teams should investigate why customers leave and look for behavior that predicts it earlier. The temperature metaphor warns that an average can conceal very different conditions across customers.
Second Step: Deeply understand all Revenue leakage. Churn Analysis Overall Churn rate is not the most important KPI to follow on a SaaS Business. Understand why your customers are churning. Churn can be predicted by customer behavior several months before it really happens. Don't look at churn, instead, look at Revenue Leakage. Head in the Oven, Feet in the Fridge: The Avg Temperature is Perfect!
Start tracking KPIs early, focus on one persona and ideal customer profile, and avoid treating spreadsheets as a substitute for operational measures. The tangled diagram illustrates how complexity and departmental gaps can arise even in a small company.
Even Small Companies Have High Complexity Generate KPIs since day 1 Avoid controls in Spreadsheets (they don't generate KPIs) Start selling to 1 persona and 1 ICP People care about what directly impacts themselves, not others. There is a chasm between departments
Implementation starts by understanding sales enablement and choosing the technology stack, then defining shared goals and KPIs. A RevOps owner, matrix structure, and attention to people and culture connect the work across teams.
Let’s Jump in to Solution Understand the Sales Enablement Processes Choose a definitive tech stack I’m going to show you WHERE TO START GOALS ORG STRUCTURE Global Goals Global KPIs RevOps Owner Matrix People & Culture
The speaker invites the audience to raise a hand if they know what revenue operations means. This prompt gauges familiarity before exploring how teams apply it.
Do you know whatRevenue Operations (RevOps) is? Raise your hand
The audience is asked to raise a hand if they have implemented revenue operations. The question shifts from awareness to practical experience.
Have You Implemented It? Raise your hand
The speaker asks whether implementation helped a little or a lot. The paired questions invite the audience to reflect on outcomes, not just whether a RevOps program exists.
Did it help a little? Raise your hand Did it help a lot?
The diagram places RevOps across sales, marketing, customer success, and product, with people, process, technology, and information intelligence linking the functions. The goal is a dynamic view of the whole customer journey rather than disconnected snapshots.
What RevOps Really Is What if we could have dynamic vision of the whole customer journey - not just static pictures from different steps of the journey? Sales Marketing CustomerSuccess Product People Process Tech Stack Information Intelligence RevOps
Sales enablement begins by mapping sales, upgrades or downgrades, delinquency-related suspension and reactivation, and churn. For each journey, define the procedure, systems, and people involved.
What are the customer journeys (processes)? Sales Upgrade / downgrade Suspension / reactivation due to delinquency Churn Sales Enablement What happens on each of the journeys? Is there a standard procedure? What systems controls them? Who is involved?
The stack assigns tools to marketing automation, CRM, contract automation, customer success, support, billing, analytics, and KPI dashboards. The grid shows how the company’s selected systems cover different stages of the customer journey.
Tech Stack Definition Logos show DocSales choice Marketing Automation Platform CRM(sales) Quoting and Contract Automation Customer Success Ticket System Invoicing & Billing Analytics(PLG) KPIs Dashboards
Shared goals and KPIs help teams identify the best customers, assess whether new customers have lower churn and higher lifetime value, and check feature fit. The slide frames cross-department alignment as the way to bridge organizational gaps.
Global Goals + Global KPIs Who are our best customers? Are new customers the ones with lower churn and higher LTV? Are new features we are working on a good fit for our best customers? Bridge the chasm between departments
The matrix assigns measurable goals across marketing, sales, customer success, and product, under a RevOps and product owner. Targets include over 15% monthly MRR growth and below 2% monthly churn, alongside lead, onboarding, engagement, and feature goals.
Docsales Matrix Organizational Structure 2,000 trial accounts per month 30% "big" leads (high score) CAC < 6x MRR New MRR > $5K Onboard in <7 days At least 20 reviews 80%+ Engagement after 30 days 1 new feature per month CEO → RevOps Owner + Product Owner GOALS MARKETING(HC:2 + MKT Agency $12K) SALES(HC:6 $20K) CS(HC:4 $15K) PRODUCT(HC:1 $0K) -> CEO MRR GROWTH RATE > 15% per month CHURN RATE < 2% per month
The slide recommends considering RevOps early, including when choosing a technology stack, while implementation usually follows product-market fit. It frames RevOps as a mindset rooted in company culture, which takes time to build.
When is the right time to implement it? Generally, it is after Product-Market-Fit When is time to start planning? Start thinking about RevOps from day 1. For example, this will affect decisions about tech stacks Is RevOps for You? Founder500 | July 2022 | Nathan Latka Team Meeting in Jan'22 RevOps is a mindset, a mindset is about corporate culture, and culture takes time.
The recap links a revenue ceiling and high churn to a deeper customer assessment, cohort-based KPIs, and a 360-degree view of revenue leakage. The proposed actions are shared goals and alignment across departments.
Over the last 20 minutes: We hit revenue ceiling I showed you OUR PROBLEM ASSESSMENT ACTIONS High Churn Rate Our KPIs showed we were doing good Break Customer KPIs into cohorts Create a 360° view of the revenue leak DocSales findings Global Goals & KPIs Align all departments RevOps: Does it worth?
Mauricio Kigiela closes the presentation with a thank-you and his DocSales affiliation.
September 2022 Mauricio Kigiela CEO, Founder of Docsales
