SaaS & Subscriptions / Revenue Operations
Downgrade vs Downsell
Two different ways customer spend comes in lower than it could, an existing customer reducing what they already hold (downgrade) versus a new or renewing deal closing below what was proposed (downsell).
The fork, why two teams get different numbers
CRMs and exports habitually merge these, but they belong to different metrics and different teams.
In the Metric Library
- The full fork, both definitions worked all the way through
- The trap that makes the number lie, on a real export
- Every formula variant, spelled out
- The reconciliation anchor, what to tie it to and when to refuse
Reference: SaaS operating-metric convention (no single standards body)