GTM Glossary · Metrics
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
Revenue retained from an existing cohort excluding all expansion, so it can never exceed 100%.
[01]What It Means
GRR strips out upsell, cross-sell and price increases to show what the base does on its own. A company reporting 120% net retention alongside 70% gross retention is losing a great many customers and growing only by extracting more from the survivors.
[02]Why It Matters
It is the honest test of whether the product delivered what the sale promised. In a new market it is also the first evidence that local delivery and support actually work, long before net retention looks meaningful.
[03]Where It Goes Wrong
Publishing net retention only, which is the number that flatters.Measuring on a book that includes new logos rather than a fixed cohort.Accepting a low figure as a customer-success problem when it was created during qualification.
[04]Related Terms