B2B Analytics Tool with Improving Trend

Analyzes multiple cohorts to identify improving retention trends, connects changes to recent onboarding redesign, and provides mid-market B2B benchmarks.

Input

What you provide to the skill

Cohort data: Jan 1-100%/45%/38%/32%, Jan 8-100%/42%/35%/30%, Jan 15-100%/48%/40%. B2B analytics tool, $99/month, targeting mid-market companies. Recent onboarding redesign.

Output

What the skill generates for you

Cohort Analysis Interpretation

Overall Assessment: BELOW AVERAGE with IMPROVING TREND

Your Week 1 retention of 42-48% is ~15-25% below mid-market B2B SaaS benchmarks, but the upward trend from Jan 1 to Jan 15 is encouraging.

Benchmark Comparison

Metric	Your Performance	Industry Benchmark (Mid-Market B2B SaaS)	Assessment
Week 1 Retention	42-48%	60-70%	Below average (-15 to -25%)
Week 4 Retention	30-32%	40-50%	Below average (-10 to -20%)
Week 1 to Week 4 Drop	10-16%	15-20%	Good - low ongoing churn
Trend Direction	Improving (+6% W1 retention)	-	Positive signal

Key Insights

1. First-Week Drop is Your Biggest Problem

You lose 52-58% of users in Week 1. For a $99/month B2B analytics tool, this suggests:

Onboarding isn’t leading to activation
Time-to-value is too long (common for analytics tools requiring data setup)
Users aren’t experiencing their first meaningful insight quickly enough

Action: Focus on reducing Week 0 to Week 1 drop before worrying about later weeks. This is your biggest leverage point.

2. Retention Stabilizes After Week 1 (Hidden Strength)

Once users survive Week 1, you only lose 10-16% more over the next 3 weeks. This is actually good:

Users who “get it” tend to stay
Your analytics product is sticky for activated users
The problem is activation, not product quality or value

3. Positive Trend from Jan 1 to Jan 15 (+6% W1 Retention)

Week 1 retention improved from 42% to 48% over two weeks. You mentioned “recent onboarding redesign” - this is likely working:

If the redesign reduced setup friction, it’s showing results
The trend is consistent across both cohorts (Jan 8 at 42%, Jan 15 at 48%)
Continue monitoring to see if this reaches the 60-70% benchmark

4. Mid-Market Positioning Requires Higher Retention

At $99/month targeting mid-market companies:

Your retention should be in the 60-70% (W1) and 40-50% (W4) range
You’re currently 15-25% below that benchmark
Mid-market buyers have higher expectations for onboarding and value delivery

5. Incomplete Data Makes Full Assessment Difficult

Jan 8 cohort only has 3 data points, Jan 15 only has 2. Consider:

Waiting for more mature data before major decisions
Looking at earlier cohorts with complete 4-week windows
Using caution when interpreting trend improvements (may be noise)

Recommended Next Steps

Immediate (This Week):

Analyze the onboarding redesign impact: Compare pre-redesign cohorts to Jan 15 cohort retention
Profile Week 1 drop-offs: What did they do (or not do)? Did they connect data sources? Create dashboards?
Survey recent churners: “What stopped you from getting value from [Product Name]?”
Calculate activation rate: What % of users complete critical setup steps (data connection, first dashboard, first insight)?

Short-Term (Next 2 Weeks):

Define your activation metric: What action correlates most with Week 4 retention? (e.g., “connected data source + created dashboard + viewed first insight within 7 days”)
Reduce time-to-first-insight: Pre-built dashboard templates, sample data, automated insights
Add Week 1 engagement triggers:
- Day 2: “Your first insight is ready” (with sample)
- Day 4: “See how [Peer Company] uses [Product]”
- Day 7: “You’re 2 steps away from your first complete dashboard”

Medium-Term (Next Month):

A/B test onboarding variations: Test fast-track vs. comprehensive setup paths
Target 60% Week 1 retention: That’s +12-18% improvement from current state
Implement white-glove onboarding for high-value accounts: Mid-market companies expect support at this price point
Build referral program: Your retained users (the 30-32%) are likely advocates

Segmentation Suggestions

Your aggregate numbers hide critical insights. Break down by:

Dimension	Why It Matters	What to Look For
Setup Completion	Analytics tools require setup to deliver value	How much better do users who connected data sources retain? Defines your activation metric.
Time-to-First-Insight	Speed to value predicts retention	Do users who see their first insight in Day 1-3 retain dramatically better than Day 5-7?
Company Size	Mid-market may retain differently than SMB	Are you accidentally attracting small businesses who churn faster?
Multi-User Accounts	Team adoption = stickiness	Do accounts with 3+ users retain 2x better than solo users?
Signup Source	Channel quality varies	Which acquisition channels bring users who actually complete setup?
Onboarding Version	Validate redesign impact	Compare pre-redesign vs. post-redesign cohorts with 4+ weeks of data

Onboarding Redesign Hypothesis

Given you mentioned “recent onboarding redesign” and seeing +6% W1 retention improvement:

What to validate:

Is this trend real or statistical noise? (Need 4+ weeks of post-redesign data)
Which specific changes drove improvement? (A/B test components)
Can you push retention from 48% to 60%? (Additional iterations)

Potential quick wins if redesign is working:

Accelerate the roadmap for additional onboarding improvements
Document what changed and apply similar principles elsewhere
Consider rolling out “re-onboarding” for churned users from Jan 1-8 cohorts

Summary

Verdict: Your retention is 15-25% below mid-market B2B SaaS benchmarks, indicating an activation problem (Week 1 cliff), not a product problem (later weeks are stable). The recent onboarding redesign shows promise with +6% W1 retention improvement from Jan 1 to Jan 15.

Primary Recommendation: Double down on what’s working in the onboarding redesign. Focus on reducing time-to-first-insight and defining a clear activation metric. If you can get Week 1 retention from 48% to 60%, you’ll add ~12% to your long-term retained base - that’s a massive revenue impact. The fact that Week 1-4 churn is already low (10-16%) means fixing activation will directly translate to Month 6+ retention gains.

Critical next step: Profile your 30-32% retained core (Week 4 retention). What do they have in common? Can you attract more users like them, or convert more of the 58-68% who churn in Week 1 to match that profile?