Top five Saas ROI mistakes

Jan 26
4 min read

Either you have a small, mid-market or enterprise Saas showing ROI in the sales process and proving that ROI throughout the customer’s contract length is of utmost importance.

Higher the ROI, better customer satisfaction/ NPS, more product/ licenses upsell, higher the chances of customer renewal and higher revenue for you and your Saas company. More customers stay with us and buy more products, better for the saas product as ARR keeps increasing with higher revenue predictability and eventual greater market share. I have seen and experienced this to be very true in multiple products as well as geographies.

This post is not about ROI calculators or how to close deals using ROI collaterals.

You get the point. Understanding the ROI for each customer and explaining it to the customer matters the most in retaining the customers. Customers also need to know the ROI so they gain trust of their leadership/ buyers and grow in their careers. However, this may not be as easy as it sounds. Let’s look at the top five Saas ROI mistakes.

1 - Use generic ROI approach -

It is obvious that during the research and/ or buying journey the customer will see and compare similar Saas products. They know how the products differ and what strengths and weaknesses of each product are. The ROI approach we use should challenge and reframe the customer’s approach towards our product core use cases.

Generic ROI approaches such as simple calculations, high level use cases, vague propositions, etc. will not inspire the customer to evangelise the Saas product within their organisation. This impacts negatively both in the sales as well as upsell, renewal journey of the customers … 💰

2 - Not knowing the customer -

Most of the customers start the process of researching the product at least six months or a year before the actual purchase or contract signatures. They devise their objectives, goals and want to know how the Saas product can help them reach those goals.

Customer objectives are attached to their company strategy, goals as well as budget approval cycles … 🙋

Not knowing the customer can lead to stressful customer relationships, low Saas ROI and eventual loss of the customer. In my experience, if a customer relationship is damaged it is a bit harder to mend it.

3 - Over promising -

The end to end customer journey starts from customer looking/ researching the Saas product to renewing and using the Saas product for 3 to 5 plus years. During the journey promises will be made from both the customer and Saas team side. Examples of promises can be related to what the product offers, when changes will be made, what is said/ written in the contract, what is in the scope, what is covered in Ai, privacy, compliance and more … 👍

Over promising can lead to internal team friction, poor quality product, customer dissatisfaction, low adoption, low ROI and customer churn.

4 - Incorrect ROI assumptions -

These may not be just incorrect calculations but incorrect assumptions as well. Here are a couple of examples -

All user licenses will be activated at the same time.
Customer’s business and the industry they are in is doing well.
User usage will remain the same and will grow throughout the year.
Customers will use our core use cases so they will get value from it.
Our product has worked in one geography so definitely it will work in all geographies the customer operates in … 🫠

If these are considered in the ROI and do not happen, the customer will not receive that aspect of the ROI and their ROI will be lower than expected.

Here is a refreshing quote for you -

“The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake”.

Meister Eckhart

5 - Ignoring cost of inaction/ opportunity cost -

What happens if -

A working professional decides to quit his full time job to join MBA.
Renting vs buying a house.
I get up early in the morning and exercise for 45 minutes for 6 months.
For risky projects, hiring a consultant vs hiring a full time employee who will join after 3 months … 🏆

I believe you get the point behind the cost of inaction and opportunity cost. Every resource is always limited and time is one of the rarest resources in the Universe. ROI initiative should prove to the customer that the time and money being spent on your Saas product is well spent.

Cost of inaction can cost the customer in time, money and/ or market share. ROI must be a way to explain this; if not then it is a mistake which should be corrected.

Do you think -

Not tracking the right metrics in Saas ROI is a mistake?
In 2026, not having an AI agent which can tell you mistakes in Saas ROI is a mistake?
Assume one of your Saas product's user becomes expert in the product and gets promoted. Do you think that is measurable and should be added in the ROI?

I am sure this helps.

Don’t mention it …

Picture - having fireworks at a gathering? What is ROI on that? Think about it.