KPI signal type is a tag that says what a metric tells you about your partner program. Outcome means something already happened. Activity means something is happening now. Health means the relationship is moving in a direction. Tagging every KPI by signal type stops you from filling a scorecard with five metrics that all say the same thing.
Why signal type matters
Most partner scorecards fail in the same way. The operator picks the five metrics that are easiest to pull from the CRM. All five end up being revenue metrics. The scorecard then tells you only one thing. What already happened. It tells you nothing about what is coming next or whether the partner will still be around in a year.
KPI signal type fixes that. It forces you to balance your scorecard across three different kinds of information. Outcome metrics are accurate but late. Activity metrics are early but noisier. Health metrics are slow but predict whether the partner stays in your program.
If your scorecard has five Outcome metrics and zero Activity or Health metrics, you have a rear-view mirror, not a dashboard.
The three signal types
Outcome (what already happened)
Things that have closed, billed, or completed. The truth, but delivered too late to change. Examples:
- Partner-sourced ARR
- Partner-influenced revenue
- Joint customers won
- Deal close rate
Outcome metrics belong on the scorecard because you need to grade the partner against goals. They do not belong alone. By the time an Outcome metric moves, the activity that caused it happened months ago.
Activity (what is happening now)
Things partners and their reps are doing this week and this month. Noisier than Outcome metrics, but they move first. Examples:
- Deal registrations submitted
- Time-to-first-deal for new partners
- Training completions
- Pipeline meetings held
Activity metrics are leading indicators. If Activity is dropping, Outcome will drop in the next quarter or two. Review Activity weekly or monthly so you can intervene before the Outcome number embarrasses you in the board pack.
Health (whether the relationship will still be here)
Things that move slowly but predict whether the partner stays in your program. Examples:
- Partner NPS
- Partner retention rate
- Active seller rate
- Quality of the last QBR conversation
Health metrics are easy to skip. They don't change quarter to quarter. Skip them and you find out about churn the day the partner deactivates.
How to use signal type
Look at the scorecard you have today. Write down every KPI on it. Tag each one as Outcome, Activity, or Health. Then count the tags. If all of them are one type, your scorecard is unbalanced. Most teams discover they have five Outcome metrics and nothing else.
Trade some out. A healthy five-metric scorecard might be two Outcome, two Activity, one Health. A three-metric scorecard might be one of each.
Match the review cadence to the signal type. Activity metrics get a weekly or monthly look. Outcome metrics get a quarterly review. Health metrics get a quarterly or annual review.
A few rules
A scorecard with only Outcome metrics tells you what already broke. A scorecard with only Activity metrics rewards busywork. A scorecard with only Health metrics misses revenue gaps until they are big. None of the three signal types should dominate.
Tag the metric by what it tells you, not where it lives in the CRM. Partner NPS is a Health metric whether it is stored in HubSpot, Salesforce, or a Google Form. The tag is about the signal, not the system.
Re-tag the scorecard once a year. A metric that was a leading indicator at Seed stage may become a lagging one at ScaleUp. The signal type can change as the program matures.