SaaStr

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What is the average percentage of annual vs. monthly plan sold for a BtoB SaaS startup targeting the SMB market? Here are some rough-and-tough numbers: If the customers are so small they are basically paying out of their own pockets … then 80%+- will pay monthly. 95% of Expensify customers pay monthly.

Contract 87

Contract Growth Customers 87

SaaStr

OCTOBER 10, 2022

A gap opens up when: – Sales abandons the customer the moment deal is closed – Support too reactive & slow to solve real issues – Deployment harder than should be. They are the Great Gap Fillers in SaaS. What I mean is, with most SaaS companies, there’s just a huge customer workflow break.

Customers 114

Customers Account management Closing Follow-up 114

SaaStr

OCTOBER 17, 2023

Customer success is all about outcomes. What does NRR have to do with customer success? PST — Former VP of Customer Success and current founder and Managing Partner at Success Venture Partners, John Gleeson, shares his lessons learned scaling customer success from $1M to $300M in ARR. Get more new customers.

Cross-sell 65

Cross-sell Customers GTM A/B testing 65

SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2023

Bigger Customers Keep Growing, But SMBs Have Slowed A common theme across tech today. Freshworks has 51,700 customers at around $2k ARR, with a quick close of just 25 days. But in contrast to their bigger customers, the macro environment — or perhaps market saturation — has led to slowing growth in this segment in 2023. #2.

Cross-sell 100

Cross-sell Contract Price Growth 100

Search Engine Land

OCTOBER 25, 2023

And these days, customers expect brand engagements to be relevant, timely and personalized – as standard. So, unless you’re doing what the customer experience winners do, you’re always going to be in second place. You’re being judged against the best in the business. It’s well understood that martech holds the key. Here’s why.

Objectives and Key Results 120

Objectives and Key Results Technology Technology Consult 120

SaaStr

JANUARY 17, 2024

The Biggest Customer Segments Are Growing the Fastest. Smartsheet has thousands and thousands of small customers, with an ACV of < $5k. As you can see, $100k+ customers are growing the fastest, followed by $50k, then followed by $5k+ customers. And they now have 59 $1m+ customers, up from 40 a year ago.

Entertainment 91

Entertainment Government Contract Growth 91

Gong.io

JUNE 29, 2022

Beating customer churn is how the best-of-the-best Customer Success orgs shine. And it all starts with their onboarding experience. So how can you help your customers achieve value faster? How can you increase engagement for your software as a service (SaaS) app? With an effective SaaS onboarding process.

Process 62

Process Follow-up Start-ups Customers 62

SaaStr

DECEMBER 4, 2023

They also don’t think remote onboarding and training and culture is working well enough in sales. CROs Feel Like Customer Success is Phoning It In From Home, And They Have to Do More and More Of Their Job Ok this one may be the most triggering of all, which is probably why few say it on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Up-sell 87

Up-sell Follow-up Sell Conversion 87

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 23, 2021

The target customers for these are very different, their reasons for buying are very different, the “problem” they are trying to solve is very different. The buying journey and the customer buying experience is very different. ” This is driven by the flawed thinking of “SaaS selling.”

Process 114

Process Manufacturing Government Sales 114

SaaStr

JULY 18, 2023

Hypergrowth in today’s highly competitive and budget-constrained SaaS world may be less frequent now, but Vanta, the software tool empowering security companies to achieve compliance and manage risk, has defied the odds. Cacioppo now strongly believes that “customers would follow if you just build something” is a myth.

Strategic planning 87

Strategic planning Trust Growth Strategize 87

SalesHandy

JULY 7, 2021

You might be new to SaaS products, or even been doing it for awhile – SaaS Sales aren’t easy. Figuring out how to generate sales for SaaS products might seem like a pretty daunting task. What SaaS sales is all about, and how do you go about selling your SaaS to qualified leads? What is SaaS?

Process 98

Process Product Sell Inside sales 98

SaaStr

JANUARY 12, 2024

Is it the end of an era for customer success in SaaS? We just wrote up how some of the biggest changes of SaaS are now coming, specifically in Customer Success and Sales. Back in 2015, when didn’t have the data or NRR or GRR of 115 public SaaS companies. The number one insight back then was to put a person on it.

Customers 99

Customers GTM Growth Clients 99

Gong.io

AUGUST 3, 2022

For SaaS and subscription businesses, customer success is a key revenue driver. So, how exactly do you measure if a customer is “successful” (and what does that even mean?). Defining customer success and measurements . For individual clients, we can ask, “What was it that the customer wanted to achieve originally?

Customers 87

Customers Cross-sell Contract Price 87

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

Many of the fundamental business models that were once engraved in the SaaS playbook are now changing thanks to a tougher macro environment and a maturing market. PST, Stephanie Opdam, Partner at Notion Capital, shares four business model changes that will allow SaaS companies to build resilience and staying power over time.

Profit margin 100

Profit margin GTM Price Growth 100

Search Engine Land

OCTOBER 23, 2023

This article builds on my previous one, emphasizing the importance of aligning SEO with the customer journey , specifically for companies that provide software as a service (SaaS) that market to other businesses (B2B). Understanding SEO and content for a smooth customer journey 1.

B2B 130

B2B Customers Objectives and Key Results Price 130

SaaStr

JULY 25, 2023

SaaStr Annual: SaaStr Annual is one of the largest SaaS conferences, attracting thousands of attendees, including entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts. It provides insights into the latest trends, best practices, and networking opportunities in the SaaS space.

Legal 90

Legal Networking User Experience Technique 90

SaaStr

JANUARY 19, 2023

We’ll see 2,500+ of the best SaaS founders, execs, and VCs June 6-7 at 2022 SaaStr Europa ! Cyclr is an embedded integration platform (embedded IPaaS) for SaaS applications. Vendr is forever changing how companies buy and renew SaaS. Grab tickets here. It’s the everywhere workforce, working together. With over $1.5B

Growth 86

Growth Launch Price Clients 86

SaaStr

AUGUST 18, 2023

So while the media is full of stories of unicorns doing layoffs and massive cutbacks, the story is a bit different with leading public SaaS companies. Yes many public SaaS companies have done some sort of layoffs the past 12 months, they were often more really reorgs, though, without any net decrease in headcount. Billion in ARR!

Growth 80

Growth Service Sell Sales 80

SaaStr

JULY 20, 2022

It’s something we don’t see too often these days, as $200m+ ARR sort of became the new floor to IPO in SaaS. Many SMB SaaS companies struggle to hit 100% NRR and 80% GRR. But it then loses real money on onboarding, at -124% margins, and real money on hardware, at -183% margins. 5 Interesting Learnings: #1.

Electricity 97

Electricity Growth Price Service 97

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

A while back I was having a discussion, not quite a debate, but a discourse with an extremely smart VC — far smarter than me — who was relatively new to SaaS, having spent more time in B2C. Like a lot of folks tip-toeing from B2C to SaaS, his first stop was in freemium. And thus, customers are willing to invest the time.

Process 106

Process B2C Follow-up Product 106

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

I think this is some pretty helpful reading here, a good slice of some of the most tactical insights: Got 100 Customers? Believe It Or Not, It’s Time for Your First User Conference One thing that always works in marketing is bringing your customers and prospects together IRL. Your Customer Success Team. Almost always, in fact.

Price 92

Price Contract Territory Growth 92

SaaStr

DECEMBER 1, 2022

GUIDEcx® is a client onboarding and implementation platform that keeps your clients at the center of every project by providing complete visibility into the work. Invite everyone to the project—internal resources, customer teams, and third-party vendors. Tropic makes buying and managing SaaS ridiculously easy.

Contract 96

Contract Gaming Clients Technology 96

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

We’ll see 2,500+ of the best SaaS founders, execs, and VCs June 6-7 at 2022 SaaStr Europa ! With A-LIGN as your guide, we bring you the people, process and platform you need to secure your summit, protect against future risks and build customer confidence so you can focus on elevating your business. Grab tickets here.

Territory 94

Territory Government Trust Strategize 94

SaaStr

MAY 19, 2020

Many of us are struggling now; a minority are “Covid Beneficiaries”; and most are somewhere in the middle in SaaS. SaaS has sort of come back already, even if the economy overall hasn’t. Not enough SaaS companies have segmented their sales teams and marketing efforts into Green, Yellow and Red market segments.

E-commerce 124

E-commerce Pipeline Start-ups Prospecting 124

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Freemium to paid conversion rates for SaaS businesses hover around the 2% mark on a good day. But the one thing that’s going to truly make an impact—and that has a snowball effect through all your other initiatives—is prioritizing your user onboarding. Now, there are many methods you can use to try and increase your conversion rate.

Conversion 103

Conversion Gaming Teamwork Start-ups 103

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Over the years, BrainStorm has evolved from a training services company to a world-class SaaS platform. By embedding payments into software companies’ products, Infinicept is enabling customers to exponentially amplify growth by tapping into the $585 billion embedded finance marketplace. appeared first on SaaStr.

Finance 92

Finance Trust Growth Service 92

Martech

JANUARY 30, 2024

Sentry provides SaaS error and performance monitoring to developers. Szu and her team were reviewing how the company connects with its customers and were concerned about over-relying on Google for acquisition. Sentry’s customers are developers and, as Szu put it, “Developers by definition are very, very, allergic to being tracked.”

Education 127

Education Territory Growth Technology 127

SaaStr

JANUARY 30, 2023

20X year 1⃣ 12X year 2⃣ 5X year 3⃣ #deelspeed @deel [link] — Shuooo (@shuoshuooshuooo) January 23, 2023 When we look at SaaS companies’ success stories, everything looks great on their growth maps. Shuo Wang is the CRO and co-founder of Deel, one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies. Trust the process.

Cross-sell 92

Cross-sell Account management Clients Growth 92

SaaStr

MARCH 16, 2023

Segmenting by customer size, and sometimes geography. By 8-10 sales reps, you probably need a first head of rev ops / sales operations to handle training, onboarding, compensation, quotas, etc. The post Dear SaaStr: What Is a Typical Organizational Structure for a SaaS Startup With Sales Reps? appeared first on SaaStr.

Quota 117

Quota Sales Closing Customers 117

SaaStr

DECEMBER 26, 2022

Despite economic headwinds, SaaS spending continues to grow, with most companies having self-reported increasing or maintaining SaaS spending. G2 track, their proprietary SaaS spend management platform. This includes data from companies on how they utilize SaaS and their spending. The rise of third-party buying .

Go To Market 79

Go To Market Follow-up Trust Up-sell 79

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Welcome to the latest installment of our “ What’s New ” series where SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin sits down with some of the top leaders and founders in SaaS and Cloud to discuss What’s New and what should be top of mind for fellow founders. This creates a multiple effect because you cross-sell to their customer base.

Cross-sell 83

Cross-sell Strategize Campaign Education 83

SalesLoft

MAY 18, 2020

While many organizations have hit pause on hiring plans, others are still onboarding and hiring during these uncertain times. SalesLoft is one of those companies onboarding new employees remotely. Technology’s role in onboarding and ramping up employees is more pronounced than ever. That didn’t happen. And I’m not alone.

Relationship building 122

Relationship building Entertainment Technology Technology 122

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

Go-to-Market matters because sales and marketing spend remain the biggest proportion of SaaS spend, so honing in on that spend to build an engine and drive growth is paramount. They need to hear the customer and use that feedback to refine products. The Early Stage — $0 to $20M ARR The early stage is crucial for GTM.

Go To Market 94

Go To Market GTM Cross-sell Growth 94

SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2021

A short, paid pilot is a great way for a customer to force a new vendor to prove themselves. But the reason the exception worked was the customer stakeholder truly deployed the resources to make it work. “Regular price increases for SaaS” — Benjamin Irvine. But an unpaid pilot? And it was early. Jason, ed. :

Price 116

Price Contract Referrals B2B 116

Martech

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Marketing must generate interest, leads, and an initial core of customers through program and product-driven campaigns. Developing a measurable, repeatable onboarding process that turns sales into customers. The metric of Phase 4 is the metric that means money — customer lifetime value (CLV). Market introduction.

B2B 125

B2B Prospecting Gaming Campaign 125

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2021

Lately at SaaStr, we’ve become more and more buyers of SaaS software ourselves. Traditional SaaS sales is incented to close 1+ year contracts without no outs as quickly as possible, and where possible, for every possible seat you might ever use in Year 1. The majority of Zoom customers now pay monthly. The list goes on.

Contract 107

Contract Price Closing Gaming 107

PandaDoc

APRIL 17, 2024

Contractor management software is a tool that helps organizations streamline and automate the processes related to hiring, onboarding, monitoring, and evaluating external contractors and vendors. CMS is a system that can assist with the hiring and onboarding of contractors. Highlight the importance of compliance during onboarding.

Contract 52

Contract Construction Government Legal 52