SaaStr

JANUARY 27, 2022

Q1 is really your last chance to get the hires done you really need for 2022. Even then, you’re still late. But it will be OK if you get ‘em done by March. This is a pretty basic post, but one so many busy CEOs and founders just miss: It’s already almost too late to make the hires you need for 2022!

Sales 110

Sales Growth 110

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

While technically true, especially if you’ve raised a lot (as many did in the Boom Times of late 2020 to early 2022), I believe embedded in this thinking is some bad advice. They are wished for 100x their money (that’s what “makes a fund), hoping for at least 10x their money, OK with 5x, and will settle for 2x-3x.

Price 102

Price Up-sell Gaming Sell 102

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 13, 2024

Lately, when I talk with people, the most popular topics for discussion are Politics, March Madness, and which movies and TV shows they are streaming. He started strong which you can see here. He started strong which you can see here. ” Or, “This is how it’s always been done.”

Territory 68

Territory Manufacturing Finance Consult 68

SaaStr

JANUARY 26, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Are Some of the Biggest Changes for SaaS Founders and Startups in 2024? The Rise of One-and-Done Fundraising as a Vibe Founders will get back to only planning to raise one round to truly get to product-market fit for real. So before that, you sort of have to be growing faster to go big. #3.

Growth 95

Growth Product 95

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 13, 2024

Lately, when I talk with people, the most popular topics for discussion are Politics, March Madness, and the movies and TV shows they are streaming. But lately, when I talk with the Kurlan & Associates team, the topic is consistently about salespeople who push back when our sales training and coaching is specific to RFPs.

Manufacturing 77

Manufacturing Territory Price Finance 77

SaaStr

MARCH 16, 2023

But most founder CEOs don’t have the background or patience to do this. Then : Have to scale from reps 3–8 or so. You really can’t start too early if you are good at outbound. It almost always works — done right. If You Do It Right. And You Put In The Time. Outbound Always Works.

Quota 119

Quota Sales Closing Customers 119

SaaStr

JUNE 16, 2023

Over the years, I adopted the philosophy that I want to treat people well in all phases of our relationship, aligned to our Purpose “to be living proof that you can win in business, while being Human-First.” But I can remember two situations (early on) with teammates and two with clients where I didn’t practice what I preach.

Clients 84

Clients Meeting Process 84

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

It was a sign you were one of the elite, and it made recruiting and so much more easier. They have nowhere else to go. Today, the best late-stage deals are being done at 10x ARR, sometimes 15x ARR for the true break-out leaders. You hit $40m ARR, but now are only growing 50%. What are you worth?

Sell 123

Sell 123

SaaStr

OCTOBER 1, 2022

So That VP That Has Done it Before always cost more than the stretch VP. Now of course some of this is a function of the boom times of late 2020 to early 2022, when lucky started were flooded with capital. But there’s a larger point — top VPs are getting tired, they’ve done it before, and they don’t want to do it all again themselves.

Quota 117

Quota Campaign Customers Process 117

Martech

JANUARY 10, 2024

Here are a few tips for success I have developed from watching hundreds of presentations and reading tons of audience feedback. I hope these help you the next time you take the stage. It’s best to be realistic about what you can teach someone in the time allotted for the presentation.

Presentation 119

Presentation Engineering Clients Process 119

SalesProInsider

JUNE 9, 2022

What’s the net or result of this? Those are two questions you might hear from the Achiever Tribal Type during your sales conversations. Not going to pay attention to details either in what they tell you or in what they expect from you. Value people who can get things done. Word choice.

Meeting 133

Meeting Customers Referrals Pitch 133

SaaStr

JANUARY 9, 2023

By late Q1, it was over. Late Stage Has Fallen Off a Cliff. New seed investors probably can’t raise another fund, unless they have amazing results or strong LP support. What does this mean? You might think that means they have to invest it, even in a down market. Now what’s the big exception?

Growth 113

Growth 113

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 20, 2023

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve found myself involved in a number of conversations about “Creating demand… ” Some have focused on marketing’s role in demand creation. Depending on whether you are in marketing or sales, there are various views of how well this is being done.

Technique 94

Technique Service Product Process 94

Iannarino

JULY 18, 2021

As you decide whether (and how) to use automation, you should consider both the nature of the communication and your overall client engagement model. I opened my Amazon account in August of 1997, and so far, I have never spoken to a human being there. Why Can’t I Have a Salesperson? No Human Required.

Cold Call 328

Cold Call Electricity Clients Drivers/motivators 328

Martech

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

However, as impressive as modern AI systems seem, they still have a long way to go before achieving true human-level intelligence. This article chronicles my experiences building various AI tools to assist with business functions and looks at what’s in store for marketers. Honestly, we have had mixed results.

Proposal Writing 123

Proposal Writing Gaming Technology Technology 123

Martech

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Well, friends, we have reached the end of 2023. Maybe some of you in ecommerce and retail are pushing the “send” button feverishly and trying not to lose your minds with all of the last-minute requests and pressure this time of year brings. If you’re on the B2B side, you’re trying to get in every sale you can to achieve your goals.

A/B testing 124

A/B testing Strategize Retail Clients 124

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 30, 2021

This tells me what they might be missing. You know what happened. He was always late to meetings, everyone on his agenda grew to accept that. They were, in fact, surprised and commented on it when he was less than 5 minutes late. Some thoughts: Block time regular time for things that you have to do regularly.

Meeting 100

Meeting Up-sell Start-ups Prospecting 100

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 30, 2024

Can I show you what results you might realize…” Sometimes, the product pitches are thinly veiled by a problem: “Is lead/demand gen a problem for you? But unless the prospect is very late in their buying process, product/solution focused prospecting is unlikely to catch their attention.

Product 98

Product Sell Pitch B2B 98

Heinz Marketing

JANUARY 9, 2024

For marketing orchestration, it is best to be proactively improving your process as you scale. So how do you know when it is time to invest in orchestration improvement? These are big and important projects, so knowing where and when to start gets you the best possible chance of success. Curious what that is?

X-functional 93

X-functional Government Strategize Start-ups 93

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 22, 2024

I learned he is a surfer and that he was hitting the waves just about 30 miles north of where I was trying to hit the waves… Wish I had known back then, we could have had some great conversations waiting for the right wave. But I never found it, so I stayed doing what I’d been doing. I like ideas. He was right.

Sell 77

Sell Construction Finance Up-sell 77

Veloxy

AUGUST 25, 2022

In addition to the intense and competitive work environment, sales reps and managers also have to juggle their work life balance and other commitments. This includes helpful tips on how to manage your stress so you can spend more time closing deals and more time with family and friends. After a ten minute meditation, go for a run.

Sales 182

Sales Quota Contact Clients 182

Partners in Excellence

MAY 30, 2023

This weekend, late evening, I turned on the TV, paging through the channel guide. Movies that have repeated endlessly–all the James Bond movies, Dumb and Dumber, Fast Times, the Breakfast Club. The world has changed, but we are still doing the stuff we’ve always done–at least in selling.

Objection handling 113

Objection handling Quota Entertainment Up-sell 113

Martech

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

The prospective one should ask themselves: “If I could go back to the start of this project, what questions would I ask with what I know now?” This can have implications for architecture, data services and integrations. This can have implications for architecture, data services and integrations.

UX 92

UX Process Prospecting Service 92

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 31, 2023

Have you ever been late to a party? Arriving late to a party has all sorts of downsides. Perhaps they feel a little disrespect because you didn’t arrive close to the time noted on the invitation. Arriving late to the party has lots of other downsides. The good drinks are gone.

Entertainment 62

Entertainment Start-ups Conversion Up-sell 62

SaaStr

JANUARY 29, 2023

Basically all of the SaaS CEOs/founders I know of have made at least one terrible VP+ level hire. Sometimes it’s VP Sales (OK, often, this is the most common mishire — another post here on what a really great VPS can do for you, and how a poor one can wreck your company, coming). You’ve been warned.

Start-ups 114

Start-ups Up-sell Meeting Closing 114

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 25, 2024

I have to start this post with an acknowledgement and a concern about misinterpretation/misapplication of this article. First, every month, Lahat Tzvi and I have a conversation. We don’t have a set agenda, we talk about what we are seeing, usually it’s me whining about the state of professional selling.

Customers 116

Customers Objectives and Key Results Growth Objection handling 116

Search Engine Land

DECEMBER 18, 2023

This article will help you cut through the noise and focus on the four key pillars of SEO that will help you improve visibility in 2024 and beyond. Content : Having the most relevant and best answers to a prospect’s question. In 2024 and beyond, much of what is “technical SEO” is actually part of your website and CMS.

UX 136

UX Click Through Rate Engineering Service 136

Martech

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

Many discussions lately have been about how complex the martech stack has become. Maturity models have been around for many years. For example, the Capability Maturity Model, developed in the late 1980s, was used by the U.S. Search “digital maturity” (with or without quotes) and you’ll see what I mean.

Technology 122

Technology Technology Campaign Service 122

SaaStr

MARCH 24, 2022

A lot of CEOs these days do seem to be late to truly invest in SaaS marketing, and most especially, to hiring a true VP of Marketing. Yes, you can get there with hustle, founder-led sales, and chutzpah. But … what if you could have done even better? What if 50% more people showed up to our events?

Customers 99

Customers Sales 99

Heinz Marketing

OCTOBER 19, 2023

But that doesn’t mean your company’s goals have to fall by the wayside, too. With some creativity and perseverance, there is much you can do to not only survive in an economic downturn but thrive. Here are some ways to stretch those pennies and get the most out of what you do have.

Negotiate 111

Negotiate Referrals Contract Follow-up 111

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

You can literally do almost nothing but make your customers happy and usually you will still grow. — Jason Be Kind Lemkin  (@jasonlk) February 20, 2023 So in the Boom Times of late 2020 though early 2022, all we talked about was Unicorns. What do I mean? But it is real and permanent, if you do it right.

Growth 121

Growth Customers 121

Search Engine Land

MARCH 12, 2024

“The conversational experience workflow is designed to help you build better Search campaigns through a chat-based experience,” says the article by Shashi Thakur, Google Ads Vice President and General Manager (Search Ads & Ads on Google Experiences). “It You then begin work with a draft rather than an empty screen.

Campaign 123

Campaign Conversion Clients Technology 123

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

If you want to hit the plan for Q1'22, You need to be hiring all the sales reps you'll need then … Now. The biggest pro is it recurs With even 120% NRR, you basically double in 4+ years even with no new customers. You just can’t make it up. To make the hires you need now, for next year.

Referrals 110

Referrals Contract Closing Start-ups 110

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

I knew where I needed to end up and what time I had to be there. As you might guess, halfway there, we started running into obstacles. I was worried, the system was estimating our arrival about 15 minutes late. Dave, I’ve done this drive dozens of times. They’ve never done this before.

Construction 105

Construction Follow-up Start-ups Meeting 105

SaaStr

OCTOBER 11, 2022

Even with late stage VC capital much harder to get now, and the IPO markets still frozen, I see many folks on my LinkedIn feed saying Sales and Customer Success are underpaid. But they do have to deliver. And this is where things got a bit corrupted in late 2020 and 2021. What do I mean? And that they are underpaid.

Closing 92

Closing Customers Quota Commission 92

Salesforce

JANUARY 8, 2024

Salespeople have a reputation for overpromising in their pitch. You’ve heard the adage about salespeople telling a customer “Of course we can do that!” This guide will teach you how to draft a bulletproof sales contract. What you’ll learn What is a sales contract?

Contract 110

Contract Process Legal Real Estate 110

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

What sellers do is drive customers to change. But why should we expect them to change, particularly when sellers have failed, so miserably, to change the things we do in creating value with our customers? Mack wrote Consultative Selling in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Related Posts: Can You Change Your Customer?

Customers 128

Customers Consult B2B Sell 128