Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

Tactics to encourage resilience and determination and how Mike maintained a strong mindset throughout the journey, even when times got tough. Tactics to encourage resilience and determination and how Mike maintained a strong mindset throughout the journey, even when times got tough. years, including early indicators.

GTM 98

GTM Sell Networking Go To Market 98

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Jobs come and go. But when they needed that founder DNA, Therese came back last year. 2023 Was Tough, But Predicting a Return to 20%+ Growth I love the boldness here with Therese back as CEO. Then 2023 was tough, and Therese came back. And they’re putting it out there — they will get back to 20%+ growth.

Growth 82

Growth Up-sell Sell Customers 82

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

First, it’s tough to be truly fired if you control the majority of the board, voting shares, et c. And everyone knows startups are tough, and have ups-and-down. Where boards get so nervous as to want a fire a CEO is when the bad news is a big surprise. Missing a quarter is tough. We saw this live with Uber.

Start-ups 137

Start-ups Follow-up Trust Meeting 137

SaaStr

JANUARY 10, 2024

When you get everyone on the leadership team in a room to come up with the best ideas, those people take ownership of the ideas. Yes, marketing has to do all those things, but I think if marketing is going to do its job well, it has to be involved in the company core, the story for why does this company or product exist?

Pipeline 100

Pipeline Growth Strategize Start-ups 100

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2023

Probably just say Yes pic.twitter.com/K483lKnyzd — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin  (@jasonlk) April 21, 2021 So I wrote a version of this post years ago, about when to think about selling your startup, if you do get an attractive offer. 3 turned down a $40m offer on $2m in ARR. . #3 3 turned down a $40m offer on $2m in ARR.

Sell 144

Sell Price Up-sell Start-ups 144

Cerebral Selling

MARCH 4, 2024

What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There Most sales leaders end up in their roles because they were top-performing reps. The good news is, when it comes to knowing what it takes to be a great sales leader, I’m about to show you that you already know the answer! helped me through a tough time in my life.” How massive?

Cross-sell 130

Cross-sell Sales Referrals Launch 130

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

So I thought I’d come back to the classic topic and make a list of the Top 10 Mistakes I See Founders Make When Hiring a VP of Sales: #1. At least get close. So many VPs of Sales disagree with me here — at least at first when I make the point. Ask who those 2-3 are. jasonlk) October 25, 2023 #3.

Process 93

Process Sales Up-sell Quota 93

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Doesn’t everyone go into this as adults? If founders have been at it for 5+ years, and the business is truly at scale, and past the risk stage, then helping them sell some shares can be just the right thing to help them go long. Get the best and keep them happy. They were going long, after all. But why ?

Trust 93

Trust Up-sell Closing Sell 93

Sales Pop!

MAY 2, 2024

Inflation affects every aspect of the economy, but there are steps you can take to minimize adverse effects and continue growing despite tough times. 1 – Get Better Insurance Many business owners know they need better insurance but they’re not sure how to go about getting it. It doesn’t have to be a mystery.

Profit margin 52

Profit margin Price Growth Service 52

SaaStr

MAY 3, 2024

investor in Algolia, and CEO Bernadette Nixon came to SaaStr Annual with CRO Michelle Adams to talk about a critical but under-discussed topic: How to Get CEOs and CROs trulys on the same page. #2. We’re fortunate that over the years so many of their founders and CEOs have spoken at SaaStr Annual and Europa !

Growth 64

Growth Start-ups Customers Sales 64

SaaStr

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Dear SaaStr: Which Way Should I Go, VC or Angel Investors or Customer Funding? The reality is, few folks have all 3 options available to them: Most startups cannot attract venture capital, at least not in the early days. So that’s the tough balance. Most startups can find some angels to invest, but not always enough.

Customers 95

Customers Price 95

SaaStr

JUNE 26, 2023

One thing we’ve talked a ton about at SaaStr since inception is the power of going global as early as you have customer pull in other geographies. Some examples: HubSpot gets 54% of its revenue from outside the U.S. Asana gets 39% of its revenue from outside the U.S. Monday gets 47% of its revenue from outside the U.S.

Growth 119

Growth Territory B2B Sell 119

SaaStr

DECEMBER 4, 2022

Your family will never really understand what you go through as a founder. jasonlk) December 3, 2022. And what we know now for sure, that we always still knew anyway, is that it both (x) takes 7-10 years to Go Big in SaaS , (y) and it probably takes 12-20 years to build something iconic. To go long. To get up that hill.

Consult 119

Consult Growth Presentation Start-ups 119

Cerebral Selling

APRIL 6, 2021

Four months later, when PPE is scarce and badly needed, their values shift to speed and availability. In fact, having your brain biochemically hit the record button when things go sideways is evolution’s way of helping us remember how to get out of sticky situations. Customer budgets shifted and evaporated overnight.

Sell 136

Sell Objection handling Hospitality Pitch 136

Iannarino

JULY 10, 2021

But the advice here is designed to be helpful in many client conversations, not just the tough ones. The very first thing you should do when preparing for a client conversation is to know your outcome—your goal for the conversation. You increase your ability to succeed in client conversations when you have a target outcome.

Clients 296

Clients Conversion Up-sell Start-ups 296

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

So how long does it take to really Go Big? We did our own SaaStr analysis a little while back and saw it took on average 10 years to get to a $1B+ acquisition in SaaS. It’s a challenge to us all to push through the tough times we often see around years 4-5. It was worth “just” $2B 3 years ago.

Growth 131

Growth 131

SaaStr

MARCH 22, 2021

I’ll make a short list: When you don’t know what to do — go visit your customers. Don’t let the good ones go. Sometimes, your best teammates just need to move on, found their own company, get that VP role somewhere else, etc. Don’t let the good ones go. Find a great mentor — for the tough decisions.

Gaming 117

Gaming Promote Presentation Customers 117

Martech

APRIL 5, 2023

when a country’s gross domestic product falls in two consecutive business quarters). When times get tough, marketing budgets get cut. We also know businesses that keep investing in email marketing are better off when the economy improves. Go beyond subject lines and button colors.

Profit margin 126

Profit margin Objectives and Key Results A/B testing Strategic planning 126

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Some of us can go the distance as solo founders, and others of us can find a great co-founder, or perhaps a COO … later. But most of us can’t really get it off the ground without a strong co-founder. Wait too long, you’ll never get there. It’s hard enough to get 2, 5, 10 customers. This challenge never ends.

Niche 103

Niche Engineering Start-ups Growth 103

SaaStr

AUGUST 21, 2020

But let me share what I’ve learned are signs an entrepreneur likely won’t be going for it / won’t build something big. But selling your company for $20m-$30m isn’t consistent with raising VC capital or going big. You have to carry yourself as the CEO you want to be in 2–3 years, and act with that level of professionalism.

B2B 130

B2B Up-sell Start-ups Closing 130

Spiro Technologies

DECEMBER 29, 2022

When the calls and meetings are over and salespeople are left to their own devices, they can do things without the watchful eye of their prospects, customers, coworkers, and importantly, sales managers. Here are 10 of the things salespeople really do when no one is watching: 1. Blast music to get pumped up on the way to work.

Commission 110

Commission Appointment Represent Clients 110

SaaStr

APRIL 17, 2024

The Journey of Selling Your Startup Harry was the co-founder and CEO of Periscope Data, which raised a seed round before finding customers, yet didn’t run out of money before becoming an overnight success 3-4 years later. They grew like crazy when they found product-market-fit and raised a big Series A and B. He always said no.

Sell 65

Sell Negotiate Up-sell Price 65

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 28, 2023

While Zoom Enterprise is growing at a healthy clip, churn is over 3% a month for its SMB customers As a result, it’s now predicting 1% growth next year 1% pic.twitter.com/i2k2W9QbVX — Jason Be Kind Lemkin  (@jasonlk) February 27, 2023 So Zoom has just been the craziest story of all time in SaaS. Truly insane.

Growth 91

Growth Contract Engineering Customers 91

Heinz Marketing

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

By Maria Geokezas , Chief Operating Officer at Heinz Marketing It’s no secret marketing and sales are equally critical to your go-to-market success. But sometimes, things go off track, and marketing and sales operate in their own silos causing them to be misaligned in the way they attract and acquire new customers.

Go To Market 121

Go To Market Lead generation Sales Meeting 121

Hubspot

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

It can be tough to know how to reschedule a meeting appropriately and effectively. It can be tough to know how to reschedule a meeting appropriately and effectively. How to Reschedule a Meeting Professionally When should I reschedule a meeting? When rescheduling, be respectful of your fellow stakeholders' time.

Meeting 56

Meeting Contact Follow-up Start-ups 56

Cerebral Selling

AUGUST 8, 2022

In July 2022, over 30,000 tech workers were let go. Since March 2020, the world has been in a state of constant change and uncertainty. We’ve seen the splintering of society with the pandemic, politics, issues of social injustice, the great resignation, and now, inflation and recession. Create certainty where you can.

Sales 199

Sales Contract Clients Quota 199

Hubspot

AUGUST 14, 2023

Salespeople frequently undermine their chance of winning sales when they allow value leaks — instances where your email, proposal, word choice, presentation, or body language diminishes the perceived value of your solution — to creep into their sales processes. Why do value leaks occur? Value leaks are often the byproduct of previous losses.

Closing 85

Closing Hospitality Negotiate Price 85

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

Dear SaaStr: As a VC, if you could go back to your operational experience (as part of a hyper-growth startup), then what would you remind yourself to take note of? My top list: Slow down big decisions — when you aren’t sure. My biggest mistakes were when I said roll the dice, but my gut wasn’t sure the downside risk was worth it.

Growth 119

Growth Start-ups Customers Product 119

SaaStr

APRIL 26, 2023

And subscriber growth of only 3%. A standard playbook when growth slows. A reminder to go global! #4. Subscribers only grew 3% in 2022. A tough metric. New customers only grew 3%. Consistent EBITDA, going up. Squarespace produces amazing websites for SMBs — we are a big customer at SaaStr.

Price 92

Price Growth Up-sell Product 92

Martech

AUGUST 22, 2023

Marketers certainly demonstrated their tenacity in navigating the unknown and getting things done. Marketers certainly demonstrated their tenacity in navigating the unknown and getting things done. It’s time to go back to strategy and let it lead tactics. We email marketers need to get back to that strategy-first approach.

Strategize 94

Strategize Start-ups Follow-up Campaign 94

SaaStr

AUGUST 12, 2022

I’ve done this, and it worked out OK, but not even close to as well as when we were all on the same page. It’s years 5–10 in a startup when power laws really kick in, and years 10 and beyond when you have a shot at a unicorn. You have to be impatient to get something off the ground, for sure. You have to get more help.

Gaming 103

Gaming Start-ups Up-sell Growth 103

SaaStr

APRIL 4, 2022

Every VP of Sales knows around now, they are at risk of getting topped (someone hired above them) or even pushed out. Why Sales is a Tough Job. Just a few thoughts: *Have a CEO-VPS conversation about how far they can go. Do this once a quarter or at least 2-3 times a year. Even when last quarter was epic.

Sales 99

Sales Conversion Process 99

SaaStr

AUGUST 18, 2023

Toast dominates the restaurant POS space but its model has some inherent challenges in getting to positive operating margins: it sells to SMBs with a sales-driven model (harder), it has high hardware costs that it loses money on, and it has high services costs onboarding these small customers. In many cases, for the first time ever.

Growth 80

Growth Service Sell Sales 80

SaaStr

JULY 7, 2023

In my first start-up, while the core 3 co-founders were great, we needed an operational COO to really get to market with our customers. This is a really tough trade-off. And when you are ready — Go! Dear SaaStr: What Were the Biggest Mistakes You Made as a Founder-CEO? I made them again twice, maybe thrice.

Start-ups 94

Start-ups Closing Product Customers 94

Martech

MARCH 25, 2024

Suddenly, I’m 11 years younger, my hairline is half an inch lower and I’m telling marketers who ask me for advice or joined my recent two-day SMX Master Class why they shouldn’t freak out when their email campaigns go to the Promotions tab. Lately, I’ve been feeling as if I’m living in 2013 again.

Promote 76

Promote Campaign Retail Conversion 76

SaaStr

MARCH 27, 2022

It was tough to recover from that. And even harder to think about Going Long. If you can get to $10m in ARR, growing 80-100% or more Year-over-Year, and have happy customers AND a good team … if … then you can’t be stopped. You can get to $20m, then $40m, then $100m in ARR. 3. Go For It.

Trust 144

Trust Start-ups Growth Pitch 144

SaaStr

AUGUST 31, 2022

Even with some sales cycles indeed getting a bit more challenging, especially for deals in the $500k-$1m range. But Wall Street seems OK with it, since operating margins are going up and the growth is epic. And while everyone has taken a hit in public market valuations, Cloudflare has outperformed. No downturn, no slow down.

Growth 106

Growth Pipeline Engineering Customers 106