Who hates annual employee performance reviews? Everyone, that’s who. Employees hate them, managers hate them. HR probably hates them. There are plenty of studies and articles and trends to back this up. Like this one. And this one. Publications like The New York Times and The New Yorker are spreading the word. And there’s even a […]
Do Product-Led Growth Companies Need Customer Success?
Um…Yes, they do. In this article, I’ll provide some basic concepts about product-led growth and customer success, and then I will circle back with a follow-up article about how to specifically leverage customer success in a product-led growth SaaS company. So let’s jump in… The term product-led growth (PLG) has a pretty broad definition, but […]
What is Product-Led Growth and Why Is it a Revolution?
If you are in SaaS you already know the days of software vendors pitching monolithic enterprise solutions to corporate executives are quickly giving way to a growth model that centers on the end-user discovering software solutions on their own. This is product-led growth, a grassroots distribution model that scales from the bottom up, instead of […]
What’s a sales methodology and do you need one?
A sales methodology is just a standard approach to selling. It’s the how. Not to be confused with a sales process that describes the steps in the methodology. It’s the what. Do you need a sales process? Yes. Do you need a sales methodology? Yes. They go hand in hand. Without a sales methodology, your sales team […]
Know your buyer archetypes
Sure, you’ve documented your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) in your sales playbook. But have you documented the archetypes you sell to? Does your sales team know how to spot them and what to do to maximize the chances of success? There are all types of buyers, and teaching your reps to step back and think […]
Sample SaaS Customer Onboarding Cadence
SaaS customer onboarding is so critical—it’s really where the customer relationship is won or lost. There is a ton of great customer success information out there—but nothing that’s “block and tackle” specific, like an actual onboarding cadence example. The customer success organization has the responsibility to deliver an exceptional onboarding experience, from the first email […]
Customer success IS product.
Customer success is your product. Your product is customer success. Period, end of story. It’s time to change the culture of expectation for customer success. Having worked with products that had incredible product-market fit (PMF) and products that didn’t, I can tell you that perfectly executed customer success plays do not make or break a […]
Is It Time to Let That Person Go?
I have had many conversations (far too many to count) with managers and leaders who are trying to decide if it’s time to let someone go. The decision to keep investing in someone to try and nurture them, and coach them up to expectations, is often a gut-wrenching roller coaster of emotions and energy. But […]
30/60/90 Day Sales Ramp Sample
If it’s time to hire the first sales rep for your company you are probably nervous and excited. As you should be. Find the right person, and you’ve accomplished a big step that can help propel your company’s growth. Hire the wrong person and you’ve wasted a lot of time and energy and probably stalled […]
Does a Product-Led Growth Company Still Need a Sales Force?
Think about some of the online tools you can’t live without. Chances are, you backup your work to Dropbox, keep your colleagues updated on your progress via Slack, and automate your marketing emails with a service like Mailchimp. And what all these companies have in common, according to Forbes, is that they’re product-led growth companies. […]
