Back in the dark ages (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth), I grew up in the enterprise sales world of having to do everything myself: Researching my market Prospecting my target buyers Discovery calls Strategy Sales meetings Closing Account management Client success And while I understand why so many celebrate the ways found to make the […]
SaaS Sales Best Practices
Read, listen and watch SaaS sales best practices for founders and leaders of growing technology companies. Join SaaS co-founders and operators for guidance on sales, marketing, customer success, culture, and institutional readiness. And be sure to use the Sales Organization Maturity Report Card to get instant sales recommendations for your SaaS.
Sales Motions for a Product-Led Company
A reoccurring theme of conversations I’ve had lately is what types of sales-motions fit best at a product-led company, and how to get an inside sales machine set up to complement product-led growth. Many product-led companies start out purely product-led. There may be some light sales assistance, but the bulk of new customer acquisition comes […]
Who owns SaaS customer revenue?
In the past, I’ve shared some perspective about whether sales or customer success should own SaaS customer expansion and renewals, and the answer was a resounding, “it depends”. “It depends” is one of my least favorite responses to a question. But in this case, it’s true. Ultimately both sales and customer success can be equally […]
More on the SaaS Sales Playbook for Product-Led Growth
I recently shared a few quick thoughts on how the SaaS sales playbook has to be adapted to work well in a product-led organization. Here are some more details on those thoughts…in no particular order. Assess the current state. The biggest mistake you can make when building the sales motion at a product-led growth is […]
Adapting the Traditional SaaS Sales Playbook for Product-Led Growth
There is an inside sales playbook that many SaaS companies use. And with good reason. It’s a tried and true, time-tested way to sell SaaS. It’s effective and proven. If you work for a B2B SaaS company you probably know this playbook well. It’s some variation of…. BDRs work inbound leads (generated by marketing and […]
Build Your Sales Plan Based on Reality
I meet with a lot—and I mean a lot—of startup founders and early-stage sales leaders who build their sales plans based on what they want to happen, versus the reality of what is happening. I get it, because I did it myself the first time I needed to build a sales plan. Here’s how the […]
More Tips for Managing a Remote Sales Team
A few days ago I posted some tips for managing a remote sales team. Those tips were fine, but they were also pretty basic—the stuff we have to do as sales leaders, no matter what. So, I thought a follow up with more specific remote management advice for leading a nascent sales team. Articulate your […]
Tips for Managing a Remote Sales Team
As a modern sales leader, there will be times you need to manage a remote sales team. Now is likely one of those times. If you have the good fortune of leading an established sales organization you will probably make a smooth transition to working from home. In that case, this article probably isn’t for […]
5 Ways to Build your SaaS Channel Partner Strategy in 2020
Today’s digital marketplace is a vast and wild place. It can get a little lonely out there. So to combat this feeling (but, really, to maximize resources for greater ROI), companies sometimes turn to a partner for help with the heavy lifting. These partners shoulder some of the burden of sales, creating separate selling “channels” […]
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 […]
