The A.R.E plan is the simple approach to outline the initiatives and tactics to reach your goals for SaaS customer acquisition, retention, and expansion. For those leaders and teams who don’t love to plan, but know they need to.
Planning
Goals, we tried them …. really, how did that go?
I’ve just spoken to about 100 SaaS founders and execs at SaaStock in Dublin about metrics, goal setting and managing growth. It would appear that a common position on goal setting is: We have tried to implement a system to set-up goals but gave up Some teams like Sales have goals, other teams don’t We’ve […]
Hate Planning? The A.R.E. Planning Framework for SaaS Companies is for you.
I love plans: whether they’re formal and detailed or quickly scribbled on a napkin during a moment of inspiration. However, I know my love of planning puts me in the minority. Let’s be honest, most companies and managers say they plan….but it’s one of those things that doesn’t actually happen regularly and is usually ineffective. […]
How to Balance Your SaaS Product Development and Evolution
Yesterday, I wrote about my perspective on controlling and launching a minimally viable product (MVP) in SaaS. That MVP process could apply to a startup with an unreleased, pre-revenue product. But, it could also apply to an established product adding new capabilities or features. Today I want to focus on the SaaS product development process […]
SaaS Growth Strategy: Balancing Profit and Investment
I was often a self-funded founder whose SaaS growth strategy needed to include profit, as that was how my co-founders and I paid ourselves. When you’re growing a SaaS in a meteoric sector like martech, taking investment capital out of the growth machine in the form of profit must be done judiciously and intentionally. If […]
Designing Marketing Data to Accelerate Deals
Acceleration comes from focusing the right sales and marketing messaging and tactics on the right prospects at the right time. The data needed to make that sort of success predictable must be intentionally sought, recorded and leveraged.
A Laser-Focused Approach to Quarterly Planning for Your SaaS Company
I have lots of ways I like to approach planning and goal setting, depending upon the team, the situation, the company culture and the goals. Planning is contextual—I am equally down for a formal, rigorous, highly detailed plan, or something scribbled out on the back of a napkin. Each has their merits and their place. If you are a leader who eschews planning, but knows you need to do it anyway, here is a simple framework.