Tom Tunguz

MARCH 27, 2023

Sales cycles shifted dramatically in 2023. Slower sales cycles create pipeline shocks & startups are feeling the impacts. The average startup saw a 24% increase in sales cycle from early 2022 to 2023. 60 day sales cycles are now 75 days. But the latency isn’t evenly distributed.

Startup 322

Startup SMB Headcount Sales 322

SaaStr

APRIL 1, 2023

How To Capture This Global SMBTech Opportunity There is massive market opportunity to sell to SMB businesses. Efficient Go To Market There are a lot of ways to GTM as an SMB. With SMB, you want hundreds or thousands of little merchants to pay you every month. Nail an efficient SMB motion before trying to move upmarket.

Scale 220

Scale SMB Merchant Services Payment Methods 220

SaaStr

JULY 27, 2022

If a SaaS business hopes to win over the SMB market successfully, it will need a precise GTM approach. Founded in 2015, PayFit is a software company that empowers entrepreneurs and SMBs to digitize payroll and HR processes. Secret 1: A Self-Serve Product is Non-Negotiable For SMBs.

SMB 213

SMB Sales Hiring Scale B2C 213

SaaStr

JANUARY 21, 2022

Dorian Stone , Head of Organizations Revenue at Grammarly, is here to share lessons from his experience of scaling the company from consumer to SMB to Enterprise to help you steer your expansion efforts in the right direction. The admin, influential decision-makers, and consumer sales reps can be the same people in a Consumer or SMB setting.

Scale 228

Scale SMB Enterprise Sales Hiring 228

SaaStr

DECEMBER 1, 2021

So SaaS companies now must think about ways to sell to prospects before the sales team even contacts them. . This means that your team’s work is far from over at the closing of the sale –– your customer service must be on point, your product useful and simple to use. . Key Highlights: Adopt a product-led growth mindset.

Software Review 265

Software Review SMB Enterprise Software 265

SaaStr

JUNE 7, 2021

If a sales rep closed a deal, A customer success manager should take it over. Find a way to fund both, even with SMBs. I’d suggest a few basic thoughts and rules: If you have sales involved, then you need customer success, too. Just assign a certain amount of ARR per each SMB customer success manager.

Customer Success 342

Customer Success Scale SMB Sales 342

SaaStr

MAY 23, 2023

So leading growth stage VC Iconiq has published its latest and very detailed Definitive Guide to Sales Compensation here. Corners were cut in the boom times of 2021, but we are back to sane sales models. Renewals, if they are done by sales, are paid out at about 40% of an initial commission. Everyone should have a read.

Scale 288

Scale Compensation Sales SMB 288

SaaStr

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Dear SaaStr: At What ACV Can We Afford a Sales Team? Even with a very efficient team, it’s tough to afford a sales team much below $299 a month / $3k a year. Then, to make say $100k a year as an SMB rep, you then have to close 4x that (or more), so say $400k a year, maybe more. At least in the U.S. and Western Europe.

SMB 221

SMB Sales Pricing Revenue 221

SaaStr

DECEMBER 27, 2023

He led Sendgrid through a big IPO and multi-billion dollar sales to Twilio. #4. Sales-Led or Product-Led? CRO On Why You Need Both I really loved this one with Harness’ CRO on how to rule a PLG and sales-led playbook at the same time: #6. A very tactical guide to scaling SMB sales. #7. Harness.io

Scale 258

Scale SMB Generative AI AI 258

CloseSaaS

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Selling to SMB companies is a useful skill, especially in 2023. More businesses exist today than ever before. Here’s how to sell well!

SMB 52

SMB Strategy Sales Business 52

Sales Hacker

AUGUST 29, 2023

Previously, he served as the VP of Sales & Services at Mixpanel, where he ran the more than 100-person global revenue team. Before Mixpanel, Meka spent four years at Stripe and scaled and matured its sales organization during the company’s rapid growth from 250 to 2000 people. by Slack), Snackpass and Stytch.

SMB 73

SMB Scale Compensation Finance 73

SaaStr

OCTOBER 29, 2023

10+ Actionable Things You Can Do To Scale Faster In The Early Days The Chat GPT Growth Story: How AI is Changing the Way We Work The Challenge with SMB SaaS: High Growth Can Only Mask High Churn For Just So Long (Updated) Dear SaaStr: My Top Sales Rep Made $600,000 a Year — And Just Quit! What Happened? Top Podcasts This Week: 1.

ChatGPT 259

ChatGPT Scale SMB AI 259

SaaStr

JUNE 26, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What’s the Best Way to Get Ahead in SaaS Sales? It is important to decide which of 3 life tracks you want to be on: Super-successful sales rep / individual contributor. Successful sales manager. I.e., become a VP of Sales someday. Leverage “sales” to become a founder, business owner , etc.

Sales Recruiting 258

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Sales SMB 258

SaaStr

DECEMBER 12, 2023

Enterprise reps tend to close more ($1m+), and SMB reps less (maybe $500k), with $750k net new bookings per year the median. That sounds high to me, but still useful to see the data: One thing I’ve never really had much data on is exactly below what level of attainment sales reps typically are at risk of losing their jobs, however.

SMB 308

SMB Sales Hiring Enterprise Metrics 308

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Only the very best reps that have sold sales or marketing tools, which are very similar to the tools they use every day already, can sell vertical saas or developer tools. Sales reps mostly know how to sell sales and marketing tools. Sales is always hard, but it’s just very different at a top brand. A related point.

Sales Hiring 177

Sales Hiring Sales SaaS SMB 177

SaaStr

JUNE 20, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What remarks have a salesperson said to you that lost them the sale? Sales is there to serve. If sales was routed the wrong lead, that’s the company’s fault, not the prospect’s. I’m basically an SMB these days. And let especially SMBs out if you don’t deliver for them. Yes, you have to do that.

Sales Hiring 221

Sales Hiring Scale Sales SMB 221

SaaStr

APRIL 13, 2022

Dear SaaStr: How Many Deals Can a Sales Rep Close Per Month? A successful but not top 5% sales rep in SaaS typically can close: 20–50 deals a month if $0.5k-$2k ACV , i.e., very transactional 1–2 call close. Think about an SMB rep doing small-but-not-tiny deals — say $2k ACV. Usually all inbound. deals image from here.

Sales 276

Sales SMB Enterprise SaaS 276

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 6, 2021

The other day Brendon Cassidy, the first head of sales at LinkedIn and the first VP of Sales at $10B Talkdesk, Adobe Sign / EchoSign, and more — and now co-CEO of Cosell — and I caught on what’s changing in the Sales Playbook for 2022. Even in SMB and mid-market. Well in most cases.

Scale 335

Scale Sales Hiring Sales SMB 335

CloseSaaS

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

SMB vs mid-market vs enterprise sales—should you be going after small fish or whales? Learn how enterprise sales is different from SMB or mid-market sales & how to choose the right market.

SMB 52

SMB Enterprise Marketing Sales 52

CloseSaaS

OCTOBER 21, 2022

What is an SMB? Here's how to navigate the SMB sales process. A Small to Medium-Size Business is smaller, savvier, and has less time to waste than larger companies.

SMB 52

SMB Sales Business 52

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2021

We’ve talked a lot about hiring a VP of Sales at SaaStr , and if you hire a stretch VP of Sales (as most of you will) … how much you can stretch. A related question is — just how quickly can you gain the requisite experience to be a true first time VP of Sales? Month 6: promoted to first SMB rep.

Sales Hiring 294

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting SMB Sales 294

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

One of the very first SaaStr presentations ever was How to Hire a Great VP Sales (And Not Screw It Up). One was how my First Real VP of Sales Doubled Our Net New Revenue in 90 days. Brendon Cassidy joined as our VP Sales at a tough time, as we’ve discussed before, as we were coming out of our Year of Hell.

Sales Hiring 345

Sales Hiring Sales SMB Pricing 345

SaaStr

MARCH 12, 2023

Check out this week’s top blog posts, podcasts, and videos: Top Blog Posts This Week: The Challenge with SMB SaaS: High Growth Can Only Mask High Churn For Just So Long (Updated) The 8 Signs of a Failing Sales Rep. SaaStr 639: Scaling a SaaS Sales Team While Building Culture with Figma VP of Sales Scott Pugh    4.

Scale 221

Scale SMB Sales Scaling 221

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

Scaling a sales organization isn’t easy. Knowing which metrics matter and how to analyze them to increase your revenue and hit organizational sales goals is essential. . What makes a sales organization grow? What’s the best way to grow a sales organization? Enter your email below for the latest SaaStr updates.

Scale 257

Scale Sales Hiring Compensation Sales 257

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Everything from hiring on the GTM side to layering in a sales-led motion into PLG. Let’s dive into what’s making that hybrid model successful: PLG and Sales Led? Given this, you must understand the role that each facet of the business plays in promoting that product, from marketing and sales to customer service.

Scale 289

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Marketing 289

SaaStr

MARCH 22, 2024

After switching to SaaS, she started as an SMB sales leader with no prior management or SMB sales experience. She wanted to jump into a full cycle capacity as a sales leader, but she said yes. Shifting from an operator and loving operations and data to a sales and revenue leadership role felt like a big jump.

Scale 268

Scale Underperforming Technical Team SMB Finance 268

SaaStr

OCTOBER 30, 2021

Their CEO will join us at SaaSr Scale 2021 on December 15 to talk about using data to get to 10,000 SMB customers! I asked Aasif Osmany to share his learnings as a top-performing SMB VP of Sales, below. My personal objective was simple, learn as much about SMB SaaS as I could and move on to another company to continue learning.

Scale 276

Scale Sales Hiring Sales SMB 276

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Well, fast forward to today and it’s truly an SMB powerhouse. How is SMB SaaS doing today? Most SMB-focused businesses need shorter CACs to make the model wok, but with 111% NRR, Bill can invest at > 12 months here. Sales & Marketing, Engineering (R&D), and G&A expenses actually all went up in 2023.

Payment Services 314

Payment Services Payments SaaS Payments Payment Solutions 314

SaaStr

MARCH 6, 2024

Split Sales Team Managing SMB Accounts Into 2 Teams, One on New Business and One on Upsell It’s interesting to see Okta do this a bit later in life than some, but it makes a ton of sense given the current macro environment. Way, way too many startups focus 100% on direct sales. And a few other interesting learnings: #6.

Fractional VPE 244

Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE Scale SMB 244

SaaStr

MAY 5, 2022

What are some of the foundational ways sales leaders can think about building their sales teams as their company continues to expand and grow? There’s no shortage of ways to tackle this challenge, but one thing is clear: build sales teams thoughtfully and intentionally. Principle #1: Ownership is Key.

Scale 236

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Sales 236

SaaStr

DECEMBER 3, 2023

E.g.,: CAC of < 12 months is Good-to-Great Paying sales reps 25%-30% of what they close is Good A burn ratio of 1 or less is Good These metrics do sort of work, if you have some capital to spend (i.e., SMB SaaS often has much lower than 100% NRR, especially to start. can invest in marketing that takes a little while to pay off).

SaaS Payments 230

SaaS Payments Metrics Payments SMB 230

SaaStr

MARCH 26, 2023

Check out this week’s top blog posts, podcasts, and videos: Top Blog Posts This Week: The 48 Types of VP Sales. SaaStr 645: Why GUIDEcx is Betting Big on In-Person Events with SaaStr Head of Partnerships Poya Osgouei and GUIDEcx Co-Founder and VP of Sales Todd White   3. Make Deadly Sure You Hire the Right One.

AWS 209

AWS Scale Sales Hiring SMB 209

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

60% of Asana’s customers come from self-service, 40% from sales. This is trending to 50/50 now that Asana has crossed $400m in ARR, but still a reminder a self-serve motion combined with sales jumping on the bigger deals can scale very, very far. A reminder that you don’t need to settle for sub-100% NRR from SMBs.

Scale 358

Scale SMB SaaS Scaling 358

SaaStr

AUGUST 24, 2022

Driving up sales rep efficiency is key to driving up margins. SMB sales (most of Toast) is very tough to do without a highly efficient and effective sales force. Many SMB leaders have to get very, very good at outbound because of the limited deal sizes. 20% of new customers / locations come from referrals. .

SaaS Payments 312

SaaS Payments Scale SMB Payment Solutions 312

Nimble - Sales

JANUARY 25, 2021

The post How To Manage Customers In Microsoft 365 [formerly Office 365] for SMB appeared first on Nimble Blog. On the other hand, there’s some confusion going on with the […].

SMB 126

SMB Management Technology 126

SaaStr

JUNE 8, 2022

ARR, Zoom was an SMB powerhouse, with Enterprise growing. SMB is now saturated at $4B ARR and not growing, but Enterprise is picking up the slack and growing faster than ever. Sales & Marketing Spend Still Tiny at 25%, But Up From 20% As Zoom Goes More Enterprise. ARR … which it did in just 1 year (!!)

SMB 303

SMB Enterprise Engineering Scale 303

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Do public software companies with largely enterprise customer bases benefit from superior growth to their peers with mid-market or SMB focuses? SMB businesses benefited from a post-Covid surge when the US re-opened - a phenomenon that seems to abate with time. Product-Led companies continue to outpace Sales-Led Companies in growth.

SMB 275

SMB Enterprise Software Strategy 275