9 Steps to Repeatable, Scalable, & Profitable Growth - older version
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The document outlines a roadmap for B2B startups emphasizing the importance of searching for product/market fit before scaling. Key phases include testing hypotheses, proving value, and developing a repeatable sales process while avoiding common pitfalls like premature scaling and cash burn. Successful growth hinges on achieving a predictable, scalable, and profitable model, which is critical for increasing startup valuations.
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9 Steps to Repeatable, Scalable, & Profitable Growth - older version
- 1. B2B STARTUP ROADMAP MATRIX GROWTH ACADEMY
- 2. Conventional Wisdom Search for Product / Market Fit Scaling the Business Works for B2C
- 3. BUT B2B FOUNDERS USUALLY DISCOVER… Turn up the spend on sales & marketing, but no consistent results, and a lot of cash burn
- 4. There’s an important missing step that’s essential for B2B
- 5. The Missing Step Search for Product / Market Fit Scaling the Business Search for Repeatable, Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 7. Startup Valuations – The Reality MILESTONES TIME VALUATION
- 8. Startup Value Creation Happens as Key Elements are De-risked “Do we know what problem we are solving?” “Will many people pay?” TIME VALUATION “Does it actually work?” “Will someone pay?” Credit Pete Kazanjy
- 9. Key Startup Inflection Points TIME VALUATION Can we scale profitably? Does our growth process scale? Can we scale without excessive churn? Can non-founders sell this? Will many people pay? Does it actually work? Will someone pay? Do we know what problem we are solving? Credit Pete Kazanjy
- 10. Not Only is Risk Reduced… but Focus and Business Motion also Change TIME VALUATION Inflection Points
- 11. THESE LEAD TO THE SUB-PHASES
- 12. The Sub-Phases Test hypothesis “What are we solving? How?” Prove the Value “Does it actually work?” Prove it can be sold “Will someone pay” Search for Product / Market Fit
- 13. The Sub-Phases Find repeatable Sales motion “Will many people pay?” Prove non-founders can sell “Can non-founders sell this?” Make it Scalable “Does this scale?” Ensure Customer Success “Can we scale without churn?” Make it Profitable “Can we scale profitably?” Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 14. Scaling the Business The Sub-Phases Hit the Gas & Scale “Does this keep scaling when we hit the gas?” Scale the organization & it’s processes Expand internationally Add additional Product lines
- 15. THE SCALING PHASE: Startup Value Increases Rapidly Can we scale profitably? Does our growth process scale? Can we scale without excessive churn? Will many people pay? Does it actually work? Will someone pay? Do we know what problem we are solving? CAN WE KEEP SCALING WHEN WE REALLY HIT THE GAS? TIME VALUATION Can non- founders sell this?
- 16. WHY?
- 17. PROFITABLESCALABLEREPEATABLE THREE CAREFULLY CHOSEN WORDS Easy to say, but hard to achieve
- 19. …which GROWTH STAGE INVESTORS LOVE
- 20. Growth Rate (% YoY) + Operating Profit (% of Revenue) SaaS Valuations driven by {Growth Rate + Profitability} Enterprise Value Gross Profit This is often referred to as the Rule of 40, as the goal is to have this number be greater than 40% The usual version of this graph shows a Y-Axis as Enterprise Value (EV) / Revenue which results in a wider dispersion (lower correlation coefficient). Credit Jared Sleeper, Matrix Partners who figured out a better predictor was to use Gross Profit instead of Revenue to get a better predictor of Enterprise Value
- 21. Trying to force progress by jumping ahead before completing the current phase #1 mistake
- 22. Common Variations • Building product before meeting enough buyers to validate the hypothesis • Hiring salespeople before founders have proven they can sell the product • Scaling sales before growth process is repeatable • Scaling sales before solving churn problem
- 23. BURN CASH & shorten the runway
- 24. What We’ve Learned NOT PREDICTABLE HOW LONG THIS WILL TAKE Search for Product / Market Fit Scaling the Business Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 25. Conserve Cash until the Scaling Phase Search for Product / Market Fit Scaling the Business Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model CASH BURN
- 26. A Common Mistake… Search for Product / Market Fit Scaling the Business Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Founders remain in burn avoidance mode Fail to invest for fast growth
- 27. Prioritize Focus & Actions based on Stage Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Test Hypothesis Prove the Value Prove it can be sold Find Repeatable Sales Motion Prove non- Founders can sell Make it Scalable Ensure Customer Success Make it Profitable Hit the Gas and Scale Scale the org & its processes Etc. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Scaling the Business
- 28. Avoid jumping ahead Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Test Hypothesis Prove the Value Prove it can be sold Find Repeatable Sales Motion Prove non- Founders can sell Make it Scalable Ensure Customer Success Make it Profitable Hit the Gas and Scale Scale the org & its processes Etc. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Scaling the Business
- 29. Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Our Focus Today:
- 30. Before we get there, let’s spend a minute on PMF Search for Product/Market Fit
- 31. Greatest mistake: Design, Build, Sell Search for Product/Market Fit Test hypothesis “What are we solving? How?” Prove the Value “What are we solving? How?” Prove it can be sold “Will someone pay” Build the MVP
- 32. Instead: Sell, Design, Build Search for Product/Market Fit Test hypothesis “What are we solving? How?” Prove the Value “What are we solving? How?” Prove it can be sold “Will someone pay” Build the MVP
- 33. Why this advice is so hard to follow Founders from technical and product backgrounds not comfortable with prospecting or cold calling Solution: LinkedIn (and/or Google Adwords)
- 34. Credit: Harvard marketing professor Theodore Levitt: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”
- 35. Good Evidence of Product Market Fit • A number of customers have purchased • Referenceable • Customers are happy • Using the product • Would be very reluctant to give it up • Realizing the promised benefits • Evidence of intent to expand usage • Churn is low
- 36. Predictable, Repeatable, Scalable, Profitable Growth Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 37. The key sign that you’re getting there: Bookings - (NOT Revenue or ARR!) For SaaS: Bookings = Net New ARR (New + Expansion – Churned) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7
- 38. ARR with Flat Bookings ARR with Growing Bookings Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7
- 39. At the beginning: No clear sales path
- 40. By the end: Well understood path
- 41. What are we trying to learn? • Which target market? • Who in the organization to sell to? • What pain / use case to target? • What messaging? • What sales motion? • How do we fill the top of the funnel? • What pricing? • What new product features are needed • Who are our ideal prospects (ICP) and what defines a bad prospect • What is the right organization in sales, marketing and customer success (inc. people specs)
- 42. Where do you start?
- 43. Phase 4 - Find Repeatable Sales Motion Find repeatable Sales Motion “Will many people pay?” Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 44. Sales Motion Strangers Customers Sales Motion Promoters Customer Success Playbook
- 45. Funnel Design Customer SuccessSalesMiddle of FunnelTop of Funnel Strangers VisitorsAttract CustomersCloseLeadsConvert PromotersDelight
- 46. Brian Halligan’s Flywheel Customer SuccessSalesMiddle of FunnelTop of Funnel Strangers VisitorsAttract CustomersCloseLeadsConvert PromotersDelight
- 47. Ideal Sales Staffing = Founder Led Selling Founders Pathfinder/Trailblazer Sales Director/Rep Find repeatable Sales motion
- 48. Pathfinder/Trailblazer Sales People • Not like ordinary sales people – who follow a playbook • They have to create and evolve the playbook • Which target market and use case? • Who in the organization to sell to? • What Message? • What Pricing? • What Sales Motion? • Key missing product features?
- 49. Fire Up an Initial Lead Source
- 50. Customer Discovery Somewhere north of 50 real buyer conversations Patterns will emerge
- 51. Goal: Pick one target market
- 52. … with a clear Use Case Use Case Benefit
- 53. Why? • “Whole Product” • Features, integrations, and partnerships needed for each use case are different • Deciding on one cuts the feature list to a manageable level • Prospect targeting becomes far easier • Salespeople get smarter faster on how to talk to the customers about their business
- 54. Use Case Messaging is far more powerful • Example – an AI powered Smart BI system • Broad messaging: • Our Smart BI software will automatically surface insights in your data • Sales use-case messaging: • Our Smart Sales Intelligence software • Automatically tracks all of the important funnel indicators • Will pro-actively warn you as soon as any indicator shows a potential problem. • Allows you to fix problems early before they affect your bookings number
- 55. Brian Halligan, CEO - HubSpot “In the early days of HubSpot, we couldn’t decide which target persona to go after. We argued about it for years. By not deciding: - our marketing team had to serve multiple personas - our product team had to serve multiple personas - our services team had to create multiple offerings Once we finally got focused on one persona, everyone could focus on attracting and delighting that persona.”
- 56. Recommended Starting Point Make a list of your best ideas for potential target markets
- 57. Score Them Examples of Target Market Choices TAM Pain level / Urgency and Willingness & Ability to pay Amount of work required to satisfy their needs Enterprises High score here means low amount of work Mid-market SMB Venture Backed HiTech companies Financial Vertical Note these target markets are just examples. Your own list of possible targets will vary.
- 58. Hair on Fire Urgency is key to success • Buyers resist change • Without urgency you will have: many good conversations but long sales cycles and few closed deals
- 59. Ideal Customer Profile - ICP Ideal Prospect Characteristics • Industry • Use case • Company Size • Job function • Key characteristics Negative Characteristics
- 60. Messaging • Business benefits, not product features • Clear • Simple • Short • Explains differentiation from competition
- 61. Credit: Harvard marketing professor Theodore Levitt: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”
- 62. Define our Growth Process XXX YYY Covered in a later section
- 63. Find Repeatable Sales Motion – Exit Criteria • Sales to multiple customers • Who fit the Ideal Customer Profile • Happy and realizing the promised business benefits • Using a repeatable sales motion that can be taught to a Sales rep • One target market, one use case • How leads are generated • Who to call • What messages to use • How to engage • Pricing • Etc.
- 64. Biggest Mistake • Hiring normal (non-pathfinder) sales reps before this step is complete
- 65. Phase 5 - Prove non-Founders can sell Find repeatable Sales Motion “Will many people pay?” Prove non-founders can sell “Can non-founders sell this?” Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 66. Ideal Sales Staffing Founders Pathfinder/Trailblazer Sales (Rep/Director) Find repeatable Sales motion Prove non-founders can sell 2 Standard Sales Reps
- 67. Prove that an ordinary sales rep can sell • Founders must step back and take a different role: • Hiring • Onboarding & Training • Managing • Coaching • Building sales tools
- 68. Can Non-Founders Sell – Exit Criteria • At least one “ordinary” Sales rep selling effectively • Ideally both of the reps • Productivity at > 4x their OTE • Customers remain happy • Realizing the promised business benefits
- 69. Common Mistake • Founders don’t hand over selling to the reps • Hard to do, as the reps are so much less capable • It’s OK for founders to keep doing a few deals • But that should NOT be their top priority
- 70. Phase 6: Make it Scalable Find repeatable Sales Motion “Will many people pay?” Prove non-founders can sell “Can non-founders sell this?” Make it Scalable “Does this scale?” Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 71. Ideal Sales Staffing Founders Pathfinder/Trailblazer Sales (Rep/Director) 2 Reps 2 Reps 2 Reps Find repeatable Sales motion Prove non-founders can sell Make it Scalable 2 Reps 2 Reps2 Standard Sales Reps
- 72. How do we drive Bookings?
- 73. Growth comes in discontinuous units
- 74. The Math behind Bookings No of Sales People Productivity per Rep (Average) x PPR
- 75. Lets look at each of these in turn…
- 76. Number of Sales People One of the most common reasons for missing plan Didn’t hire sales people fast enough
- 77. Sales Hiring • You will need to build an in-house recruiting machine See my blog post: “Recruiting: the third crucial Startup Skill”
- 78. PPR Quality of Sales Hires Onboarding & Training
- 79. Productivity Per Rep (PPR) Rep Q2-15 Q3-15 Q4-15 Q1-16 Q2-16 Q3-16 Q4-16 John 120 165 180 145 80 110 195 Mary 80 110 135 155 150 145 Fred 60 35 75 40 55 Alice 85 145 160 180 145 Joe 60 110 85 130 145 Mike 155 170 145 190 Sarah 35 45 70 45 Sue 80 145 175 165 We are looking for a lot of Reps in the Green
- 80. % of Reps at Quota 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Q1-16 Q2-16 Q3-16 Q4-16 % of Reps above 75% of Quota 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Q1-16 Q2-16 Q3-16 Q4-16 % of Reps above 100% of Quota Goal: 75% Goal: 50%
- 81. Another way to look at Rep Productivity
- 82. There’s one other thing that drives PPR Adequate Lead Flow
- 83. Etc. Finding Scalable Lead Sources Facebook Ads Paid Search Lead volume Time Paid lead sources tend to hit a limit
- 84. Your first Marketing Hire • The crucial marketing skill: knowing how to generate leads • Often referred to as Demand Gen • Forget branding, marcoms, etc. • They are secondary to lead generation and funnel optimization • Great marketing is all about execution • Ideas are cheap • Focus on their track record for getting things done
- 85. Other Staffing Founders Pathfinder/Trailblazer Sales (Rep/Director) 2 Reps 2 Reps 2 Reps Find repeatable Sales motion Prove non-founders can sell Make it Scalable 2 Reps 2 Reps2 Standard Sales Reps Recruiting, Customer Success, Marketing, Sales Management
- 86. Phase 6 – Make it Scalable – Exit Criteria • Predictable, Repeatable, Scalable Growth • Consistent growth in Bookings (not just ARR) • Proof that you can add salespeople, and make them productive in a predictable way • Proven lead sources that can scale • Internal Recruiting function working well • Strong Executive Leadership team in place
- 87. Deliverables at the End of the Process Customer SuccessSalesMiddle of FunnelTop of Funnel Strangers Visitors Leads Customers PromotersAttract CloseConvert Delight Marketing Playbook Sales Playbook Customer Success Playbook Sales Enablement Tools Onboarding and Training Tools Automation and Technology layer Metrics
- 88. Example Sales Playbook Definition Activities Milestones Clearly identify whether the Opportunity continues through the Sales Process. Conduct a 2-way exchange of Prospect’s business challenges, pain, objectives and goals. Document and confirm we understand Prospect’s goals, objectives, business challenges and pain. What is the potential business impact and value-add with NewCo. Justify the specific Newco solution to the key decision makers. Justify solution with business case, ROI, custom demo, technical review, customer case studies where applicable. Agreement / Contract has been delivered to prospect and agreement to steps as chosen vendor to complete procurement cycle. Validate next steps in the evaluation process including the criteria and decision process. Present solution to champion and executive sponsor. Quantify value and dollarize opportunity in SFDC Ability to dollarize the solution Define use case(s) and map solutions value to prospects corporate strategy Perform demonstration to the Champion that addresses prospects Pain, Goals and Objectives Confirm decision criteria, process, budget, timeframe Present detailed sequence of events / closing plan Deliver custom demonstration to all relevant stakeholders (PoC) Collaborate and present business case justification, Identify power user and project team Discuss and present standard onboarding document & Integration review and technical gaps addressed Engage Legal and Procurement Update Customer Success section within Opportunity record Negotiation on legal, price and business terms Schedule and complete references Alignment call with customer success team as required Finalize order document and vendor approval process Contract signature / Initiate Customer on-boarding process Identify timeframe, compelling events, current environment Pitch and present focused on strategic value Identify executive sponsor to continue evaluation along with additional stakeholders, technical influencers, budget holder, economic buyer General pricing & budgeting discussion Identify prospect is at the influencing level and there’s interest in evaluating NewCo. Identify Critical Business Issues, other potential influencers. Is the prospect trying to: - Achieve a Goal - Solve a Problem - Satisfy a Need Framing, Diagnostic and Confirmation Questions • Solution development / Menu of goals • Pre call plan / confirm persona • Critical Business Issues • “Get before you give” • Solution development prompter • Menu of goals • Plausible emergency • Champion letter • Sphere of Influence • Sequence of Events / Timeframe • Customer stories • Demonstration • Order Form / Terms of Service • Technical Documentation • On boarding documents • Alignment call • References Qualify Discovery Validation Proof Due Diligence 1 2 3 4 5 $ “Why Change?” “Why Now?” “Who / How?” “Why us?” “When?” Tactics / Tools Identify Pain and Tactical Challenges in Organization Uncover key Metrics and Strategic Initiatives Mutual agreement to evaluate Chosen vendor Confirm legal complete Sign order form Identify Champion Identify Executive Sponsor Define, Influence, Confirm the Decision Criteria Qualify your Champion Document the Decision Process Access to Executive Sponsor, executive sponsor and confirm budget Prospect approves solution Confirm IT approval & legal process Confirm access to budget holder & signer Mutual agreement on business case justification
- 89. Sales Onboarding at the Scaling Phase • Section Titles • Company Information • Case Study & Stats • Our Products • Market Landscape • Battlecards • Account Executive Role • MEDDIC Sales Methodolgy • Customer Success • Business Development Rep
- 90. Phase 7: Ensure Customer Success Find repeatable Sales Motion “Will many people pay?” Prove non-founders can sell “Can non-founders sell this?” Make it Scalable “Does this scale?” Ensure Customer Success “Can we scale without churn?” Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 91. Ensure Customer Success • Has to be done at all phases • But called out as a separate phase as it’s common to see churn increasing as sales starts scaling
- 92. Possible Solutions • Tighten definition of who is a good customer • Understand the best and worst segments • Don’t sell to the wrong customers • Stop sales from over-promising, or selling when the fit with the customer is poor • Adjust sales compensation to reflect whether the customer stays or churns • Improve the Product to fix areas that are causing customer unhappiness • Improve onboarding • And the customer success organization and processes
- 93. Ideal Staffing Founders Pathfinder/Trailblazer Sales (Rep/Director) 2 Reps 2 Reps 2 Reps Find repeatable Sales motion Prove non-founders can sell Make it Scalable Ensure Customer Success 2 Reps 2 Reps2 Standard Sales Reps Recruiting, Customer Success, Marketing, Sales Management
- 94. Common Mistakes • Hitting the gas and accelerating when churn is still too high
- 95. Ensure Customer Success – Exit Criteria • Customers are consistently successful and happy • Negative Dollar Churn
- 96. Phase 8: Make it Profitable Find repeatable Sales Motion “Will many people pay?” Prove non-founders can sell “Can non-founders sell this?” Make it Scalable “Does this scale?” Ensure Customer Success “Can we scale without churn?” Make it Profitable “Can we scale profitably?” Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model
- 97. Make it Profitable – Exit Criteria • LTV:CAC > 3 • Time to recover CAC < 12-18 months • Gross Margins > 70% • LTV:CAC > 3 • Time to recover CAC < 12-18 months • Gross Margins > 70%
- 98. Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Phase 9: Scaling the Business
- 99. Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Scaling Phase – Total Change in Mindset Cash Burn
- 100. Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model A common mistake… • Not hiring enough sales people in the Scaling phase • Founders remain in burn avoidance mode
- 101. Why Scale as fast as you can? • Most tech markets are “Winner takes all” • As soon as one company shows it can grow there will be fast followers • You need to grow like crazy to become that winner • You have a proven cash making machine, so can raise the funds needed
- 102. The Winner Takes All Flywheel • Free traffic increases • Word of mouth grows • The leader gets attention from media • Decision becomes “Why am I not buying from the leader?” • Increasing integrations make the product more functional • Barrier to entry for competitors • Able to invest more in Sales & Marketing + Product • Feeds the flywheel
- 103. Common Mistakes • Failure to build a really strong recruiting function • Leading to failure to hire key functions (including sales reps) on time • Failure to hire a really strong team of Executives
- 104. SUMMARY
- 105. Prioritize Focus & Actions based on Stage Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Test Hypothesis Prove the Value Prove it can be sold Find Repeatable Sales Motion Prove non- Founders can sell Make it Scalable Ensure Customer Success Make it Profitable Hit the Gas and Scale Scale the org & its processes 10 Etc. 11
- 106. Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Don’t Jump Ahead! • E.g.: • Hiring too many sales people before the sales process is repeatable • Expand internationally before you have nailed scaling profitably in the US • Etc.
- 107. Scaling the Business Search for Product/Market Fit Search for Repeatable & Scalable & Profitable Growth Model Manage Cash Burn According to Stage Cash Burn
- 108. Don’t run out of cash before reaching next milestone Time Valuation Next Key Milestone x Cash Out Date
- 109. [ ]FOR MORE INFORMATION WWW.FORENTREPRENEURS.COM
- 110. [ ]APPENDIX
- 111. Define our Growth Process XXX YYY
- 112. WHY DO WE NEED A GROWTH PROCESS?
- 113. MyProduct.com HOW IT WORKS DESCRIPTION Our collaboration product allows you … BUY NOW! Only $9,999 In a perfect world…
- 115. BUYER QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS BUYING PROCESS
- 116. How do we respond?
- 117. Break the process down into a series of steps… Design a series of steps that we want customers to go through Website Free Trial Purchase
- 118. Results in a Funnel Not all people entering the first step will get to the second, etc.
- 119. Studying Funnel Blockage Points Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects
- 120. The Source of most Problems Vendor Centric
- 121. NOT MOTIVATED TO DO THAT THEY ARE CUSTOMERS WILL DO SOMETHING YOU ARE HOPING YOUR
- 122. A better way to approach to Funnel Design Buyer Centric Buyer-Centric
- 123. THE BUYERS JOURNEY
- 124. THE BUYERS JOURNEY Awareness Consideration Purchase
- 125. Mismatch: Sales often handle every lead as though they were in the Purchasing phase I’m paid to sell. I better be selling.
- 126. Likely Distribution of Web Site Visitors Vendor Web Site 80% Awareness 15% Consideration 5% Purchase
- 127. Different Dialog and Content for each stage Awareness Consideration Purchase • Create Problem & Pain awareness • Discuss how people are solving • Discuss benefits people are seeing • Don’t mention your product • Don’t sell! • Help in choosing a particular solution • Explain how your Product can solve their pain • Free Trial / Demo • Customer stories • Nurture with regular content (Newsletter) • Case studies • Results achieved • How you helped achieve them • Other proof points • Customer references • ROI data
- 128. • Just lost my data in hard drive crash • Backup software/service • Starting a new software project • Dev Tools, etc. • Performance issues with existing app • APM tools • Difficulties tracking bugs across multi-tier apps • Bug tracking software TRIGGERS
- 129. Buyer Personae Who is involved in the buying process? Champion Economic Buyer / Decision Maker IT required for sign off
- 130. Getting to know your Buyer Personae • Identifying Characteristics • Company Profile (your ICP) • Any special characteristics relevant to this purchase • E.g. Developers: • Don't have a budget • Prefer Open Source, and don't like to pay for software • Professional Role • What does a day in their life look like? • Key business goals? • What does their Boss expect of them? • How does our product help them achieve those? • Motivations / Aspirations? • What would make their job easier?
- 131. Getting to know your Buyer Personae • What pain do they have that we address? • Is it latent pain, or obvious pain? • How do they describe the pain and what they are looking for? • (Helpful for messaging) • Is solving this pain a high priority for them? • If not, what features would make it a higher priority? • What are the triggers that cause them to buy?
- 132. Getting to know your Buyer Personae • Are they searching for a solution? • If yes, how do they go about doing that? • Who influences them? (Sites, organizations, and people) • (Helps us figure out how to market to them) • Most important features? Decision criteria? • What are their reactions to our product/company? • What will they like? • What will they not like? • What are the main questions and concerns they have? • What competitors will they also evaluate? • What will they like or dislike about each of those?
- 133. [ ]FUNNEL DESIGN GET INSIDE YOUR BUYER’S HEAD
- 134. Designing a Growth Process to match Buyer’s Journey Strangers VisitorsAttract CustomersCloseLeadsConvert PromotersDelight Awareness PurchaseInterest Post Purchase
- 135. Top of Funnel Drive the right traffic that matches your ICP and convert to raw leads Middle of Funnel Convert raw leads into MQLs Sales Convert MQLs into closed deals Customer Success Onboard, support and ensure customer success as measured by a customer KPI Designing a Growth Process to match Buyer’s Journey Strangers VisitorsAttract CustomersCloseLeadsConvert PromotersDelight Credit: HubSpot Awareness PurchaseInterest Post Purchase
- 136. Top of Funnel Inbound Marketing Paid Marketing Website Strangers Conversion Event Raw Lead Outbound SDR’s Account-based Mktg Targeted Strangers Mktg Qualified Lead Qualify?
- 137. Account Based Marketing • ICP powers all marketing • Ideal Customer Profile • Build lists of matching accounts • Discover.org, Lead Fox, ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, etc. • Track who is in buying cycles • Visiting G2 Crowd, Bombora • Track which companies are on your website • Targeted outreach • Aircover from Ads Thanks to Eric Spett, Terminus
- 138. Middle of Funnel • Most of the raw leads you have captured are not ready to buy • But they may be ready to buy at some point in the future when a trigger happens • Some will never buy • Avoid sending the wrong leads through to Sales, as Sales touch is very expensive • Requires that we score and qualify leads somehow • Pass the right leads to Sales • Nurture the rest of them
- 139. Middle of Funnel Raw Lead Lead Scoring Lead Nurturing Database High Low Nurture Webinars, events, newsletters, etc. Enrich Use software like ClearBit to enrich the email address to identify company, job title, etc. Segment Identify interesting segments based on attributes (verticals, job functions, etc.) or actions Mktg Qualified Lead Yes No Qualify?
- 140. Mktg Qualified Lead Sales – Lead Stages Qualify Sales Qualified Lead CustomerClose Discovery Call Opportunity Ready to buy? Sales interaction Note: Your process will likely be different, and there will be more Opportunity stages in your CRM pipeline
- 141. Initial Guess at Growth Process Website Free Trial
- 142. Map Buyers Process to Your Steps Research Shortlist Vendors Check Review Sites Evaluation Website Free Trial BUYER VENDOR ROI & Justification
- 143. GET INSIDE YOUR BUYERS HEAD How are they reacting as they go through our funnel steps? What are they thinking as they go through their process? Research Shortlist Vendors Check Review Sites Evaluation Website Free Trial BUYER VENDOR ROI & Justification
- 144. Optimize Your Steps to Fit Research Shortlist Vendors Check Review Sites Evaluation Website BUYER VENDOR ROI & Justification Free Trial ROI Calculator Competitive Features Matrix
- 145. Optimize Your growth process to Fit Research Shortlist Vendors Check Review Sites Evaluation Website BUYER VENDOR ROI & Justification Free Trial ROI Calculator Competitive Features Matrix Incent customers to do reviews
- 146. ADDRESS ALL DECISION CRITERIA Address Security Concerns 3rd Party Security Audit & Whitepaper BUYER Is this a safe vendor to choose? • Customer Stories • Safe Channel Partners
- 147. Freemium, Free Trials, Open Source The Product is your sales person
- 148. WHAT IS YOUR TIME TO WOW! ? Thanks to Gail Goodman of Constant Contact
- 149. DEFINING WOW! Thanks to Gail Goodman of Constant Contact A moment where your buyer sees something cool and exciting • Motivates them to continue exploring The moment when your buyer gets excited enough to want to buy Mini Wow! Full Wow!
- 150. TIME TO WOW! • How many steps? • How much time does it take? • How much FRICTION is involved
- 151. REMOVE STEPS & REMOVE FRICTION
- 152. EXAMPLE
- 153. Salsify: Product Experience Management for Brands • Buyer searches for products on Amazon, Google, Walmart, Target, etc. • Make sure your product shows up at the top of those searches • Make sure your product detail page converts at the highest rate
- 154. Photos Feature Summary Recommended Accessories Rich description Video Reviews Detailed Specifications Key to Success: Rich Product Content
- 155. Salsify – Product Content Supply Chain Automation Brands Photos Videos Text Specs Etc. Retailer Portal Retailer Portal Retailer Portal Retailer Portal
- 156. Salsify’s Original Trial Experience Sign up Wait for email with Account Open the App Learn the UI Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer
- 157. Landing Page Lots of Fields
- 159. Sign In… Now What? • Lots of work still required
- 160. Get Inside your Buyers Head and Analyze for Problems Sign up Wait for email with Account Open the App Learn the UI Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer
- 161. Redesign Trial Steps for Problems (Friction, Concerns, & Motivations) Sign up Wait for email with Account Open the App Learn the UI Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer Delay causing major drop off
- 162. First Step in the Redesign Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer Sign up Learn the UI
- 163. New Landing Page: JUST YOUR EMAIL
- 164. Motivation: “If these guys are using it, it must be pretty good…”
- 165. Still leaves a problem: • Locate & Export Content • Then import to Salsify to have something to play with Then: Land directly in App
- 166. Major Friction + Other people involved = Long Delays Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer Sign up Learn the UI
- 167. Offer a chance to start with Sample Data Sign up Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer They now have the MOTIVATION to import their own data Play with Sample Data Mini Wow! Learn the UI
- 169. Eliminate the risk that they won’t find the path to Wow! Learn the UI Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer • High friction • Too much risk they won’t find the path to Wow! Sign up
- 170. Guided Navigation Human Help available
- 171. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Before After Trial Request -> Logged into App Trial Request -> Product Page Trial Request -> Taking action 3x Overall Improvement Uplift - % Conversion, Before and After
- 172. Next Problem Area… Sign up Import Content Locate & Export Content Export to new Retailer Sign up with new Retailer Play with Sample Data • High Friction • Long Delay
- 174. Google Shopping
- 176. Problem Solved – Export to Google Manufacturer Center Sign up Import Content Locate & Export Content Play with Sample Data Export to Google
- 177. Last Remaining Problem Area… Sign up Import Content Locate & Export Content Play with Sample Data Export to Google • Huge Friction & Delay • Other People involved
- 178. Scrape publicly available data from existing retailer’s pages Sign up Play with Sample Data Export to Google No import needed Scrape Content for them • They have my content in here already • They’re showing me all the issues Mini Wow!
- 179. Eliminates Need for Sample Data Sign up Play with Sample Data Export to Google See their own Data Scrape Content for them
- 180. Final Redesigned Process • Fast Time to Wow! • High conversion rates Sign up Export to Google See and solve problems with their own Data Scrape Content for them
- 181. Funnel Optimization Meeting Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects Suspects
- 182. Funnel Whack-a-Mole • Solve for blockage points • As you fix one, the problem will move elsewhere
- 183. SILOED THINKING MARKETING SALES CUSTOMER SUCCESS PRODUCT
- 184. THE NEW GROWTH TEAM MARKETING SALES CUSTOMER SUCCESS PRODUCT
- 185. USE FUNNEL FLOW CHARTS Website Free Trial Handle other questions Proposal High Level Overview xx xx xxx xx xx xxx MicroFunnels where needed
- 186. Treat your Buyer like a Bank Account Make a deposit before you try to make a withdrawal
- 187. Selling can be the worst way to sell Build Trust Consult SellFirst Contact First Contact Build Relationship
- 188. Design a funnel that Delights Entices and Motivates
Editor's Notes
- #2: I'd like to share some learnings from my time as an entrepreneur and board member.
- #3: One of the best books giving startup advice was Lean Startup. However it gave the impression that right after finding product/market fit you would be ready to hit the gas and start scaling. While this works for B2C, it doesn't for B2B.