📕 Marketing During A Downturn; A CMO’s Keys To Success; Making The Most Of Your Churn...

Republished By Plato

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🚘 The current state of the market is impacting almost everyone within software, but you could argue there is no one getting hit harder than the marketer. Reduced budgets (both their own and their customers’) means they have to work smarter and be more resourceful to land deals, which is easier said than done. Olivine Marketing had a good piece on how to revamp your marketing strategy during these tough times, outlining strong ROI activities as well as boondoggles that are likely to end up being a waste.

🏖️ Dealing with a start of the summer sales slump? We liked these quick tips from SaaStr on how to improve poor sales performance, beginning with getting your hands dirty as the CEO and involving yourself! Showing up to calls (or at least big deals), listening to potential customers’ pain points, and explaining the value your product adds will always be more meaningful than a sales rep’s, or even your VP of Sales’, pitch. Additionally, giving your reps more collateral to sell with rather than putting the onus on them to create it will enable them to focus on their core responsibility – landing deals!

👻 Spooky stat of the day: the typical CMO’s tenure is half that of a CEO’s. And the big reason they can’t seem to stick is a misalignment on expectations. CMOs need the green light to go into full disruption mode, as well as confidence that management has the patience to invest in the future. Our favorite tidbit from this still relevant 2019 Disruptor CMO Playbook: the importance of reframing your category—creating and owning a new one will always be easier than taking down Goliath.

🧅 Investors can’t seem to decide what TAM (total addressable market) suits their investments best. Their shoulder devil whispers to aim for the largest market possible, while the angel pleads for a more manageable, niche market. You’ll see founders attempt to show the best of both worlds with a TAM SAM SOM graph, but these top down estimates have vague definitions and only 3 markets. A better approach is to look at your TAM as an onion, with the center as the initial niche group, and each exterior ring as an addition to your continuously growing TAM.

💀 It was Benjamin Franklin who said that nothing in this world is certain but death, taxes, and churn. Ok maybe not the churn part, but you’d have to think he would agree. Many try to salvage churning accounts with last-minute retention efforts (discounts) or simply send a “we hate to see you go email.” We much prefer cancelation surveys – they are easy to do, and the insights they provide can end up being more valuable than the customer. You shouldn’t even really attempt to win back customers in the survey, you should be deeply focusing on why they are leaving and trying to understand how you can prevent it in the future. Keep them short and sweet or you’ll struggle with responses; one to three questions is ideal.

As always, if you or someone you know is considering selling, taking investment, or even looking for a bit of debt (we do offer debt for growth) we might be able to help out. Just reply to this thread and we can get acquainted. We may or may not be a perfect fit, but we’re always up for meeting SaaS founders and extending our network where helpful.

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