If you’re in the B2B SaaS world, you may be familiar with ICONIQ Capital’s 2022 Topline Growth & Operational Efficiency report. This report uncovers valuable insights of what it looks like to grow a B2B SaaS Business, pulling on data from their partnerships with more than 43 portfolio companies.
You might recognize a few of these names…
Here, we’re sharing some of the key insights and trends from the report—including how the meeting experience is becoming increasingly important for metrics like go-to-market (GTM) efficiency.
Why the focus on GTM Efficiency?
What exactly is GTM efficiency, and why does it matter? GTM efficiency is the cost of sales and marketing divided by the profit you receive. This metric shows how much investment into sales and marketing is required to acquire a new customer.
To put this into context, imagine it costs your company $100 to acquire a new customer through sales and marketing. If the customer spends $150 on your product or service, then your company’s GTM rate would be 0.66. The more resources required to make a sale and acquire a customer, the less efficient your rate is.
According to the ICONIQ research, “a gross magic number > 1.0x is a good long-term goal for companies with sales-led growth.”
A year ago, people cared more about growth than the cost of acquiring clients. In 2021, the NASDAQ was dominated by high-growth IPOs like Coinbase, Bumble, and Robinhood to name a few.
“A record year for IPOs in 2021 gave way to increasing volatility from rising geopolitical tensions, inflation and aggressive interest rate hikes,” says Paul Go, the leader of EY Global IPO.
With market conditions becoming more volatile, IPO activity dipped by 45% in 2022, and people’s focus has shifted toward efficiency. Now, because market conditions changed seemingly overnight, it’s all about efficiency. Profitability is the holy grail.
“This year has brought the path to profitability back into focus in the public markets,” according to the ICONIQ report. “We expect the shift towards the importance of profitability, in addition to growth, to endure in the coming years.”
How to improve your GTM Efficiency?
Over the next 12 months, buyers will be more cautious, and companies will cut marketing budgets and costs wherever possible. Sellers looking to acquire new customers and increase their GTM efficiency need to focus on driving value through the products or services they’re selling.
Sales leaders can prepare by investing in these two areas:
- Customer health
- Employee health
Customer health
As acquiring new customers becomes more expensive, focusing on your existing customer base is more important than ever. Companies with the majority of revenue coming from existing customers fare better than others during times of recession. This means finding ways to measure and improve customer health.
ICONIQ measures customer health based on customer expansion, contraction, and churn. Improving these metrics involves focusing your efforts on customer success, retention, and customer experience. To do this, we suggest the following:
Master every touchpoint (starting with your virtual meeting experience)
Every customer touchpoint matters—especially when everyone is budget-conscious you’re under more scrutiny. One of the most important touchpoints is the discovery call and follow-up meetings with the prospect or customer. These days, there’s a high chance that’s virtual.
When running virtual meetings, you need a robust platform to rely on. You’ve got about 15 seconds to make a lasting first impression, so the more you can do to create a memorable and unique virtual meeting experience, the more leverage you’ll have over your competition.
A few ideas for creating a next-level virtual meeting experience:
- Stay laser focused: The goal of the virtual meeting, especially during the early stages of a sale, is to understand the customer’s pain and clearly show how you can solve it (and if your product is the best fit.) Your words must be clear, consistent, and easy to follow. Ask strategic questions, weave in storytelling techniques to get deeper, and take good notes.
- 💡 Salesroom Pro Tip: If you find yourself getting easily distracted, consider Salesroom features like Question, which records questions being asked and displays them in the sidebar. You can mark questions as answered, and quickly circle back to any ones you missed. This helps you stay on track and makes sure your customer gets all the information they need.
- Spend more time listening: As Maya Angelou once said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Perhaps the most tried-and-true way to create a positive interaction with someone is by listening to them. Whenever we ask sales leaders their tips for better discovery calls and customer interactions, this is a recurring piece of advice: spend more time listening than speaking.
- 💡 Salesroom Tip: In a Salesroom meeting, you’ll see clearly the percentage of how long each person has been speaking. If you see the numbers heavily lean in your favor, it’s time to—to put it bluntly—shut up for a bit. Let the customer do the talking! This feature allows you to course correct in real time so you don’t get off the call and have regrets.
Troy Munson, Account Executive at Metadata.io, says, “I used to just go to scratch pads and take my notes, but with Salesroom, everything is in one place.”
- Leverage modern technology: Whether it’s the shiny new AI toy like ChatGPT or automation tools like Zapier, we are in an era where technology can truly make our work easier. When it comes to virtual meetings, look for tech tools that can equip you with the information you need before and after each customer interaction. Leverage data to create a robust customer profile and use that to create a personalized experience every step of the way.
- 💡 Salesroom Tip: Virtual meetings are no longer simply about video quality and screen sharing. It’s time to consider how you can up-level the virtual selling experience and equip your sales team with real-time in-meeting information. With features like Live Transcription and an AI-powered in-call assistant, Salesroom is designed to make virtual sales smarter. Take a look at some of our features.
For more tips on virtual selling, read our tips on How to Succeed in Virtual Sales.
Differentiate yourself from the competition (try consultative sales)
What makes existing customers want to work with you over everyone else? For starters, you need to have exceptional customer service well past the onboarding period.
One way to differentiate yourself from the competition is to become an expert in whatever you sell. Clients who see you as a trusted advisor will want to keep you around, even when times become more financially turbulent. Check in with them often, monitor their activity and use, and make sure you’re helping them wherever possible.
“Retention is more important than ever,” Daniel Bakh, Co-Founder and CEO of Fullview, says. “Of course, we want to close new business, but we need to retain our existing customers and revenue. We can do this by having a more personal relationship with buyers.”
💡 Salesroom Tip: Part of standing out from the noise and creating a personalized experience for buyers is with a new virtual meeting experience, such as Salesroom. Bakh has seen how Salesroom features equip sellers and allow them to foster better relationships with customers: “If you have Salesroom to help you get closer to your customer in a virtual world and build trust, they will stay with you longer, even during a downturn,” he said.
“If you have Salesroom to help you get closer to your customer in a virtual world and build trust, they will stay with you longer, even during a downturn,” —Daniel Bakh, Co-Founder and CEO of Fullview
Employee health
Employee health is equally important because your talent is one lever that differentiates you from your competition. Having strong employee health will contribute to a workforce that is motivated to improve your product and process. Both these factors will impact your GTM efficiency. If given the option between two products, buyers will put significant weight on the decision based on personal relationships and the rep who provides a more seamless experience.
Despite the current downturn, companies are looking to hire—often unsuccessfully. McKinsey reports that employees are changing industries, opting for the gig economy, or leaving the workforce altogether.
If you don’t take care of your people, this talent gap could impact your sales and customer continuity. Tech and software companies aren’t immune and experience 67% higher turnover than other industries. To help keep your best talent from leaving, here’s what we suggest:
Set the team up for success
Even the best A-player on your team will struggle if they lack support. Your input as a leader will strongly impact the results you see from your team. If you ask your employees to “do more with less,” be prepared to back up your request by providing support.
You can do this by investing in:
- Coaching and development. Take the time to help your employees, meet with them regularly to discuss their wins and struggles, and spend time listening to their sales calls so you can give them real-time feedback. If you don’t have time to sit with them, tools like Salesroom can provide the perfect copilot your team needs.
- The right tools and tech stack. If you want to see the same output with fewer resources, your employees need the right AI-driven tools to help them streamline and automate their workflows. This is where Salesroom can equip your teams with valuable insights and take work off their plates.
Put the “human” back in your workforce
Today’s modern employees want to feel an emotional connection to their job. Nurturing a sense of purpose and impact for your employees will help you retain your A-players. If you approach your team from a transactional lens, your employees may not be inclined to give you their all. To create this human connection with your team, McKinsey suggests:
- Showing your team you value them
- Building camaraderie
- Offering flexible working arrangements
- Fostering a culture of trust and belonging
Give your team the tools they need to do their best work, and create an environment they want to be part of. While it may seem like a tall ask, your organization will be more resilient, and your customers will thank you.
Customer and employee experience: A key to the future
Your people and customers are your biggest asset in improving your GTM efficiency. Keep a pulse on your customer health by ensuring they experience the best from your sales reps and products. Put your employees at the forefront of your priority list, and help them by providing support, ensuring they have the tools they need, and focusing on their success.
You need the right tools to build the right team and serve your customers in a way that helps you stand out. In many cases, customer meetings over video chat will drive value. Invest in the right video conferencing platform and rise above the competition.
Book a Salesroom demo today, and take your discovery calls to the next level.
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