Issue #30 - Farewell to the mean streets of summer
In This Issue: Vile rumour & gossip → The uncomfortable truth about salaries → The first meeting → When is persistent actually unproductive?
The summer has been tough. SaaS still isn’t doing great, VCs are picky (and aren’t they picky), layoffs are gathering momentum once again, and the boys club of who is let go and who stays is intact. Welcome to the nineties when business card cliques prevailed. Even though the merchant community is active, it’ll take 6 more months for SaaS to feel it.
Vile Rumour & Gossip
For years that term “B2B” has spiralled around us - driving us crazy with its lazy terminology. B2B is where SaaS that has run out of ideas typically goes as a new strategy, but interestingly enough we find there are already strong players in these verticals who have been putting down roots for years. One such company Sana, is bootstrapped, profitable, high double digit $ARR and growing. It can be done people!
Layoffs are bound to hit composable harder than elsewhere, these companies are funded, have short runways, and are targeting a currently sloth-like enterprise sector. They’re adjusting the ICP but will they do it fast enough?
Agencies are super-cautiously exploring new relationships, but are keen not to burn any bridges. Shopify are shopping for grown-up SIs, but those same SIs are not quite ready to move, neither in the USA or EMEA. The GSIs of course are both everyone and no one’s friend, but by next year we think these shifts will happen. Once again, integrations will accelerate the pace here - imagine if you could click a button in Shopify and add Oracle Netsuite?
The uncomfortable truth about salaries
There are some very anxious people who are on the bench and nervous about finding their next role. Worried about the funding capacity of the ecosystem, nervous about another arsehole boss, and mostly needing some money.
Unfortunately the news isn’t good. The unspoken information that needs to be imparted is that those inflated salaries of 2021-23 are not coming back any time soon, and that whilst you may think you’re worth that salary, the money isn’t there AND there’s someone who is happy to take that job for less than you will.
The higher the basic the greater the risk, so adjust expectations accordingly.
The first meeting
In the last issue we talked about how the first meeting between sales and prospect has changed in the last three years. Always a 30 minute zoom call now versus one hour previously, the whole thing has to move faster.
Now that SaaS firms have downsized their SDR teams, it is increasingly likely that an AE has sourced that first meeting on their own. The no-nonsense sales crew posted last month that 72% of AEs currently spend most of their time prospecting, which is food for thought for all CROs and RevOps leaders.
Anyway – 30 minutes is the window, so how does that break down?
In the old world we like to break an hour down as follows:
Hellos and 1-min pitch - Rapport! "Before I bore you to death (pause for laughter), we should..."
≥30 min conversation - You guided this. Asking lots of questions, pursuing 'nuggets' – no pitching unless you have 'em!
≤10 slides - Delivered against those nuggets. Taking Qs as you go.
Close, next steps - The needy questions. "Do you think we can help?" etc. Act unafraid!
In the new world it’s more like this:
5 mins - The hellos. But brief - we're all rushing and hate Zoom now.
15 mins - Discovery (hard stop - don't get distracted)
5 mins - A quick, quick, sales overview. No. Damn. Demo.
5 mins - A smorgasbord of clichés. 'Alignment'. 'Next steps'. No 'parking the bus'.
This constraint has huge implications for demonstrating tools, nurturing the relationship from the first meeting through to a close (sometimes 18 months later), and most importantly – staying relevant through that period.
We see “content” being used poorly in this nurture process. Best practice says it needs to be personal, personalised and educational / inspirational – but too often it’s just case studies and a pretty bland nurture email cadence.
Do better everyone. This activity doesn’t cost anything (see earlier comments about layoffs and budget constraint).
When is persistent actually unproductive?
Last summer at MACH THREE I put my big boy pants on and approached the MD of a SaaS vendor to tell them a couple of home truths.
“Your solution is LOVED by customers. Rarely do we find people so happy to share how much they see ROI, impact and reward post-implementation. But, prospects really are not enjoying being hounded and stalked by your teams… “.
Thankfully the comment was really positively accepted. We’re not sure if anything changed as a result, but these behaviours have for a long time been just accepted. I’m not sure they will for much longer.
“Gently persistent” is a term we like, and we think prospects can live with. Some humour, a relationship, give and take, humility.
If someone is in contract just stay cool, and unless you’re prepared to buy them out of that contract (more next issue) then what are you trying to achieve?
September is here – stay chilled people, we’re all strapped in to the rollercoaster – woooooaaaah!
Buyingtime Dictionary
Frequently used (but never about you) phrases from Buyingtime Ltd.
Wheelbarrow
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adjective
1. Only works when pushed
"Why isn't Kim on the phone?"
"She did well last week, and it's pretty quiet so..."
"Performance plan."
"Don't you think that's a bit dra–"
"PERFORMANCE PLAAAAAAN!"
