Changes to make to your GTM Strategy

Buying has changed, marketing and selling has not.

Over the years we have had some critical events. In 2008 there was the financial crisis which in turn changed everything for SAAS companies. No longer were buyers willing to invest the money in one-time purchases. Instead it made more sense to reduce investments in onsite servers, software and maintenance, and instead move to the cloud. The short term cost reduction and partially also low interest rate gave a significant amount of budget to invest in SAAS solutions. As a result this became the golden age for SAAS companies. There was significant venture capital and 'grow at all cost' was wat the street wanted to see.

Till 2021. The market slowed down, Interest rates went up and the companies had to mind their spendings. Where many SAAS companies previously focussed primary on growth, this slowed down significantly. The unit economics just did not make sense anymore. And while every seller knows that, the motions and habits for most sellers is still focussed on scaling the sales process linear.
The focus of most buyers however has switched from 'This may help and we have the budget' to 'can we justify price by the proven impact'.

As a result SAAS companies will not only need to keep a closer eye on the sales process, but need to look more holistically at the complete customer journey. This because if the customer does not renew, the CAC over LTV sets you up for failure. One way do this is by measuring the steps of the buyer journey in a bowtie model:

So what now?

More and more companies realise the largest gains are to be made in the recurring revenue. So this means that the very first sales motion should be made with the thought: How do we make sure this customer is with us in 3, 4, or 20 years time? 
How do we document the reasons decisions were made: not just for the next person in line on the sellers side, but also in case of turnover by the buyer.
How do we make sure the product is not just a good fit, but the buyer knows it is and the seller can come back to what the pain was and what impact the product has. Would that not be a great way to make sure the buyer keeps believing in the solution and that the revenue engine keeps running?

We need a communication framework that can efficiently accelerate the sales cycle on the left of the bowtie and reduces friction on the right to help keep the flywheel spin. We selected the SPICED framework for that. And no, we did not invent that ourselves: the heavy lifting was done by WinningByDesign.

Bringing strategy and process to improve unit economics and delight more customers

If you are a services company, you likely spent a whole pile of money on the product and on sales enablement. But many see marketing as a cost and onboarding as a mandetory checklist. Do you have an  onboarding plan? And is sales actually bringing that up in the conversations as a value add?

Is the process is fully streamlined and did you not only set clear expectations during the sale, but also have a process that makes the customer feel like they are coming home?
Can you help the customer see that this is in line with the impact they wanted during the buying process?
What should you focus on to get the quickest ROI and make your decision maker look good? You may need him / her as an evangelist later during the renewal or an upsell opportunity. So let's walk through every stage of the bowtie and also keep the impact to that stage and of that stage in mind.

Stage 1: Attract

Focus

• The primary objective at this stage is to attract high-quality prospects that fit the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). The goal isn't just generating volume but ensuring that the prospects entering the funnel are the right fit for your business, in alignment with your product's value proposition and pricing structure.
• Targeted marketing is critical here: campaigns and content must speak directly to the challenges, needs, and pain points of the ICP.
• Using specific channels, messaging, and platforms where the ICP is most active ensures that resources are not wasted on unqualified leads that may not convert or provide adequate customer lifetime value (CLTV).

Ownership

• Marketing team has full responsibility, but their efforts should be laser-focused on targeting the ICP. This means leveraging data, analytics, and market research to ensure precision in identifying the right audience. Messaging, content, and channels must resonate specifically with the ICP’s needs and buying triggers.
• The Revenue Operations team might support in ensuring alignment between marketing activities and unit economics, ensuring campaigns are cost-efficient and bring in leads with potential high CLTV.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs): Differentiate the types of leads, for instance the ones that are handraisers, match the ICP based on scoring or ones from more generic scoring.
• Conversion rate of ICP leads: Measures how well leads move from awareness to engagement, reflecting the effectiveness of messaging and targeting.
• Cost per lead: Ensures that marketing spend is efficient by focusing on the cost per type of lead and match that with the close rate.
• Engagement rates per leadsource: Tracks how well your content, ads, or social media campaigns are engaging.
• Marketing Efficiency Measures the total marketing cost compared to the amount of new business brought in.

Unit Economics and Efficiency Consideration

• Focusing on ICP-targeted campaigns ensures you’re driving high-value prospects into the funnel, which positively impacts customer acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV) ratios. The more targeted your efforts, the more likely you’ll see favorable unit economics.
• Efficient resource allocation is key. If marketing focuses on a broad audience rather than the ICP, CAC will rise without delivering corresponding revenue, risking the efficiency of your sales funnel.

Stage 2: Educate

Focus

• The goal of this stage is to educate and nurture ICP-aligned prospects, building their understanding of your product or service and positioning it as the solution to their specific needs. By delivering highly relevant, value-driven content, you help them move from awareness to consideration.
• Personalization is key at this stage. It’s not about educating everyone but rather educating those who closely match your ICP, which ensures you're only investing in leads that are most likely to convert into profitable customers.
• Educational materials such as blogs, webinars, case studies, and product demos should be customized to address the specific pain points, industry challenges, and aspirations of your ICP.

Ownership

• Marketing team drives the creation and distribution of educational content but in close collaboration with sales to ensure messaging is aligned with what resonates most with the ICP.
• Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) or BDRs may begin to play a role in engaging qualified leads, reinforcing the educational content through one-on-one conversations, and ensuring that prospects are progressing toward the selection stage.
• Revenue Operations ensures that the educational efforts are aligned with unit economics, tracking how well education campaigns are converting ICP-aligned leads to sales.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Engagement rate with educational content (from ICP leads): Measures how well your ICP is interacting with your educational materials (e.g., webinar attendance, content downloads, case study views).
• Lead scoring improvement (for ICP): Tracks how well your educational efforts are moving ICP leads through the funnel by increasing their engagement and qualification score.
• Conversion rate from MQL to SQL: Shows how effectively educational content helps move leads from marketing-qualified to sales-qualified status, indicating a higher readiness to buy.
• Time to educate ICP leads: Measures the speed at which ICP prospects move through the educational phase, ensuring content is impactful without dragging out the process.
• Content interaction by ICP: Tracks how specific pieces of educational content resonate with different segments of your ICP to continuously refine your approach.

Unit Economics and Efficiency Consideration

• By focusing educational efforts on ICP-aligned leads, you avoid wasting time and resources on prospects who won’t convert or won’t yield a high CLTV. This helps keep customer acquisition costs (CAC) under control.
• The efficiency of this stage lies in accelerating the journey of qualified leads through the funnel by giving them the right information at the right time. This improves conversion rates and ensures that the time and resources spent on education are contributing positively to sales efficiency and overall unit economics.

Stage 3: Selection

Focus

• The goal of this stage is to guide ICP-aligned leads through the decision-making process, helping them evaluate your product or service as the best solution for their needs. This stage is where qualified leads, who have been educated, begin to actively consider your offering and compare it to alternatives.
• This is where sales takes a more active role, engaging leads in more personalized conversations, providing tailored demos, addressing objections, and ultimately helping them make the decision to move forward.
• Ensuring that prospects match the ICP is critical to maintaining sales efficiency. This stage should not focus on convincing everyone but rather helping high-quality leads see how your solution meets their needs.

Ownership

• Sales team takes full ownership at this point, leading discovery calls, demos, and negotiations. They must ensure they are not just selling to anyone, but only to prospects that align with the ICP, focusing their energy on the highest probability of success.
• Revenue Operations should track the effectiveness of sales processes to ensure that the time and resources spent on each prospect align with potential CLTV, optimizing efforts for high-value prospects.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) from ICP: Tracks how many leads that enter this stage fit the ICP, ensuring alignment with target audience criteria.
• Conversion rate of ICP leads to opportunities: Measures how effectively sales teams convert ICP-aligned SQLs into real sales opportunities, reflecting the quality of lead qualification and sales engagement.
• Sales cycle length for ICP leads: Tracks how long it takes to move an ICP-aligned lead through the sales process, aiming for a faster time-to-close without sacrificing thoroughness.
• Opportunity win rate (for ICP leads): Measures the percentage of ICP-aligned leads that convert into paying customers, indicating the efficiency of sales efforts and targeting.
• Cost per opportunity (for ICP): Tracks the cost associated with moving ICP leads through the selection process, helping maintain cost-effectiveness.

Unit Economics and Efficiency Consideration

• Focusing on ICP leads ensures that sales teams are engaging with prospects who have the highest likelihood of closing and providing strong lifetime value (LTV). This helps to keep customer acquisition costs (CAC) in check by preventing wasted effort on unqualified leads.
• Optimizing the sales cycle length and ensuring high conversion rates from ICP leads ensures that sales resources are used efficiently, driving higher sales efficiency while protecting unit economics.

Stage 4: Commit

Focus

• The Commit stage is where the deal is closed, and the prospect officially becomes a customer. The focus here is on securing commitment from the ICP-aligned prospect through contracts, agreements, and initial payments. This stage ensures that the customer is committed to a mutually beneficial relationship.
• It’s essential to maintain clarity and transparency in terms of pricing, contract terms, and expectations, ensuring that what is promised in earlier stages is reflected in the final agreement.
• Since this stage solidifies the relationship, it’s crucial to ensure a smooth handoff to onboarding and customer success, setting the stage for long-term value and retention.

Ownership

• Sales team takes primary ownership, leading contract negotiations, pricing discussions, and closing efforts. They must ensure that the terms are beneficial not only for revenue generation but also for creating positive unit economics.
• Legal and finance teams may also become involved here to finalize contracts and ensure financial viability.
• Revenue Operations tracks and optimizes the cost-efficiency of closing deals with ICP-aligned customers, ensuring deals reflect profitable unit economics and are not overly expensive to close.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Deal closure rate for ICP leads: Measures the percentage of ICP-aligned opportunities that successfully close, reflecting the quality of leads and the effectiveness of the sales process.
• Average contract value (ACV) for ICP deals: Tracks the average value of deals closed with ICP customers, ensuring that the contract value aligns with unit economics and the expected customer lifetime value (CLTV).
• Time to close (for ICP leads): Measures how long it takes to close ICP-aligned deals, with the goal of optimizing the sales process to reduce delays while maintaining quality.
• Discount levels for ICP deals: Tracks the level of discounts offered, ensuring that profitability isn’t eroded during negotiations. Ideally, discounting should be minimized, especially for ICP-aligned customers who see the full value of the offering.
• Cost of closing (for ICP deals): Tracks how much it costs to bring an ICP-aligned lead through the final stages of the deal process, helping maintain cost efficiency.

Unit Economics and Efficiency Consideration

• By targeting ICP-aligned customers at this stage, you ensure that the deals closed will provide high CLTV and align with long-term business goals. This stage should focus on making the relationship profitable right from the start.
• Keeping customer acquisition costs (CAC) low and average contract values (ACV) high is key to maintaining strong unit economics. Ensuring the sales process is efficient while avoiding excessive discounts keeps unit economics healthy.

Stage 5: Onboarding

Focus

• Onboarding is the crucial stage where you set up the customer for success, ensuring they can quickly realize the value they were promised during the sales process. This stage is not just about technical setup but also about building a strong relationship and demonstrating early ROI.
• The goal is to streamline the onboarding process, ensuring it’s seamless, efficient, and makes the customer feel like they are “coming home” to the right solution. This is where you begin to deliver on the promise made during the Commit stage and show the customer they made the right decision.
• It’s essential to align the onboarding process with the ICP’s desired impact from the buying process. The faster they see results, the quicker they reach their first ROI, and the better your chances are of turning decision-makers into evangelists for future renewals or upsells.

Ownership

• Customer success team takes primary ownership of the onboarding process, guiding the customer through setup, training, and first use of the product or service. This team ensures that the customer is positioned to see quick results and a smooth transition.
• Sales team plays a supporting role by ensuring a smooth handover of information, including the customer’s expectations and goals set during the sales process.
• Revenue Operations can assist in ensuring the onboarding process is efficient, aligned with unit economics, and that time-to-value (TTV) is optimized.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Time to first value (TTV): Measures how quickly customers realize the initial benefits or value from your product/service, which is critical for customer satisfaction and early ROI.
• Onboarding completion rate: Tracks how many customers fully complete the onboarding process, ensuring that ICP-aligned customers successfully transition into active users.
• Customer satisfaction score post-onboarding: Measures how satisfied customers are with the onboarding process, reflecting how well the experience aligns with the expectations set during sales.
• Churn rate during onboarding: Tracks how many customers abandon the product during the onboarding phase, signaling potential inefficiencies in onboarding or unmet expectations.
• Number of customer escalations: Tracks the number of issues or complaints that arise during onboarding, indicating areas where the process may need to be improved.

Unit Economics and Efficiency Consideration

• Minimizing the time to first value (TTV) is key to ensuring positive unit economics. The quicker a customer sees ROI, the more likely they are to stay engaged, renew, and expand later, lowering the cost of acquisition relative to lifetime value (LTV).
• The onboarding process should be cost-efficient while still delivering a high level of service. Streamlining onboarding to focus on the ICP’s specific needs prevents wasted resources on non-core activities and ensures that your investment in each new customer delivers strong returns.

Stage 6: Adopt

Focus

• Adoption is about ensuring that customers fully integrate and use your product or service in a way that drives value, aligning with their original goals. The Customer Success Manager (CSM) plays a critical role here in continuously reinforcing product value, addressing knowledge gaps, and driving engagement to keep Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) high.
• The CSM needs a structured framework that balances personalized support with scalable processes. This ensures that every customer is actively using the product as intended, receiving value, and remembering the pain points that led them to your solution.
• Focus is on reminding customers of their original goals and continuously improving the product’s impact on their business. The CSM should proactively help customers overcome obstacles, provide additional training, and ensure they see ongoing value, which in turn minimizes churn.

Ownership

• Customer success team, specifically the CSM, has ownership of this stage. They must ensure consistent communication and training, helping customers navigate any gaps in understanding and use.
• Marketing team should work alongside CSMs, providing educational content that reinforces key product benefits and keeps customers engaged.
• Revenue Operations should track the efficiency and success of the adoption process, ensuring that CSM resources are allocated effectively to maintain healthy unit economics.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Product usage rate (for ICP customers): Measures how consistently and thoroughly ICP-aligned customers are using key features of the product. High usage often correlates with higher retention.
• Customer health score: Tracks the overall health of the customer based on their engagement, usage, and satisfaction levels, helping CSMs identify at-risk accounts early.
• CSM touchpoint frequency: Measures how often CSMs engage with customers, ensuring that there are enough proactive interactions to support adoption.
• Time to full adoption (for ICP customers): Measures the time it takes for ICP customers to fully integrate the product into their processes and reach their expected level of value.
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS): Tracks how satisfied customers are with the product and the support they are receiving, which correlates with their likelihood to renew.

Unit Economics and Efficiency Consideration

• CSM efforts should focus on scalable frameworks, ensuring that personalized support doesn’t drive up costs unnecessarily. Having self-service resources, such as expert-level documentation, online sessions, and easily accessible training materials, can help customers adopt the product with minimal intervention.
• By optimizing the ratio of resources spent on sales enablement vs. customer success enablement, companies can reduce cost of retention while increasing customer satisfaction. Proactive CSM engagement drives value, but it must be balanced against the need to keep operational costs under control.

Stage 7: Expand

Focus

• In the Expand stage, the focus shifts to increasing the customer's lifetime value (CLTV) by driving expansion revenue through upselling, cross-selling, and renewals. CSMs must leverage the trust and success built during the Adopt stage to create opportunities for growth within the account.
• This stage is about making the renewal a given, not a question, by continuously demonstrating how the product or service continues to deliver value and by offering additional solutions that meet evolving customer needs.
• It’s crucial to maintain regular communication with the customer, not just when renewal is approaching but throughout the relationship, reminding them of the impact your product has had and showcasing new opportunities to further enhance that impact.

Ownership

• Customer success team (CSM) is primarily responsible for identifying and driving expansion opportunities. They must work closely with sales to ensure smooth handoffs for upsell or cross-sell opportunities.
• Marketing continues to support expansion by providing materials that highlight new features or benefits that may appeal to existing customers.
• Revenue Operations monitors expansion revenue and ensures that expansion efforts are aligned with both customer satisfaction and profitability goals.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Net Revenue Retention (NRR): Tracks the percentage of revenue retained, including expansion revenue, showing how much your existing customers are growing their spending with you.
• Upsell/cross-sell conversion rate (for ICP customers): Measures how effectively CSMs are converting existing customers into additional product or service purchases.
• Renewal rate (for ICP customers): Tracks how many ICP-aligned customers renew their contracts, reflecting the effectiveness of the CSM’s relationship management and the value the customer perceives.
• Expansion revenue per customer: Tracks the amount of additional revenue generated from existing customers through upsells and cross-sells.
• Churn rate (for ICP customers): Measures the percentage of ICP customers lost, helping identify potential weaknesses in the relationship or product usage that need addressing before renewal.

Unit Economics and Efficiency Consideration

• Balancing CSM resources with the potential for expansion is key. CSMs should focus their efforts on ICP customers who have the highest potential for expansion revenue, ensuring that their time is spent where it can generate the most return.
• By ensuring that self-service options and proactive CSM support are available, you can increase NRR without significantly increasing customer success costs, keeping your unit economics healthy while growing customer lifetime value (CLTV).