Keystone Growth Advisory

If you’re a SaaS founder, remember “D T D” when you're talking to a new prospect. What does it mean? It’s easy to get caught up trying to give a verbal demonstration on a prospect call. Don’t do it. “DEFER TO DEMO” You might be tempted to start plowing through discovery on a cold call. Don’t do it. “DEFER TO DISCO”??(discovery) This is a huge waste of time, and your prospects don’t appreciate it. Is your software invisible??? Probably not. Then wait to show it on a demo. Don’t start describing it in detail to a prospect on a phone call. ??KEYSTONE KEY: The goal of your first call should be to advance the conversation to a discovery call or a demo. Why? Because during these “scheduled” meetings you have a captive audience, time to relax, and the best opportunity to fully showcase the value of your product. Don’t blow an opportunity because you think you have to rush through everything on the first prospect call. ?TAKEAWAY? On that first prospect call: “D T D” - Defer to Demo or Disco. Moving them to that next call significantly increases your chances of closing the deal. If you're a founder making cold calls or prospecting in any way, keep “D T D” in the back of your mind. It’s easier said than done. I still screw this up every once and a while because I’m a founder and I get excited about what I’m selling. Then Jack Day or Noah Meltzer overhears me on the phone going down a rabbit hole and starts yelling: “D T D!” “D T D!” “D T D!” It's all about advancing the conversation to the point where you can effectively sell what you have to offer. Ask yourself: Is it easier to sell $150K software on the first phone call or during a demo after a discovery call? “D T D” #SaaS #Startups #GoToMarket #Entrepreneurship?#Sales?

Measuring “Efficient Growth” without integrated GTM and financials is pointless. You're flying blind. We all know “Growth at all costs” is out. “Efficient growth” is the new cool thing to talk about. ?? CAC, LTV, RPE, or any other GTM metric in the alphabet soup of efficient growth are important to measure. But a huge mistake I keep seeing founders and, frankly, very seasoned operators make is that they still have their GTM and financial data in 2 separate silos. ? ??♂?What good are all these fancy GTM metrics if you can’t connect them to your P&L? Spoiler. They’re not. Even worse, they might lead you to false positives. Don’t mistake what I’m saying here. These GTM metrics are extremely important to track if you want to grow an efficient business. But, these metrics alone only tell 50% of your story. ? ?To truly measure efficient growth, you must integrate your GTM and financial data into a single model. This will allow you to see the direct impact of your sales, customer acquisition, and other GTM activities on your financial health. These are the 3 Key components to include in your integrated model (at a minimum): 1.?Sales 2.?P&L 3.?Cash flow Obviously, there are a lot more components for an effective integrated model and I go through a few more in the video. But consider these 3 components your foundation. Build everything else on top of them. Is this a beast of a model? Yes.? Will it take a while to build? Yes.? Will you need help? Probably. (I can help you. DM me).?? Will you gain a clear picture of your company to accurately assess if you are growing efficiently or not? Absolutely.? ??PRO TIP: Build in a toggle for scenarios. For example, what happens if you have a terrible quarter? How would that downturn affect your financials and cash flow? How does it affect your GTM metrics? Take Nike’s advice on this one. “Just do it.” #SaaS #Startups #GoToMarket #Entrepreneurship?#Sales??

When we work with a SaaS company, this is how we prioritize our GTM strategy: ICP?SAM?TAM If you’re selling to the wrong people, you’re not going to sell a lot of software. This is a big mistake I see founders make all the time. Here's how I think about it. TAM (Total Addressable Market): Literally, how many companies could theoretically use your software? I’m not a fan of TAM. OK place to start, but mostly a vanity metric. Great for investor pitch decks. Bad for real-world GTM planning. ? ? SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market): The segment of your TAM that you can realistically sell to. This is your target market. Use this to right-size your GTM strategy. ? ? ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): The customers who are the best fit for your software. This is where your money is at. Refine this as much as possible to speed up your sales cycle. ??TAKEAWAYS 1. Prioritize SAM over TAM. A large TAM is pointless if you can’t sell to it. 2.?Focus on ICP, especially in the early stages. If you haven't reached $1-2 million in ARR or if your growth is slowing, reassess your ICP. Make sure you're targeting the right customers. 3. Align ICP with your SAM. Once you have a clear ICP, map it back to your SAM to refine how you go to market. ?BONUS? Target Persona: These are the roles in your ICP that make decisions or open doors. “I know my SAM and ICP, but who should I talk to?” These people. Build your outreach campaigns around your Target Persona. ?? Pro Tip: Have as many conversations with these people as possible. You might find out your TP is wrong, and you need to pivot to a different role. This makes a BIG difference in campaign performance. This is the first GTM concept I think about when we start working with a SaaS founder. If you need some help, DM me. Good luck out there. #SaaS #Startups #GoToMarket #Entrepreneurship?#Sales?

Ever had an awesome call or demo, but you can’t get your prospect back on the phone???♂? This is exactly why we live by this motto: Book it or Bust. In any prospect interaction, call, demo, pricing review, or anything else, Always book the next call. Get it on their schedule. If you don't, they will fade away into ghostland.?? I hear "Did you book it or bust?" every day in our office. We keep each other in check because we know if we don't schedule the next call, the chances of us getting them back on the phone are slim. For every "Oh that's a deal. They're definitely buying." There's an "I've tried calling them 10 times. Nothing on email either." Unless... you Book it or Bust. Jack Day does a great job with this. His advice to founders running their own sales: Don't be afraid to just go for it. Sometimes your prospects are even expecting it. ??EXAMPLE "Hey, when's the next time we can have a quick phone call? Let’s put it on the calendar. If we miss it, not a big deal. We can reschedule." Today, people live and die by their calendar.?? If you own some time on it, your chances of talking to them again will significantly increase. Plus, it’s a great way to keep your company top of mind. So remember, BOOK IT OR BUST!?? #SaaS #Startups #GoToMarket #Entrepreneurship?#Sales?

Selling a perpetual software license = Massive expansion recurring revenue with crazy high retention. A lot of people hate on perpetual software licenses. “They’re outdated.” “There’s no SaaS revenue.” “Customers don’t want to “purchase” software anymore.” ? Wrong. ? Wong. ? Wrong. What these people miss is that selling a perpetual license is a massive opportunity for expansion recurring revenue with crazy high retention. Why? Because when your customer buys a software license, the additional subscription revenue you sell on top of it is very sticky. Especially, if your customer finances the purchase over 3+ years. If you’re selling a perpetual license now or thinking of converting to a true SaaS model, Here are the 5 strategies I’ve personally used to boost ARR with a purchase model: 1. Bundle Services: Start by bundling Support, Maintenance, and Hosting into an annual subscription. This adds essential value for your customers and also creates a steady recurring revenue stream for your business. 2. Price By Percentage: Price this annual SMH subscription as a percentage of the total license purchase price. Example: $50,000 perpetual license + a 15% annual SMH subscription fee = $7,500 ARR. 3.?Add Escalators: Include a contract escalator to increase the subscription price annually. + 3% - 7% annually is an easy sell for SMH and will keep your recurring revenue growing each year. 4.?Sticky Sunk Costs: Customers are making a long-term investment when they purchase your software for $50,000+. They need your Support, Maintenance, and Hosting for that investment to pay off. This makes your ongoing annual SMH subscription “need-to-have” and very sticky. 5.?Multi-Year Commitments: Sell the one-time license along with multi-year commitments for Support, Maintenance, and Hosting. Again, your customer is already thinking long-term with a purchase. It makes logical sense to commit to SMH for at least 3 years. ? BONUS: Offer your customer the option to finance their purchase over 3-5 years with monthly payments. Your financing partner will absorb the future collections risk on their initial purchase. You can count on that annual SMH subscription with escalators for the next 3-5 years. ??TAKEAWAY: When you sell a perpetual license, bundle essential services and structure them into an annual subscription based on a % of the total license purchase price. You will boost your top-line recurring revenue with a very high retention rate. ??♂? If you're selling a perpetual software license today, DM me. We're selling one now for a current client, and it's going great. But, I'd love to swap strategies. So many possibilities. #SaaS #Startups #GoToMarket #Entrepreneurship?#Sales?

I modeled 3% & 15% churn for a $2M SaaS company over 3 years. ?? Spoiler Alert: ??Millions. A lot of things keep SaaS founders up at night. But forecasting an increase in churn is horrifying.?? The best way to reduce churn is to pick up the phone and talk to your customers in a quarterly review at a minimum. But a lot of founders get this wrong because they treat it as an upsell call. It’s not. This is truly a customer success quarterly review call. *Pro Tip: Don't just do these with your Decision Makers. FOCUS ON YOUR POWER USERS Yes, the Decision Makers are the people who can pull the plug. They have contract control. But they listen to your Power Users. These are the people who use your software the most. Their complaints and praise roll up to your Decision Makers. They're the ones who are going to tell the Decision Makers to pull the plug or not. UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF YOUR CHURN The difference between 3% and 15% churn could be costing you millions in enterprise value. In the video, I model the difference for a $2M ARR company over 3 years with a $40K ACV. The deficit in millions is ridiculous. **Bonus Tip** NPS scores are garbage. It’s a vanity metric. At best, it might help you understand if the majority of your customer base is happy or pissed off. It won’t help you uncover the silent killer: Your quiet quitters. This is why you must talk to your customers on the phone. ? Prioritize your Power Users. They hold the keys to your kingdom. ?? ?? If you can satisfy them, you hold the account, you hold your churn, and you increase your enterprise value. ?? #SaaS #startups #GoToMarket #entrepreneurship?#sales?

If you’re a technical SaaS founder, this simple mistake will blow your next sales demo. ? A lot of technical founders get caught up in showing every detail of their product. They forget to …pause… and ask questions. If you want to lose your audience, this is a great way to do it. Get live feedback. Find out if what you’re showing is resonating at all. Or if you’re just wasting everyone’s time. Remember, it’s a sales pitch. Not a product demo. ? ACTION STEP A good rule of thumb is to stop every 5 minutes. ? 5 minutes is a long time. Jack Day has done hundreds of SaaS demos. He works directly with our technical founders to improve theirs. His advice: ???? Do your homework. Prepare questions in advance based on what you know about your prospect and their problems. But if you get stuck, just ask: "How does this compare to your current workflow?" It's an easy question, and it will keep your prospects engaged. Engagement is demo gold. ? BONUS: “Book it or bust.” Don’t forget to book the next meeting before you get off your demo. #SaaS #startups #GoToMarket #entrepreneurship?#sales?

Seamless.AI vs FullEnrich cell phone data. Here are my results. *CONTEXT* All of these contacts were CIOs or IT Directors for construction and manufacturing companies with at least 100 employees. It was a mix of private and public companies. It was a small sample size. When we expanded it out, the results were roughly the same. ***We are not a meetings booking agency.*** We own the full sales cycle for 2 enterprise software companies. $150k+ TCV. Our goal is to book qualified meetings, demo, and close deals as fast as possible. We only get paid when we close deals. We have no interest in booking a meeting with someone who is not going to buy. This post is not a debate on what is the best outbound channel (email, phone, social) or methodology (inbound, outbound, allbound, whateveriscoolthismonthbound). Do whatever works for you. For us, we have the fastest results when we talk to prospects on their cell phones. We’ve been using Seamless.Ai (data provider) for a little over a year. We just started experimenting this month with Full Enrich (data aggregator). I have no allegiance to either of these companies. All I care about is the best cell phone data for the best price. Watch the video and see our results for yourself. If you're curious, here's our integrated tech stack: Clay ?? Seamless.AI ?? HubSpot ?? ConnectAndSell, Inc. I’m always looking for better cell phone data. ??♂?If you have had success with a data provider, aggregator, your friend Bob, or whatever, comment with your recommendations. Thanks! #SaaS #startups #GoToMarket #entrepreneurship?#sales??

Early-stage SaaS Founders. Here are 10 things your prospects DO NOT want to see in your demo. ?? Pitching an investor and pitching a prospect are 2 very different things. Treat them that way. A common mistake I see is founders confusing their pitch deck with their product demo. ?? Pitch Deck ≠ Product Demo A pitch deck is meant for raising capital from investors. A sales demo is meant to sell your product to prospects. Your prospects do not care about your fundraising efforts. They want to see how your product solves their problems. ?? TAKEAWAY: Focus on what's important to your prospect. 90% of your pitch deck is about YOUR company and how it’s building enterprise value for investors. Your prospects don't care about that. They care about THEIR own needs and how your product can meet them. ? Action Step: Don't rely on your pitch deck to sell your product. Do this instead. Create a compelling demo or discovery call that addresses their specific problems. Then show them how your product solves them. ~~~ ?? things your prospects DO NOT want to see in your demo: 1. How much capital you raised 2. How much capital you’re trying to raise 3. Your valuation 4. Who your investors are 5. Your Total Addressable Market 6. Your market opportunity in billions 7. Who’s on your advisory board 8. The accelerator you completed 9. Your future growth projections 10.?ANY business metrics besides retention if it’s good. (DO NOT talk about your CAC, LTV, Churn, ext…) ? Bonus: No slide decks. Prospects hate slide decks. Plus, you don’t want the temptation to “repurpose” things from your pitch deck. A 1-page intro with highlights goes a long way. 2-3 minutes TOPS. Then hit the demo. ~~~ ?? Remember the only things your prospects actually care about: 1. How does your product solve my problem? 2. How much is it? 3. How long is this going to take to set up? ? If you’re an early-stage founder who needs some help designing a product demo that sells, DM me. #SaaS #startups #GoToMarket #entrepreneurship?#sales ?

How this simple $5K change to your subscription pricing adds $6M in enterprise value.? One quick way to boost your recurring revenue is by converting some of your implementation costs into subscription costs. *Caveat: Don’t bottom out your cash flow. A small adjustment can make a massive impact. ?? ?? Example: - A $2M company has a $20,000 implementation cost with a $40,000 subscription. ?? Projection: - By 2027, they reach $10M in recurring revenue with their current growth rate. - With a solid 6X valuation, that's a $60M enterprise value. ?? Adjustment: - Instead of a $20,000 implementation cost, reduce it to $15,000. - Convert the extra $5,000 into the subscription, making it $45,000. ?? Outcome: - Using the same growth rate, annual recurring revenue increases by over $1M. - Enterprise value boosts by another $6M. ~~~ If you know where to look, sometimes the answers are right in front of you. Where is your extra recurring revenue hiding??? If you need some help finding it, I use the same Revenue Analysis model from my video in our Growth Audit. ?? Details on our website. #SaaS #startups #GoToMarket #entrepreneurship?