Focus First on Being Profitable and it Will Lead to Efficient Growth

In the business-to-business (B2B) technology industry, growth and profitability are crucial for success. However, it's important for companies to focus on efficient growth, rather than simply expanding their customer base. This has never been more true than in 2023. As budgets tighten and companies try to meet expectations set by their Board of Directors and shareholders, focusing on profitability is the way to show efficient growth.

One way to achieve efficient growth is through targeted marketing and sales efforts. Instead of trying to reach a broad audience, companies should focus on identifying and targeting specific industries or market segments that are most likely to benefit from their products or services. It may seem counterintuitive to focus on a smaller audience when worried about reaching revenue targets but that is the key to success.?

Account-based marketing (ABM) can be leveraged for companies targeting enterprise audiences. If your sales cycles are longer, your dealing with a buying committee and your price point is higher, ABM is a great solution to laser-focus your sales and marketing efforts.?

I once worked with a company that leveraged ABM to target the aerospace industry. By focusing on a few accounts, we were able to deliver relevant content that resonated with the audience. Showcasing ways to overcome their ongoing challenges of shortening R&D cycles, iterating products for different environments, and managing the process on secure software grabbed the audience's attention. The campaign generated multi-million dollar contracts and increased average contract value (ACV) by 17%.

However, ABM is not always the solution for every company. If your company has short buying cycles, a low price point, and one or two decision-makers, a demand generation campaign that doesn’t include ABM may be the way to go.

For B2B tech companies that are more transactional focused, tightening up the lead generation efforts on Google AdWords and social media campaigns as well as partnering with sales to shorten the conversion in each level of the sales funnel can lead to quicker growth. Often times converting the leads that are in the funnel is the last thing that sales and marketing teams look at. They are so focused on getting leads into the top of the funnel with marketing efforts and converting leads at the bottom of the funnel with sales that they forget to examine ways to be efficient in the middle of the funnel.?

Another key aspect of efficient growth is product development. Companies should prioritize features and functionality that will deliver the most value to customers, rather than focusing on adding unnecessary bells and whistles. This can help to reduce development costs and improve the overall customer experience.

By focusing on developing products that deliver the most value to customers, companies can avoid unnecessary features and functionality, which can help to reduce development costs. This can lead to increased profitability and more resources to invest in future product development and growth. Reach out to your account managers, customer success teams, and sales and marketing teams to see what customers are saying about the product.

If you listen carefully, your customers will tell you what your next feature or functionality within the product needs to be. It may not be as simple as ‘it would be great to have the software do XYZ’ but trust me, they are telling your teams what they want. Most likely it could be some time as simple as, “I love your software, it’s helping me expand my business. Things are going so much more smoothly. Because of your software, I am able to market to my customers who have larger requests. In fact, one had over 50 widgets that needed order. It took a while to upload all of them but it was great I was able to handle the larger order.”

This is a perfect example of a customer requesting functionality that allows for quicker uploads of larger orders. They didn’t specifically request it and to some people, it may seem like a small comment in an overall rave review of the product but it could open even more usage of your product by adding the functionality, especially if more than one customer mentioned it.

Adding features to your product is another way to increase profitability, decrease churn, and increase word-of-mouth about your product. Any feature that makes it easier for the customer to do their job is a win! This could include streamlining the onboarding process to offering payment in different currencies. Little things can go a long way.

During turbulent economic times, being creative and adaptable can also lead to efficient growth. Be open to new ideas, and be willing to take risks and pivot when necessary. This doesn’t mean chasing after shiny objects without really vetting them first. However, growth and profitability can come from many different opportunities. In tough economic times, companies that take calculated risks can grab market share by expanding into new markets that complement their current product offering.

For example, a company I work with offered shared server space to small and medium-sized businesses. That is their core business. However, helping plan the overall infrastructure is also something they now offer. This came about by listening to their customers and leveraging the experience they had in the industry at prior companies. Opportunity is always knocking. You just have to listen and be open to thinking about things in a new way.

In conclusion, B2B technology companies can achieve efficient growth and profitability by focusing on targeted marketing and sales, product development that delivers value to customers, and being open to new ideas. By taking these steps, companies can ensure that they are on a path to sustainable growth and long-term success regardless of the economic climate.

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Rhonda Giedt is a marketing executive focused on solving challenges to spur revenue growth in companies. She has experience with marketing companies in SaaS, manufacturing, and 3D printing. She is also an avid sports fan of college football, golf, premier league football, and many others.

She is also an Envoy Core Group Leader for Pavilion, start-up advisor, and mentor to marketing and business professionals.