Brian Lawrence

Hot Take… RIP #PLG, Long Live #SLG But before you throw shade, let me explain… 🔹 There are undoubtedly exceptions, I’m sure many will highlight monday.com, Freshworks, etc. 🔹 PLG works well for low ACV deals with low CAC… think SMB and mid-market customers. Target CAC payback <12 months 🔹 PLG is a fantastic top of funnel marketing channel for enterprise sales ⭐ But for 6-figure enterprise sales, you need enterprise salespeople pressing the flesh with customers

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I have an axe to grind. It’s about compensation for SaaS sales positions. Too many salespeople have unrealistic comp expectations. If you are a a SaaS Account Executive and you are trying to increase your OTE, here's my #1 piece of advice: If you want to make more money, carry a bigger quota. Your total comp is relative to how much revenue you bring in. Forget what your friends are telling you about how much you "should" be making. Here's the deal: The golden ratio for quota to OTE is 5x. Said differently, the fully loaded cost of sales should be around 20-25% of each new dollar in ARR. That means you need to close $500k in ARR to earn $100k in TOTAL compensation. The standard OTE breakdown is 50% base salary / 50% variable compensation. So a $500k annual quota should offer a $50k base salary and $50k variable compensation. Beware of companies that are paying more than this. These companies do not last long. Go do the math for your own compensation. If your annual quota is 3x your OTE, be careful. Your company is trying to buy revenue growth. This kind of comp plan is temporary. Either the company will change the comp plan or they will go out of business. I have seen dozens of salespeople jump from job to job every 9-12 months because they are chasing a higher base salary. Your base salary is not where you get ahead in SaaS sales. Instead, focus on these 2 things: 1. A good variable comp plan with quotas that are attainable. Make your money by hitting accelerators. 2. A good sales leader who will build your sales skills. Find a role where you can learn and you can crush your number. The money will follow.

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RevOps under the CFO? PROBLEM: RevOps should be solving for seamless alignment across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success to optimize rev generation, drive efficiency, and deliver predictable, scalable growth. BACKGROUND: I've seen RevOps under both Sales and Marketing. Neither seemed optimal (as both have a functional bias), so at Base64 we placed RevOps under the CFO / Head of Finance. WHY THE CFO: 1) COMPANY HEALTH & ALIGNMENT: Modern AI / SaaS CFO’s have evolved from accounting leaders to strategic architects of company health. I work very closely with my CFO to optimize the entire revenue lifecycle...balancing growth with efficiency...unlike Sales, where I primarily focus on quarterly new license bookings and renewal targets, or Marketing where I primarily focus on top-of-funnel demand gen, positioning and brand equity. 2) DATA-DRIVEN OPTIMIZATION: RevOps thrives on cross-departmental data, and I work with my CFO to integrate insights to minimize inefficiencies and maximize ROI for the company and within each function. 3) LONG-TERM VALUE CREATION FOCUS: While Sales and Marketing prioritize short-term wins (absolutely critical), the CFO aligns RevOps with the company’s broader financial strategy for scalable, sustainable growth (i.e. preparing the business for funding rounds, identifying levers to hit annual growth targets). By placing RevOps under the CFO, I believe companies unlock a metrics-driven approach where every dollar fuels Profitable Efficient Growth (PEG). In AI-SaaS where commercial models are being disrupted (i.e. usage vs. consumption)...having a modern CFO that owns RevOps is proving to be a game-changer at Base64. The primary risk leaders need to look out for is 1) if you have a risk-averse or fixed mindset CFO that prioritizes expense mgmt over PEG 2) they do not value CX (1st class product experience is table-stakes, but the overall experience with your company needs to be 1st class...from buying to servicing to renewing). Thoughts? #CFO #RevOps #StrategicLeadership #RevenueOptimization #SaaSLeadership

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F*** is my favorite four-letter F-word. F*** = Free...obviously. 😏 Speaking of free, here's something I'm really excited about. Over at RevOps Co-op, we've got not one, but TWO complimentary RevOpsAF conference passes to give away courtesy of our friends at Enlyft. 🎁 Maybe you're a revenue operator in between gigs who wants to expand your network? 🤝 Or an employed RevOps pro who wants to attend #RevOpsAF 2024 in San Diego but your company isn't able to sponsor you? If this sounds like you then throw the 🙋 emoji in the comments and DM me to toss your name in the literal raffle hat. Sound like someone you know? Tag 'em on this post and have them do the same! Big shout out to Michael Schultz and Phil Gray from Enlyft for making this happen. ❤️ PS - learn more about RevOpsAF 2024 at revopsaf(dot)com #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #marketingops #marketingoperations #mops

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Tired of losing hard-earned deals? Solve for Revenue Leak. In Clari’s 2024 Revenue Leak Report, RevOps leaders said leak happens at every stage of the funnel. - Creating: Poor and slow upsell pipeline tracking - Converting: Unsure where pipeline is dropping off - Closing: Slipped deals Don’t let Revenue Leak drag down another quarter – or another year. Download the Revenue Leak Report for more: https://lnkd.in/g9gnGrdz  

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The #Salesblazer community is launching NEW biweekly coffee chats and would love for you to join! 🎉 💙 Up first on June 18: How to make outbound sales work for you in 2024. Jason Bay, CEO of Outbound Squad with 15+ years of sales experience, will be taking the mic, so make sure you attend! 🙌 Here’s how to participate: 1. Join the #june-18-coffee-chat channel in the Salesblazer Community on Slack. Not a member of the Community yet? Fix that here: https://sforce.co/June18CC 2. Ask your outbound prospecting questions in the channel above before the coffee chat starts. 3. You’ll be notified to join the huddle when it kicks off June 18 @ 1pm ET. 4. Grab your coffee and join as soon as you’re notified — capacity is limited to 200, and it’s first come, first served.

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Throughout last year, I heard many complaints from Customer Success teams about the inadequate transition from Sales. Quick "hacks" to fix this are below: CEOs and CROs - if you don't fix this, you will break your revenue. Your investors and Boards will turn you down or replace your team. You will continue to have to sell more deals to make up for churn. The signs of dysfunction are evident right from the beginning of the customer journey. Lack of communication between teams, repeated information to the sales team, and a disjointed process are common occurrences that can deter customers. Even established companies struggle with smooth transitions from sales to post-sale functions. This problem often originates early on in the company's development and can become ingrained in its culture if left unaddressed. Customers can smell dysfunction right from the kickoff. "Do you guys talk to each other?" "We told your sales team these answers several times. " (this one hurts the most) Sound Familiar? Even Mature companies have poor sales transitions to post-sale teams. This Pattern starts early. 🔴 Get this fixed early, or it will be the culture A non-evolved company can follow these steps: 🔴 Level 1 - Very easy- a form in the CRM upon deal close 🔴 Level 2 - Sales ops can make mandatory flags before sending out the contract 🔴 Level 3 - Finance can hold commissions if the process is not followed correctly A smart organization will follow these steps: 🟢 Get an Implementation consultant or a CSM on a presales call. 🟢 The post-sale team should have a standard 3 slides to show that they are a team, follow a process, and have had success (this means faces, timeline, and logos) 🟢 A non-commissioned resource that asks great questions, knows the product in and out and can answer what other companies in your prospects' vertical are doing 🟢 Once the deal is closed, hold a 30-minute internal handoff call 🟢 Have the salesperson sit in on the kickoff call to ensure everyone is aligned. This also prevents the "Salesperson said we can do this" syndrome Sales leadership should know how important this is, but they are KPI'd on different things. How are you fixing this problem?

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Revenue execs: Here’s a simple action that has an outsized impact. Drive a repeatable revenue process. Repeatable processes create visibility across your pipeline.  They align your team around shared data and objectives.  They boost accountability and transparency. Most importantly, they make it easier to spot and stop revenue leaks — adding dollars back into your closed-won column. Ready to build a repeatable revenue process? Start with this playbook: https://lnkd.in/gNPmrUMw

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Ashi from Gong is fast (😮‍💨10k) But not as fast as Gong Engage users when they use Lavender. Access to your Gong calls in our personalization assistant ✅ Access to our coach & "Ashi fast" personalization in Gong ✅ Better 🤝 Faster 3.0 (and so much more) coming soon

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Most SaaS companies are doing their digital approach completely wrong. They put junior resources on those customers with no tools. BAD idea. Unless you have a thriving CS ops department. And that is still not enough. You need a more seasoned CSM who knows where to look into the data, trigger the correct playbook, and get a customer moving back in the right direction. You may be mistaken in assuming that a junior Customer Success Manager (CSM) is equipped to handle customer interactions in a Product-Led Growth (PLG) or digital environment for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs). In reality, it is crucial to have a seasoned CSM who possesses the necessary skills to interpret data effectively, implement appropriate strategies, and provide valuable guidance to customers. Transitioning towards a more digital-centric approach to broaden your customer base demands expertise and specialized tools for achieving success. Merely relying on a well-functioning Customer Success operations department may not suffice. It is imperative to have experienced professionals who can adeptly navigate these less personal interactions to ensure optimal outcomes for both the customers and the business. Having a skilled CSM with a wealth of experience can significantly impact the way interactions are handled in a digital setting. By leveraging their expertise, these professionals can identify patterns in customer behavior, anticipate needs, and tailor solutions to meet individual customer requirements effectively. Furthermore, an experienced CSM can play a pivotal role in implementing automation tools and technologies to streamline processes and enhance customer satisfaction. In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, having a seasoned CSM on board is akin to having a strategic partner who can steer the ship towards success. Their ability to analyze data trends, devise targeted strategies, and provide personalized guidance can make all the difference in driving customer engagement and loyalty in a digital environment. Are you using junior or experienced resources for your digital team?

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Hey RevOps - here's a hack for you to eliminate all the time and money you are spending on your sandbox environment 👇 Test in production. 😏 Follow me for me RevOps hacks...and have a good weekend y'all ✌️ #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #sfdc #salesforce #salesforceadmin #sfdcadmin

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I did an informal poll on CSM vs Sales commission splits. I was pleasantly shocked to see over 95% of companies do not have Sales take a commission on renewals unless it’s a particularly challenging one, the AE is there to help with it as a “bounty renewal”. in this case, the AE gets a % but not taken from the CSM. Other interesting data points : "Commission on upsells and renewal made up 30% of the total compensation package. However, the exact commission % was determined by dividing the 30% by $$$ into the total ARR managed by the CSM." What metrics should this be based on? Most followed this model to Typically companies that are earlier in their CS maturity will base this off a few leading indicators(adoption milestones, EBRs, etc.), and then move to comping on lagging indicators(retention, expansion, NRR, etc.) once their leading indicator activities have been proven. The following are examples of metrics you can use, not an exhaustive list: Leading: QBRs and/or EBRs (attained vs scheduled) Product adoption milestones (product dependent) Lagging: Net Revenue Retention(NRR) - this is likely the most common Retention Expansion Advocacy (hard to make this scale across large teams and mixed portfolios - this is better as a SPIFF or annual metric to Bonus on) From there you can determine the weight of each metric on the bonus. I'll give an example using a bonus that is achieved by a renewal retention goal and an NRR goal. Criteria for 100% Bonus Attainment: 90% Renewal Retention (50% weight) 125% Net Revenue Retention (50% weight) "This keeps it pretty simple with two priorities. Retain and Expand Revenue. The Retention goal being assessed separately ensures CSMs don't have significant churn masked by massive upsells. In this example, if a CSM had 85% Retention and 115% NRR, they'd end up at 93.22% to goal for their overall commission/variable comp."

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#Sales and #CustomerSuccess aren’t just deal-makers... They’re relationship-builders. But often, they’re chasing different goals, which leaves real revenue potential untapped. What happens when both teams are actually in sync? 🤝 In this episode: Daisy Chung from Orum 🥇 and I discuss how Sales and CS can align their strategies to: a. Drive #SustainableGrowth. b. Foster long-term partnerships. c. Eliminate the finger-pointing when times get tough.

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Today I had a chance to chat to three former colleagues who are now friends. This morning I was a guest on Closing Time podcast with Denis Crushell and Pat Williams, two deeply experienced CROs and just hilarious and kind humans. We went deep in GTM alignment, company level GtM KPIs and the role of RevOps to connect and guide teams across full customer journey. We also talked about how all the tooling in the world to operationalize your actions, outreaches, followups, personalized emails mean nothing…if you’re going after the wrong person. Investing to get your ICP right is paramount yet so many companies we work with underestimate this importance. In the afternoon I then had a lovely chat with one of the best pre-sales leaders I know Jameson L. (congrats on your promo buddy!) and we were discussing how companies we know that start with PLG then realize the importance of upgrading to enterprise sale but don’t know how to transition to something more value led. Every time I talk to one of these individuals there is so much learning, laughter, and sparks of new ideas. Nurture your network!

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** Harnessing Executive Sponsors: The Underutilized Force Multiplier in GTM** An often overlooked resource in GTM is the power of executive sponsors. Many GTM leaders hesitate to leverage this, but when done right, it can be a game-changer. Imagine the impact when top leadership advocates for your initiatives—it's a true force multiplier. Take Check Point Software, for example. They don’t just stop at executive support—they even involve their CPO, CTO and even CEO to advance the pipeline. Yes, a $21B company tapping into the power of their top exec to move deals forward. That’s the level of commitment and influence we should be aiming for. But let’s go beyond individual account sponsorship - leverage your technical and product leadership for broad GTM initiatives, content creation, thought leadership and turn this from a 1:1 to a 1:many play. They have tons of valuable knowledge and insights they can share. In our Value-based GTM world, these assets are foundational, not optional. Here’s what Hillel Zvi SEO & ABM Lead at Checkpoint had to share about it at our last event. If you’re not already harnessing this resource, now’s the time. The right executive sponsor can open doors, build trust, and accelerate your GTM efforts in ways that are hard to match. How are you leveraging your executive team to support GTM?

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I see an industry wide need to include more functions and teams in the GTM motion, this one reflects pretty closely to what I have in mind https://lnkd.in/ek2iCWXb

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A slight push in sales, especially in SMB sales, is very important. However, there is a clear difference between creating urgency and making threats. I guess no customer ever wants to hear threats, like "We are going to shut down your trial tomorrow, so you must decide now." While speed plays a significant role in SMB sales, only skilled sales reps know how to handle it correctly. ❗ 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 (𝐌𝐀𝐏𝐬) 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬. These should be discussed during the very first meeting. Here’s what a typical MAP might look like when selling to SMBs: 1️⃣ During the first demo, we discuss the trial period and outline what needs to be done to navigate the trial effectively. 2️⃣ After one week, the customer prepares a list of questions and initial product feedback. We then meet to discuss these points. 3️⃣ A week later, we meet to finalize the trial results, discuss payment terms, and make the final purchasing decision. This results in three meetings and just over two weeks to close a customer. Discussing mutual action plans is crucial for making the sales process more efficient, even when selling to SMB customers. Do you build MAPs with your customers? #SMB #salespipeline #salesprocess #B2Bsales #salesoperations

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We just dropped a new episode of SaaS Expert Voices, featuring Dan Balcauski, Founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility and a true pricing guru. If you’re in the B2B SaaS space and looking to optimize your pricing strategy, this episode is a must-listen! Why you should tune in: 📊 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬: We discussed the importance of aligning your pricing strategy with clear business objectives. Whether you're aiming to maximize revenue or profit, understanding the metric you're optimizing for is key. Dan shared how companies can avoid the trap of trying to do everything at once, which often leads to suboptimal outcomes. 🔍 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝟐𝐁 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐬: Dan kicked off by busting a major myth: pricing isn’t just about the amount you charge. It's about who you charge and how you structure those charges. This mindset shift is crucial for any SaaS leader looking to optimize their revenue. 🤝 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Afraid to discuss pricing with your customers? These pricing conversations are much like those tough talks you have with your kids about certain life topics–inevitable and crucial. Dan emphasizes the importance of discussing pricing with customers early and strategically, instead of waiting until the final stages of their decision-making process. 💡 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Dan shares how companies like Intercom are revolutionizing their pricing models with AI capabilities. They differentiate between tools that enhance human performance and fully autonomous solutions, each with distinct pricing strategies. If you're looking to refine your pricing strategy and drive growth in 2024, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Share your thoughts and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gVw94gVB

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