Lydia Sugarman

Before diagnosing missed revenue targets Many B2B SaaS companies only look at: - Overall CAC - General LTV - Surface-level metrics To dig deeper, here's what you should track: • Time to impact • Pipeline velocity • LTV by segment • Sales cycle length • Lead quality score • Expansion revenue • Net revenue retention • Feature adoption rates • CAC by customer segment • Customer acquisition cost payback period These metrics reveal hidden insights. Combining these metrics give you the deeper meaning.

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Got 2 great questions on my guide to running renewals in HubSpot 💡 1. Where is the value for {{ deal.next_renewal_year }} coming from? 2. How are you parsing out the year from a date? In the renewal playbook we’re using the “Next Renewal Year” property inside of the CloneNer app to include the correct renewal year in the name of subsequent renewal deals. Here’s to set it up: 1. Create a new HubSpot property: Name: Next Renewal Year Object Type: Deal Group: Deal Information 2. Define your property Type: Calculation Output Format: Number Number Format: Unformatted Number 3. Add a custom formula → (year([properties.renewal_date]) + 1) 4. Test your formula by selecting a date and clicking Test. You should get back the next year. Eg. Date in 2024 → 2025 For more on managing renewals and recurring revenue in HubSpot check out the full playbook over in the ConnectedGTM newsletter (link in my profile) Here’s the highlights from part 1 of the renewals playbook: → Define your renewal process in a dedicated HubSpot deal pipeline and trigger the right milestone or time-based playbook for each customer. → Automatically move deals through your renewal pipeline as they make progress towards their renewal date. → Discover 2 simple methods for creating subsequent renewal deals and transferring the required context to the next phase of the customer journey. Any other questions let me know in the comments ✌️

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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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Churn is the nemesis we all face in subscription business. This article tackles a critical truth: a leaky bucket drains your resources and inhibits growth. New customer acquisition should complement retention, not be the primary desperation. The article highlights two types of churn—voluntary and involuntary—and illustrates the importance of addressing this from the onboarding phase onwards. Why waste resources chasing new customers when elevating the experience for current users can deliver exponential value? Let’s turn the lens on how we engage and retain our customers. What strategies have you found effective in thwarting churn in your business? Share your thoughts. By the way, if you want to sharpen your business skills in record time, check out the 5 Minute Founders newsletter. A great way to pack in the benefits of full business books in just 5 minutes. https://lnkd.in/eF98xRPs

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This GTM practitioner has cracked the code on PLG and signals. Meet Saad Khan, Director of Sales @ Aligned producing growth results and massive TANGIBLE value for clients and our community. Results like: 180% increase in outbound ARR 250% increase in pipeline 454% increase in qualified pipe YoY and 60% ARR CONTRIBUTION. To name only a few of many accolades. From playbooks to tactical execution, Saad helps revenue team make more money. (Including in how they use Aligned!) Saad has built a name for himself not on any hype or trends, but outcomes. You should follow and talk to Saad to accelerate your sales and of course see how Aligned could help your business. Do it right and convert your pipe. ~~~ Meet someone with a fiery passion and they can help light the way for you. It fades unless they are right there beside you, gaining your trust every step of the way. I'm on a mission to understand trust, networks, and how they produce long term business outcomes. Saad embodies the success of this. He comes as another highly recommended person in my network. He should be a part of yours too. ---------- This is part of a small project for the month of November to highlight men in my life that have impacted me in more ways than they know. Saad is somehow both serious and silly. He can yap for days and he can actually make a lot of sense. We take hours to get through a conversation but I love it - we have realizations and help eachother have new perspectives. You honor your friends, family, and partners by challenging them. I don't let Saad tell me any BS and I'm always watching out for him. That's because I believe in him and I know that what he has to offer needs to be nurtured. He does the same for me, so I must honor him by doing the same. Saad puts in the work. Sometimes too much, but what I love most about him is he is constantly pushing his own boundaries. He constantly redefines 100%. He challenges himself. In work. In the gym. With his friendships. With his family. It's the mark of a man to take the first step and push others to be better. Saad embodies this in himself first. He isn't one to tell others to do something, without being able to do it himself. And damn... if you knew what this guy goes through... you'd know just how much wisdom he has because of coming out the other side with his level of energy. Saad Khan thank you for being you. I love you man. P.S. We don't have a better picture together, but this one is pretty great.

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SaaS CEOs, If You're Not Engineering Trust at Every Touch Point... You're Leaving money on the table. 💸 Use this 5-Question Trust Building Playbook to Boost your MRR This Week ​ Trust is the currency of the modern marketplace. ​ Without it, your retention rates plummet, referrals dry up, and your marketing efforts fall flat. ​ But when you master the art of trust-building, you unlock higher retention, more referrals, and smoother sales processes. ​ So how do you actually build trust on purpose? ​ 💎 You answer the 5 Trust Questions at every interaction. ​ Clarity and transparency reduce customer anxiety and build trust. ​ Imagine a customer navigating your site or interacting with your support team. ​ Without clear guidance, they feel lost and anxious. But when you consistently answer: ​ ​T - Tell me: Why am I here? R - Right place? (Am I in the right place?) U - Unsure what to do next! (What’s the next step?) S - So, what's gonna happen after that? (What happens next?) T - These feelings… when it all goes down, how's it going to feel? (How will I feel?) ​ They feel reassured and smart. ​ 🤔 Imagine what happens when you say exactly what’s going to happen, and that's actually what happens! ​ This consistency get’s registered subconsciously by your prospects and customers and they come to trust you faster. ​ That experience makes you an easy choice. ​ You know the average consideration to buy time is now up to 67 days? ​ That’s time you can be building trust through your remarketing. ​ This experience makes you referable. ​ I know... this concept is not sexy technology or funnels. It’s boring fundamentals—fundamentals that work! ​ Cheers, Jean-Michel “simple scales complex fails” Moreau ​ P.S. If you want to double your SaaS business this year and not five years down the road. Comment "double" on this post and I will personally help you develop a strategy for your company growth.

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Here’s how we built more pipeline from Saastr and Dreamforce with a GA ticket (or sometimes even no ticket) vs. some companies that paid $50k+ for booths. Rule #1: The rule of thirds I used to approach conferences with the sole goal of building pipeline. I was stressed and in the wrong mindset, which led to transactional conversations. People want to have authentic conversations without a premeditated agenda. I now believe conversations should roughly split into the following buckets: 1) Business problems and whether Bluebirds might be helpful. This is what leads to pipeline in the near-term. 2) Talking about where the market is going (e.g. AI and sales). This is usually with C-Suite (it’s often why they’re attending the conference) and on-the-ground employees like AEs or BDRs. 3) Swapping notes on company building. This is primarily with other founders, and it’s a fantastic way to meet and learn from experienced builders. The important thing is to let go of every conversation being about pipeline. I usually don’t bring up Bluebirds unless asked. Don’t be that person who hyper-analyzes name-tags to corner decision makers. Focus on learning and great conversations, and pipeline will follow. Rule #2: 80% of the game is in the side events This one is counter-intuitive — the actual event is usually the least interesting part of a conference. Most reputable conferences have a cottage-industry of happy hours, brunches, dinners, etc. hosted by companies in the space. They’re free to attend and you just need to track down lists of these events (they always exist) and sign up. Side events have more focused groups of people (e.g. a brunch for CMOs), so it’s easier to meet people and have high quality conversations. Rule #3: It’s all in the follow up Last year, I struggled to stay organized with conversations and track follow up. When you’re meeting 20 people a day, it’s tough to remember what was discussed with each person. Now, after a great conversation I always ask to connect on LinkedIn. Have them connect with you (not the other way around) so you can accept their connection request one day later and immediately follow up via LinkedIn DMs. If I felt like they’re leaning into Bluebirds and we can be helpful, I’ll ask to pull up calendars and schedule time for a follow up right there, or exchange phone numbers. If your follow up takes more than 24 hours after meeting, or you’re unable to get ahold of someone, your process is broken and you should re-think your approach to staying in touch. These 3 changes made a huge impact to my experience at conferences, how much fun I have, and building pipeline. Anyone else at Saastr / Dreamforce have advice or tips they’ve learned? Sriharsha Guduguntla Atul Raghunathan Oliver Johnson Albert Wang Zaid Khan Max Clang Avishek Roy

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Are you a founder or CEO prepping for fundraising? Or a GTM pro who works for one? You’ll want to check out our new interactive fundraising deck and executive summary templates. While AssetMule was designed to help GTM teams better engage prospects with interactive sales assets, we’ve started to see an influx of founders signing up to build their fundraising assets. And it makes total sense. Just like buyers, investors are overwhelmed with the amount of pitches coming their way and are harder to reach than ever before. Founders need new ways to rise above the noise and earn their attention. And that’s exactly what AssetMule is designed to do. Not only will these templates help you pull your core fundraising assets together in a fraction of the time and with less effort, but they’ll help you engage investors in a more meaningful way and book more pitch meetings. Check out the demo below and sign up for AssetMule to get started for free.

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Going live in one hour. https://lnkd.in/gnptPsMb

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The new episode of The Science of Scaling Podcast dropped today. In this episode, I speak with Ang McManamon the VP of Sales at Crunchbase. We dissect managing sales through a pivot, specifically how she managed the team as the market transitioned from one of the most bullish markets in tech in 2021 to one of the biggest down markets in tech in 2022. Example discussion points include: How to manage a board that is demanding an unrealistic revenue target? (1) Educate them on the current bottoms-up GTM model by showing them where the team has been performing on the key drivers of revenue outcomes over the past 2 quarters (i.e. the average productivity per rep (PPR), MQLs generated per month, average sales cycle and close rate on sales opportunities, etc.). We implement this framework with our portfolio companies Stage 2 Capital before issues like this even surface in order to establish the narrative from the beginning. (2) Illustrate where these metrics need to be to achieve the revenue outcomes they are demanding. Often this analysis yields the conclusion that the team would need to 2x PPR, MQL generating, and and close rates essentially overnight. Hopefully, they start to see how unrealistic the plan is and that the plan is going to lead to unnecessary burn and departures of top performers (3) Using the bottoms-up model, devise an aggressive but realistic plan that assumes say a 10%-20% Q/Q improvement in each of the performance drivers and the revenue outcomes that this performance would yield. (4) The board may ignore this line of thinking but at least we have educated them on the revenue mechanics and can use that framework to report back results at the next meeting. How to quantitatively assess whether a revenue miss is due to a macro condition, like the economy, or sales execution, like hiring and training the salespeople? An area few boards and leadership teams look at to conduct this diagnosis is the quarter-over-quarter performance of individual AEs, especially the consistent top performers on the team. If the company misses the target and you look under the hood and find that the historic consistent performers are still performing as usual and the miss was driven from AEs hired in the last year, we have a sales leadership execution issue. However, if we look under the hood and see that even the top performers' PPR decreased, perhaps at about the same time and about the same amount, then we have likely have a diagnosis outside of sales execution (i.e. economy, competition, product, etc.) Anyway, Ang is awesome and was completely open about this journey that so many leaders experienced over the past two years. Check out the episode here! https://lnkd.in/e2QiuPEH

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A truly irrefutable sign of product-market fit, that elusive thing... When a customer buys and uses your product then calls you and says: Have you talked to my competitor X? If you haven't, bill my card for another annual license but under no circumstances should you talk to them 😂 What would you do? #startups #marketing #productmanagement #strategy #ceos

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SaaS founders please trust me on this one. Regret is more expensive than tracking product data. Don't let hindsight be your only insight. --- P.S. If you're interested in learning more about which metrics you need to measure and how - I'm hosting a free webinar in July to answer all your questions 💡 Want to join? 👉 Like this post and comment "metrics" below and I'll send you the link :)

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Here's how NOT to look at PLG Serial founder, PLG educator and LinkedIn Top Voice Rob Snyder shares insights on PLG grounded in pure realism. Points 1. PLG is not a good fit for all businesses 2. PLG is not for all stages (and very often not for super early stage) 3. The necessary learning to achieve PLG requires a ton of failing, that an early business can't afford 4. Do your first 10, 20 or 50 customers manually. Get a great understanding of how the sales is going, then (maybe) launch your PLG motion. Check out the full conversation on Episode 46 of Product Led Growth Leaders. Also, I highly recommend subscribing to Rob Snyder's highly informative substack: The Path to Product-Market Fit

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RevOps leaders, this is the playbook you’ve been waiting for. In a world flooded with content that often lacks substance, the RevOps Docs for Startups by LeanScale are a breath of fresh air. This guide isn’t just another rundown of the basics—it’s an in-depth, yet easily approachable, guide to the rapidly evolving RevOps landscape, crafted from real insights gathered across 50+ hyper-growth companies. Huge shoutout to my longtime buddy Joe Zaghloul and the team at LeanScale for putting in the thought and care to make something truly impactful. The format alone—structured like API docs, complete with a changelog—makes it incredibly usable and memorable. #RevOps leaders and #GTM teams will find it packed with playbooks that feel almost built-in to the process. If you’re scaling a B2B SaaS, you’ll want to bookmark this one. It’s hands-on, actionable, and unlike anything else out there. https://lnkd.in/ekrUJAW5

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MEDDIC is a popular approach to lead qualification for B2B SaaS. The M stands for Metrics and itis often where sales struggles. Some even skip over this. The value based approach provides the tools needed to manage the M in MEDDIC. Amar Dhaliwal shows how to think through the first critical Metrics (or Money) step in MEDDIC. https://lnkd.in/dbn9WAqT #MEDDIC #SaaS #valuebasedpricing #Sales

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Today we're going to delete a workflow in HubSpot. 🗑️🚯 Because we’ve made it super easy to automate your HubSpot pipelines in Arrows 🤖 Now, you can automatically move customers through your onboarding or implementation pipeline in HubSpot as they take action in your Arrows action plan. No hacky workflow setup or complex logic required. Setup takes less than a minute and your pipeline will be updated in real-time 🎉 Here’s how it works: 1. Enable Pipeline Automation from the left sidebar of any Arrows template. 2. Select the pipeline in HubSpot you would like to automate. 3. Choose your automation criteria – Arrows completed tasks, phases, or plan status changes. 4. Publish your pipeline automation. 5. That’s it - no more manual pipeline updates or out of date reports.

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Is Your SaaS Business Leaving Money on the Table by Ignoring Rate Limits? When scaling your service, rate limits aren’t just an afterthought—they’re a must. Too many businesses miss this step early on, and it costs them. Why should you care? Without rate limits, you’re paying for extra calls, whether they’re to internal systems or external APIs. Each unchecked call eats into your bottom line. Plus, storing frequently fetched data in a table can cut redundant calls and save time, budget, and server load. stories of fractional CTO. #SaaS #TechStrategy #RateLimits #CostEfficiency

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Nailing a niche first is likely the best growth strategy. How do you do that? 1. Figure out your ICP. Who cares a lot about your solution? 2. Focus on solving specific problems. Solve that problem for ICPs better than others. 3. Refine your messaging. You convert customers if you offer what they want. Conveying your value prop in the best possible way is key. 4. Build mental availability. It requires repeated exposure to your ads and content, with an effective message. 5. Show your best proof. 6. Test and iterate. Continuously test your assumptions about the niche and be ready to pivot based on feedback and results. Focus on one niche at a time. Once you gain a foothold, think about expanding.

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