Brief - Scaling Thoughtfully (SaaS)

Brief - Scaling Thoughtfully (SaaS)

• 1.
  Scaling Thoughtfully Presented by BhavnaChadalavada
• 2.
  THIS BRIEF: TOPICSTO COVER • Current Landscape • Opportunity • Recommendations • Risks & Considerations
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  PRODUCT-MARKET FIT Achieved forboth events & platform (SaaS). NEW PRODUCT Platform 2 (SaaS) being launched this year with anchor client. CUSTOMER SUCCESS High-Touch Customer Service and product superiority have led to renewals and upsells. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Primarily through Founder networks, in Tech and Finance industries (NYC, London). Assessing the Landscape
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  OPPORTUNITY: Building Systems,Processes & Metrics to Manage Increased Complexity & Strategically Drive Growth Reasoning: ● Having well-defined pricing for lower-tier customers (non-enterprise) will allow for smoother sales, marketing, and customer operations processes as the business grows significantly in size. ● Having a standard offering is also a valuable tool in the sales process to source large numbers of leads in a replicable fashion. ● Becoming less Founder-dependent in lead generation will allow the business to take advantage of product-market fit and scale rapidly before competition surfaces. ● Most other SaaS companies have well-defined packages and processes for lower-tier clients. This will be especially useful as the company scales.
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  BUILDING SYSTEMS, PROCESSES& METRICS TO MANAGE INCREASED COMPLEXITY Pricing Standard, simplified offering for lower-tier client. Less customization at lower cost. More add-on / upsell / cross-sell opportunities. Processes Replicable sales process for standard offering: ● No touch* on standard, low touch when prompted for add-ons. ● Medium to high touch above a set potential revenue threshold (assessed for clients at low touch or above). Marketing lead generation for standard offering: ● A/B Testing ● Paid Traffic (pending cost/benefit analysis) ● Conversion Optimization ● ROI Proof (Industry-specific B2B Case Study) ● Strategic Partnerships (leveraging events business toward Financial or Tech vertical marketing for ex.) No or low touch* (dependent on if a self-service option is feasible from a product build and UX perspective, and if the client chooses add-ons): ● Onboarding (Self-service with integrations, tutorials and a FAQ console. Perhaps a point person for escalated questions so it feels human). ● Customer Service (Will take preparation, testing and strong leading indicators such as activity, health scores, and usage data to build effectively). Metrics ● Sales: CAC (Customer Acquisition cost) ● Customer Success: NPS (Net Promoter Score) ● Departmental KPIs *A transition phase of only a low touch option may be necessary (TBD) before moving to both a no touch and low touch option in addition to Enterprise (Custom).
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  SAMPLE PRICING, PRODUCTOPERATIONS: ASSESSMENT PRODUCT (SaaS) STANDARD $11,500* ENTERPRISE Custom, as current ● 75 candidates, 1 role ● Low touch Customer Service** ● Low touch Onboarding** ● Marketing: Email campaigns (A/B testing), Conversion Optimization, Social Proof, ROI Proof (Industry-specific B2B Case Study), Website Traffic, Strategic Partnerships ● Short sales cycle*** Upsell Opportunities: ● Setup & Integration (+$x dependent on current standards) ● Number of Roles ● Number of Candidates ● Medium touch Customer Service & Onboarding (+$x dependent on cost evaluation) ● Annual Prepay (cash flow) ● Capability-driven upsells or cross-sells ○ Custom Test ○ Custom Features ● Willingness-to-pay ● Premiums ● Unlimited deals ● High Touch Customer Service & Onboarding ● Undefined sales cycle *subject to change upon full cost and pricing evaluation, for sample purposes only **no or low touch, dependent on if a self-service option is feasible from a product build and UX perspective ***perhaps ~90 days, but variable based on industry. Priority targets should be companies in industries that demonstrate highest need and budget for the product (which will generally translate to fastest sales cycle. This will require some research, testing and evaluation).
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  STANDARD PRODUCT CLIENTELE:ASSESSMENT PRODUCT (SaaS) SMEs in various sectors* ● Financial ● Tech ● Consulting ● Healthcare ● Media ● Pharma ● Biotech ● Defense ● Energy ● Construction ● Transportation ● Commerce Standard product opens doorway for replicable sales process and targeted, higher volume marketing strategies across numerous industries. *further evaluation required to determine priority industry targets (mostly Need + Budget). Presented are a spectrum of possibilities, not meant to be pursued all at once. REDACTED
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  RISKS & CONSIDERATIONS ●Costs should be lower than revenue at scale, but cannot over-focus on margins in growth stage ○ Costs increase as # of customers supported increases. Developing a no to low touch option on product helps to reduce staff load in sales, marketing, and customer success. ● Hiring of sales personnel dependent on lead growth ○ Create high quality leads, measure success, and improve success metrics ○ Clearly defined vertical priorities, and aligned product + marketing ○ Lower CAC means possible to scale quickly
• 9.
  Thank you!