In a SAAS Company, Everyone (Should) Help Drive Revenue
There was a time when sales departments were solely responsible for revenue growth and everyone else just supported the business.
Today, the best software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies ensure everyone is contributing to growth in some way.
I’m not talking about “Hey, all of our employees love our customers” either.
I’m talking about a company culture that is focused on driving company value by maximizing the power of everyone to help drive results.
This is a shift in mindset that high-growth firms are focused on.
Elite sales leaders know how to optimize processes, structure, and hiring in order to scale and grow faster. And all the metrics that tie to revenue growth are kept highly visible and communicated regularly. Why? Because it’s sales and that’s the name of the game.
But this isn’t the case for every other department, unfortunately.
Some firms don’t look at other departments in the same light (even with an executive team in place)—in those firms these other departments could be working hard and doing some cool stuff, but they just don’t have the same accountability or standards to revenue growth as a sales team might.
The best SaaS firms run all their departments like the sales team so that everyone contributes to growth.
To be like the best, I’d recommend two simple things:
Every department should have one goal (or a few) that aligns with driving revenue growth
Every department should be a partner to the sales team
Everything should point to growth
In sales, all decisions are focused on revenue growth. From forecasting new rep hire production to figuring out how to improve close ratios.
But what’s the key to success? Constantly evaluating key metrics to ensure revenue goals are being achieved. And this should happen in every department, not just sales.
For example:
Marketing should measure against the number of conversations started for sales and revenue generated from those conversations.
Customer Success (CS) should identify new deep sell opportunities and track revenue generated. If your firm sells only one product, then have the CS team focus on generating referrals from existing customers.
Product Management needs to be focused on product utilization. Sometimes too much time is spent building the next thing—instead get customers engaged with their current products to create long term value.
Other departments (Recruiting, Dev, HR, Finance) should not be excluded from exploring ways to drive revenue or finding greater internal efficiencies to increase EBITDA. I’d suggest creating a culture where employees from these departments take part in thinking of ways to help drive growth.
How key departments can be a partner to sales
The goal of this partnership is to remove friction. The more efficiently, dynamically, and effectively you can support your sales team, the more results the team will achieve.
Marketing should support sales efforts and accentuate brand value to drive more opportunities and help increase close ratios.
Implement a good lead qualification process so reps aren't wasting time
Generate marketplace buzz and momentum to fuel rep confidence
Execute high-value email campaigns to generate new leads or nurture existing opportunities
Develop sales presentations that tell a great story
Make sure your public website is concise and allows people to schedule demos right then and there—no forms or having to contact people to get valuable takeaways (make it easy!)
Product management’s world revolves around products and roadmaps but their relationship with the sales team is invaluable. The PM team has a plethora of knowledge and they can offer the sales team data that they need to know.
Gain valuable customer intel and feedback on what’s hot and share that with reps consistently
Perform lost opportunity calls to learn why customers didn’t buy—was it sales process, product, or price?
Share product roadmaps to hype the sales team. Yes, this is okay to do. Don’t hide behind worrying you may tell reps one thing and they tell the market something else. Hyping a sales team will lead to more sales.
Customer Success is about helping customers be as successful as possible, which in turn, improves customer lifetime value. The end goal of both CS and sales is to create a positive customer experience.
Consistently and concisely communicate overall retention efforts, initiatives, and new processes designed to help support clients in every way. If reps can’t articulate CS value, that falls on CS leadership.
Own and drive account management but leverage sales reps when it’s best to do so (e.g. deep selling). If there are issues or challenges with an account, it's best to take the lead on that versus a sales rep.
Help identify new opportunities through client conversations to drive deep sell revenue.
For all of this to successfully work, this needs to be part of the company culture.
I’ve heard many firms say they are growth-focused, yet most of their departments aren’t connected to revenue growth in any way. You’ll never get to extreme growth if the entire organization isn’t involved.
Besides, bringing everyone together not only helps drive growth but it also ties people into the company which leads to less turnover, more output, and a more vibrant environment.