This whitepaper is for historical reference only. Some content might be outdated and some links might not be available. # Guiding Questions As you build your SaaS GTM strategy, it can be difficult to stay connected to the details when thinking big about subscription models and recurring revenue. The trade-offs linked to decisions about inbound/outbound sales models and product-led/marketing-led growth strategies are complex, and have significant impact on operating costs and efficiency. To simplify the process, this section lists a series of guiding questions that you should answer to inform your GTM strategy: ## Update customer journey maps + What assumptions made during earlier phases (Product Strategy and MVS) about buyer and user behaviors have been validated or debunked? + What are the team-level responsibilities during each stage of the customer acquisition process? For example, how does Sales interact with Customer Success to ensure effective onboarding? + What are the measurable indicators that tell you if a customer is using the product efficiently when onboarding? + What attributes are common to customers who struggled to realize value during the MVS phase (e.g. low technical acumen, thus slow to integrate and onboard)? + What product utilization patterns were common to customers who succeeded or failed during the MVS phase? + What company skill gaps do you need to address (train, outsource, hire) prior to launch? + What technology and educational material can you introduce to reduce friction for customers? ## Establish commercial and operational frameworks for new customer acquisition + What is the customer acquisition (revenue) target for your first year in-market? + What is your year-one margin expectations? + How many new customers do you need to onboard (per each tier) on an annual, quarterly, monthly basis, to meet your revenue target? + How much will it cost you to onboard these customers? What is the budget for CAC, inclusive of comprehensive sales and marketing costs? + Do you have the skills and resources to acquire new customers and stand them up, at a pace in-line with your targets? + How long will it take to recover CAC for a new customer? + How much flexibility do you have with your discount strategy? + For transformation scenarios, how and when will you deprecate the legacy solution? How will you structure revenue quotas for the legacy model as its sunsets? + For transformation scenarios - do your investors and executive leaders understand the economic ramifications of transforming to a SaaS model, the required investment, and the transition from up-front payments to recurring revenue streams? ## Set customer retention and expansion objectives + What is an acceptable annual churn (revenue)? + How much churn may come from down-sizing customers to more-appropriate offer tiers? + How much churn may come from customers declining to renew, or exiting early? + How complex are expansion and renewal negotiations? + What are your CEC and CRC budgets? + How long can you expect to retain a customer? + What is your expected CLTV? + What is your target CLTV to Total CAC (CAC / CEC / CRC) Ratio? + For transformation scenarios, are you migrating customers to SaaS from an on-premises legacy solution? If so, when? What are the economic impacts? ## Determine appropriate Sales motions and compensation incentives + Do you align dedicated sales representatives to specific offer tiers/geographies/verticals? Will this differ from your legacy operation? + How many sales representatives can you dedicate to the SaaS model, given CAC budgets? + Can you leverage a remote inside sales team to generate qualified leads and/or deliver solution demos, as part of the pre-sales process? + What information do you need to discover during the pre-sales process to properly qualify prospects likely-to-succeed, and thus reduce downstream churn? + Will the customer acquisition quota include customers migrated from legacy solutions? + Who will own renewals and expansion revenue quotas? + How complex are your negotiations? Do they require a high-touch consultative approach? Can you simplify the process? + Are your sales teams enabled, and able to articulate the unit economics and competitive value proposition which underpin your pricing and services? + What is your strategy to land a customer, and then, expand the relationship? + Can you define data-driven up-sell opportunities? + What role will channel partners play in your sales model? + Can you enable channel partners to drive the adoption of your services? + What compensation incentives can you offer our Sales representatives to reward product adoption and retention? ## Establish Marketing operations + How do you measure the quality of a new lead? How can you tell if a lead is likely to succeed in using your platform? + How will Marketing team interact with product teams, to create and execute product marketing initiatives? + What are the demand generation → lead generation → customer conversion funnel ratios you need to achieve, in order to support customer acquisition objectives for year-one? + How will marketing and sales teams divide responsibilities associated with funnel management? + What technology can you introduce to make lead qualification and lead scoring processes efficient? + Can you publish content (videos, user manuals, FAQs) to educate customers and reduce friction during the sales process? + How will you market to customers ahead of a new feature release, to support expand-selling motions? + What focus groups should you use to analyze the effectiveness and profitability of your marketing campaigns? Offer-level? Vintage/time-based? Channel-based? ## Define Customer Success (CS) charter and services + What is the primary aim for the CS team? Expansion? Product adoption? Renewal? + Who owns the customer relationship with the deciding party, during renewal? + Will CS carry a revenue quota for expansion or retention? + Can you monetize the CS team by selling it as a premium service? + What role does the CS team play in coordinating cross-functional activities with other teams? + Will CS also provide Customer Support? + Will you align CS representatives with customers based on tier, industry or vertical expertise? + How many customers can each CS representative manage effectively on an annual basis? + Where will you find CS representatives? What skills should they possess? + How many CS representatives can you fund, and (as appropriate) how much up-sell and cross-sell revenue can you drive, given your CEC and CRC budgets? ## Launch and Product Communication Strategy + What is important for your target audience? What type of information do they need or expect from you? + What is your communication goal (e.g. number of users/accounts reach, product/feature adoption, revenue, etc.)? + What’s the best way to reach out to your target audience? How can you leverage multiple channels to create an immersive experience? + How are your customers impacted? Do some of your customers need additional support to communicate the product updates and train their employees? + What should be the timing of this communication? How much time do your customers need to adopt new features/releases? + Do you have any commitments to let customers know certain changes in advance? + How can you a/b test your message? + Do you have a mechanism for your customers to provide feedback about product communications and suggest new features to be developed? + What are the most important metrics to measure reach, engagement, and adoption? How can you optimize your plan for next iteration?