Changes to make to your GTM Strategy in 2024

Buying has changed, selling has not.

Over the years we have had some critical events. In 2008 there was the financial crisis which in turn changed everything for SAAS companies. No longer were buyers willing to invest the money in one-time purchases. Instead it made more sense to reduce investments in onsite servers and maintenance and scale this with specific supplier. The cost reduction and partially also low interest rate gave a significant amount of budget to invest in SAAS solutions. This really was the golden age.

Till 2021. The market slowed down, Interest rates went up and the companies had to mind their spendings. Where many SAAS companies previously focussed primary on growth, now the focus started shifting on retention. And while every seller knows that, the motions and habits for most sellers is still focussed on selling.
The focus of most buyers however has switched from 'This may help and we have the budget' to 'are we sure we need this and how do we fit this in the budget'.

So what now?

More and more companies realise the largest gains are to be made in the recurring revenue. So this means that the very first sales motion should be made with the thought: How do we make sure this customer is with us in 3, 4, or 20 years time? 
How do we document the reasons decisions were made: not just for the next person in line on the sellers side, but also in case of turnover by the buyer.
How do we make sure the product is not just a good fit, but the buyer knows it is and the seller can come back to what the pain was and what impact the product has. Would that not be a great way to make sure the buyer keeps believing in the solution and that the revenue engine keeps running?

We need a communication framework that can efficiently accelerate the sales cycle on the left of the bowtie and reduces friction on the right to help keep the flywheel spin. We selected the SPICED framework for that. And no, we did not invent that ourselves: the heavy lifting was done by WinningByDesign.

The customer has signed, and there has been a unified handover. Time for onboarding.

If you are a services company, you likely spent a whole pile of money on the product and on sales enablement. But what about on the onboarding plan? Is that fully streamlined and did you not only set clear expectations during the sale, but also have a process that makes the customer feel like they are coming home?
Can you help the customer see that this is in line with the impact they wanted during the buying process?
What should you focus on to get the quickest ROI and make your decision maker look good? You may need him / her as an evangelist later during the renewal or an upsell opportunity.

Make the revenue engine spin!

The customer is onboarded. They may not have fully paid attention. The main stakeholders who went through onboarding may have left. But it is now all down to the customer success manager (CSM) to make sure the GRR stays in an acceptable range.
This means the CSM must provide a new onboarding for any part where the customer now has a knowledge gap and continue to finetune the processes with the customers.
We see a lot of companies where the value a CSM adds greatly depends on the individual person. To use the simplest example: One may drive product adoption due to product expertise, Another may drive value due to the ability to coach the customer with the processes and the third focusses on the people through because that CSM is primarily a relationship builder.

This may work if the customers and CSMs are matched based on needs and skills. But is not the case in most companies. So there is a need for a framework. A fixed set of rules where the CSM can color between the lines, but the lines should still be followed.

By making sure the customer is always aware of where they stand, reminded on what the original situation and pain was, and by continuously increasing the impact the service has, the CSM should make the renewal a given, not a question.

But on the other hand there is the question of cost. How much of the budget should go the the CSM? And this is what should change in 2024: For most companies the lack of structure (process, not product) makes customer success inefficient. While the process will be different for every company here are some things you should be able to answer:

• Is there expert-level documentation readily available for my customers for topics that impact 60% of my customers?
• Does marketing regularly meet with the CSM's and is there alignment on nurturing CSM customers?
• Are there accessible in person or online product sessions with the CSM team for existing customers?
• Does the CSM team have the same level of support in the company as sales has before the customer threatens to churn?
• What is the ratio of resources spent on sales enablement vs on success enablement? (not counting support enablement)
• Do you give the customer enough insight in the road to success?

We believe human interaction like a CSM provides is extremely powerful. But there should be enough resources for every customer to self-serve.