Ulf Arnetz watched his revenue drop from $5M to $2M after switching from services to SaaS. Then he discovered a devastating SaaS churn rate of 60% was destroying everything. The product only served CEOs - managers and employees got nothing from it.
Learn how Howwe fixed SaaS retention by rebuilding the product so every employee could see their financial impact on company strategy. The result: zero churn for three consecutive years and revenue recovery to $5.1M ARR with 96% from subscriptions. Ulf also shares how cold-calling CEOs with research-driven conversations produced an 85% meeting rate, and how a self-assessment tool tripled the sales hit rate.
This episode is a masterclass in reducing churn by expanding value beyond the executive buyer to every user in the organization - the key to lasting SaaS retention.
Key Lessons
- š SaaS retention reveals who your product actually serves: Howwe's 60% SaaS churn proved the product only worked for CEOs. Adding value for managers and employees eliminated churn entirely for three years.
- š¤ Sell to CEOs by leading with research, not pitches: Ulf's team achieved an 85% first-meeting rate by cold-calling with company-specific insights about what the CEO is measured on.
- š Create buyer pull with self-assessment tools: Howwe's assessment helped CEOs self-diagnose execution gaps, lifting the sales hit rate from 6% to 17% and reducing churn risk post-sale.
- š° Plan for revenue loss during services to SaaS transitions: Revenue dropped from $5.1M to $2M after switching pricing models - budget for worse than expected.
- šÆ Measure employee impact on strategy to improve SaaS retention: Letting every employee see their financial contribution to company strategy made Howwe sticky enough for 0% churn.
Chapters
- Introduction
- Ulf's favorite quote on building a company that does good
- What Howwe does and the problem it solves for CEOs
- How Howwe differs from OKR and workflow tools
- Business support and AI-powered strategic alignment
- Revenue, team size, and company metrics
- Creating a new category - enterprise execution software
- Origin story and founding Howwe in 2012
- Transitioning from services to SaaS and the revenue drop
- The 60% SaaS churn problem and selling to CEOs
- Getting first customers by cold-calling CEOs
- Why cold calls achieved an 85% meeting rate
- Sales cycle from six months down to three months
- Overcoming low close rates with resistant executives
- Root cause of SaaS churn and rebuilding for all users
- Executive resistance and internal politics
- Assessment tool that tripled the sales hit rate
- Measuring employee satisfaction and SaaS retention
- How Howwe delivers 8-24x ROI in the first year
- Competitive landscape and Microsoft entering the market
- Lightning round
Resources
