AI to ROI (fka Metrics that Measure Up)

In today's episode of the Metrics that Measure Up podcast, Thomas Stewart, Executive  Director for the National Center for the Middle Market shares some very interesting insights into the 200,000 companies that represent 1/3 of the American economy.Highlights included that 85% of Mid-market companies are private, 33% are family owned and 17% are in the manufacturing industry.  On average, middle-market companies grow an average of 6.5% per year, 3% faster than the average S&P 500 company.Middle Market companies that view Digital Transformation as strategic and are advanced in adoption grow at an average of 9.5%, almost 50% faster than their peers.Lastly, middle-market companies buy technology very differently than larger, Enterprise companies.  They typically will not pilot or test innovation, they will watch...watch....watch and then jump in headfirst.  Definitely not your early adopter persona.A great listen for anyone responsible for doing business in the middle market - or just wants to learn more about the middle market.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's episode of the Metrics that Measure Up, Sally Duby, Chief Sales Officer at The Bridge Grop discussed the findings from their Sales Compensation research conducted in August, 2020 in partnership with the Silicon Valley Vice President Sales Group.Sally shares benchmarks and compensation trends across a wide variety of roles including Chief Revenue Officer, Field Sales - Account Executive, Inside Sales - Account Executive, Sales Development Representative, Sales Operations and Sales Enablement.The trends identified since the latest research The Bridge Group conducted in 2018 is quite surprising.  In this episode we find unexpected trends in Equity, On-Target-Earnings by Annual Contract Value (ACV) and how Quotas vary so greatly based upon ACV.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Metrics that Measure Up podcast, William Cordes, Founder and CEO of KPI Sense share the insights and perspectives gained from providing CFO and finance advisory services to  SaaS companies.One interesting insight was when William shared that Days Sales Outstanding - the time from invoice to payment  is the financial metric that has been impacted the most at  B2B SaaS companies since COVID.Other key insights discussed include why detailed monthly financial reviews have increased in importance due to the impact of delayed cash receipts, decreased new ARR, and increased cash burn, how multiple scenario analysis + dynamic planning should be used for 2021 planning.We also discussed why the B2B SaaS industry needs more consistent KPI calculation and reporting for public and private SaaS companies - but not currently covered by SEC, FINRA, FASB or GAAP regulations.Lastly, William shares the core KPI foundation that is required for an early stage B2B SaaS company needs to have in place to successfully scale including:-a solid financial data infrastructure & data structure-standard rules to ingest transaction data for analysis-scalable process that works at $5M ARR and $50M ARR-quality data that is consistently maintainedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Metrics that Measure Up, Kristopher Beible, Vice President at Software Equity Group discusses the importance of Net Dollar Retention on SaaS company enterprise value, both for public and private companies.Based upon insights gained from over 100 private B2B SaaS company acquisitions, Kris shares how Net Dollar Retention & Gross Dollar Retention have become the top KPI that acquirers ask about in the early stage of private SaaS company acquisition due diligenceOther topics discussed include how private SaaS company acquirers have increased the priority of Gross and Net Dollar Retention rates since the on-set of COVID. We also discuss why companies need to develop a cohort-based understanding of customer acquisition costs and customer retention rates PRIOR to starting a strategic financing initiative.  In fact, a cohort-based analysis should be applied to operational decisions 12-24 months prior to starting any investment process.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Metrics that Measure Up, Kyle Poyar, Vice President of Growth at OpenView Partners discusses a Product Led Growth Go-To-Market motion for B2B SaaS companies.High growth B2B SaaS companies like Zoom, Twilio, DataDog, Box and DocuSign have used a product-led go-to-market motion to decrease initial customer acquisition costs, expand the total addressable market and reduce dependency that an Enterprise sales led motion can have on getting executive buyers to engage.Topics discussed include how Gross Dollar and Net Dollar Retention Rates are different from sales led motions, critical KPIs and metrics that seem more B2C oriented and how understanding the marginal Customer Acquisition Costs for Enterprise led versus product-led cohorts is critical to understanding the overall CAC ratio.New terms and concepts for B2B SaaS leaders, including Product Qualified Leads, Natural Rate of Growth and how Free to Paid conversion rates are correlated to # touches are covered in this fast-moving, information-rich episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Metrics that Measure Up, we are joined by Byron Deeter, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, and one of the founding fathers of SaaS and Cloud Metrics.Byron first published the 10 Laws of being SaaSy in 2008. Over the years, B2B SaaS metrics evolved, and Byron subsequently published the 10 Laws of Cloud in 2019, which include the 6 C's of Cloud Finance.Over the years, BVP has led investments in leading Cloud Companies including DocuSign, Twilio, SendGrid, Eloqua, Shopify and LinkedIn, BVP, and specifically Byron have a world of insights and experience to share with the new entrepreneur, first-time founder and even experiences SaaS or Cloud executive.Bessemer also publishes the Cloud 100, which highlights the Top 100 private Cloud Companies and the BVP 100 Index of publicly traded SaaS and Cloud CompaniesIn today's episode we discuss the insights that the CAC Payback period provides as you evaluate how to accelerate ARR growth, the impact of "marginal" spend on non-organic and paid media customer acquisition.  Why you may need to identify your SECRET KPI, some examples of some predictive KPIs identified by Twillio, Docusign, and Shopify. Why conducting cohort-based Gross Dollar Retention and Net Dollar Retention Rates is critical to ensure you are not under-reporting churn.If you love SaaS and Cloud Metrics, or just want to take Byron's advice to be a scholar of the industry, this podcast is a must-listen.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Metrics that Measure Up, Chris Beall, CEO of ConnectandSell shares a wide variety of Key Performance Indicators and Benchmarks gained from over 10 million dials and over 500,000 B2B sales conversations - just in 2020!Chris, a Physicist by education, and self-professed data junkie provide a deeply analytical perspective into how to turn dials into conversations, and conversations into sales meetings.Chris even invokes the expertise of Chris Voss, formerly the FBI's top hostage negotiator, who says we only have 7 seconds in our first conversation with a prospect to get them to trust us sufficiently to have a productive relationship. In this episode, you will learn both benchmarks and techniques to turn dials into customers, including:Benchmarks:- Dials to Conversation- Conversation to Meeting  (Cold calls and Follow-ups)- Meeting show rates- Conversations Per day (SDR and AE)Listen to this one closely, as the episode is data rich and keeps coming at you every minute.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Metrics that Measure Up, John Younger, Founder and Chief Collaborator at RecruiterShare shares his insights developed over his thirty-plus years of experience in all things talent acquisition.  Over his career, John has developed talent acquisition software for Bank of America, led recruiting for two divisions at BofA with over 16,000 employees, founded a recruiting company acquired by TriNet, founded an early leader in Recruitment Process Outsourcing that he sold in 2018, and now is the founder of RecruiterShare.In this wide-ranging conversation, we cover a wide variety of talent acquisition topics and metrics to measure hiring success.  Topics discussed include the three top talent acquisition metrics every SaaS company should track, including: 1) Days to Present the candidate hired; 2) Net Promoter Score for the recruiter and; 3) Business Impact the hired candidate delivers.Other items covered include the cost of a bad hire, the cost of a bad recruiter hire, and the Maslov's talent acquisition of value including the best fit candidate, the retention period of each new hire, and lastly the cost.  John discusses the cost of a "bad hire" versus the traditional metrics of "Cost Per Hire".See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of "Metrics that Measure Up, Amy Volas shares her insights and perspectives on the concepts of side hustles and personal brand building for B2B sales professionals.Amy has seen every side of this topic, as an Enterprise Sales professional, a sales leader, and the founder and CEO of Avenue Talent Partners, which specializes in the recruitment of B2B sales reps, managers, and executive leaders.Amy and Ray discuss multiple topics, and provide experience-based advice including: 1) why money is not and should not be the primary motivation for a career in B2B Sales; 2) the power of "NO" when helping a prospective customer evaluate your solution, and company as a partner; 3) why preparation, practice always precede performance; 4) personal brand or company brand, which is your primary responsibility - is it time for a gut check on your priorities and; 5) Be as an ambassador of your brand and your company's brand by performing in your role as Job 1!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of "Metrics that Measure Up", Andy Paul, the host of The Sales Enablement Podcast and Ray discuss how and if the modern B2B Seller is different today than yesterday.Topics covered include the motivation of sellers to serve their customers and help them make an informed purchase decision, or providing buyers unique insights into a new way of approaching a business process.Why quota may be an outdated concept, and even why a famous British economist's research shows that when a measure becomes a target, it loses its value as a measure...think QUOTA!!!Andy also shares the differences between a "manager" and a "coach" and why companies should consider investing in professional coaches to help sales professionals to deliver maximum output.  Within this discussion, we discuss the proven benefit of a positive mindset, why a functional organization may be outdated, and the possibility of instructing around customer acquisition, retention and growth versus sales, marketing and customer success.This episode is for anyone thinking about how to re-engineer the sales professional and accelerate revenue performance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.