IN THIS ISSUE
This week brings you articles on these topics:
- SaaS startups: Why you needn't wait for product-market fit before you invest in marketing
- Positioning secrets unlocked: Finally, a how-to guide
- Can't find good content writers? Maybe it's not them but you
- 2 underestimated but essential skills for top enterprise sellers
Let's get right down to business.
Dave Vranicar at Driven
GO-TO-MARKET | STRATEGY | STARTUPS
Why early-stage startups shouldn't fixate on product-market fit, and what to do instead
"...The very concept of fit vs. non-fit biases the people building and selling products to think in ways that harm their potential for success."
Unless you've achieved what investors call product-market fit, you're not ready to scale your sales and marketing efforts.
That's the conventional wisdom in the SaaS today, especially among investors.
Rand Fishkin, a successful serial SaaS entrepreneur, offers what I think may be a better model.
Product-market fit (PMF) Is not a binary state with well-defined criteria. The concept isn't very useful for guiding product or marketing decisions.
Brian Tod is among the many proponents of PMF who offer explanations of how SaaS companies build successful products and take them to market.
Fishkin propses a more nuanced model he calls The Customer Adoption Spectrum. (See the graphic below).
This model is better for thinking about how your products perform with customers. It eliminates the fuzzy thinking and gut feel of the PMF model.
It also points in the direction of things you can do now to improve your product and target growth opportunities.
Does your product resonate with a small but passionate group of early adopters who fit a certain profile? If so, you can start marketing to go after more potential customers like them.
You keep iterating on your product to deliver more value to high-potential customer profiles.
Source: "Product-Market Fit is a Broken Concept. There's a Better Way." Rand Fishkin. September 30, 2020. SparkToro blog.
sparktoro.com
MARKETING | COMMUNICATIONS | MESSAGING
How to do product positioning: After 35 years, at last a step-by-step process
"The book does a great job of defining what positioning is. It just doesn't tell you how to do it."
The book that defines positioning but doesn't tell you how to do it is the 1985 classic Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout. You can find a 2001 edition here.
For 35 years it's been the bible of positioning theory. But it offers only frustration for people who want to apply the theory. And that's you and me, right?
This observation about the book comes from April Dunford, who fills in the blanks by explaining exactly what to do, step by step.
In her new book Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning So Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It (2019), Dunford shares her detailed process.
If you're not ready to read the full book, listen to Omer Khan's engaging interview of Dunford on The SaaS Podcast,
The episode is 5 Steps to Nailing Your SaaS Product Positioning. Episode 252. 2020. You can read an online transcript if you prefer.
saasclub.io
MARKETING | COMMUNICATIONS | CONTENT
How to find good content writers and help them create kick-ass stuff for you
If your company is like most SaaS companies I've worked with, you struggle to produce content of consistently high quality.
You've tried outsourcing the writing, maybe with mixed results.
So what's the secret to successful outsourcing?
It turns out there's not just one secret, but several.
Hints:
- Find people who are very good writers.
- Give them the help they need, including access you your best subject-matter experts.
Read the article for 6 more solid tips.
Source: "How to Find Writers and Help Them Deliver Successful Content." Chris Gillespie. September 28, 2020. Content Marketing Institute blog.
contentmarketinginstitute.com
SALES & SELLING | EXECUTION | SKILLS
Under-appreciated but essential skills for top enterprise sellers
"The next gen sales methodology... is indistinguishable from our customers’ methodologies. It is an agile project management approach focused leveraging problem solving methods and tools."
The craft of enterprise selling is long overdue for disruption.
Every 10 years or so, someone introduces a new methodology that captures the attention of seasoned enterprise sellers.
But the changes are usually small, and few of the ideas are new. Mostly, they're rebranded versions of old ones.
The fashion swings in that direction for awhile – until so many sellers use the methodology that it's no longer a differentiator.
Then experienced sellers relapse to their mixed bag of methods they've picked up over many years.
Their inclination is to use those methods without much regard for the way customers and prospects prefer to buy.
How about using sales methods that mirror the way customers think and work?
That's the gist of a series of thoughtful blog posts by David Brock.
He suggests, as many have before him, that sellers try to get on the same side of the table as buyers.
Customers and prospects manage buying projects to solve business problems.
"Why don’t we just build a sales methodology on project management principles?" he asks.
"We would work with customers to develop a project plan, with milestones to assess progress, work flows and tasks needed to reach the milestones, and metrics that enable us to measure progress and identify challenges."
"This is nothing new. We're already doing this," you may think.
But I'll bet you're not doing it. Not really.
Source: "A Next Gen Sales Methodology." David Brock. Partners in Excellence Blog. October 29, 2020.
partnersinexcellenceblog.com
ABOUT DRIVEN
Driven is a fortnightly digest for busy revenue leaders in business-to-business SaaS. It's most useful if your company sells higher-ticket products that require moderate to heavy involvement of professional sales people.
Driven is here to help you achieve your goals, overcome your challenges, solve problems, and become a better version of yourself.
You'll find an online archive of back issues 12 through 43 at this link.
A word about links, commissions, and endorsements
When I provide links to articles from vendors, does it imply an endorsement?
Only of their content. Not of their products or services.
If I recommend a service or a book, it’s because I think it’s likely to help you. Period.
I get nothing from providing links to any commercial service, including the books for which I provide a link to Amazon.
That may change. I’ll tell you when it does.
Dave Vranicar at Driven