Issue 50

IN THIS ISSUE

This week's Driven brings you ideas you can use to plan your 2021 go-to-market strategy and tactics.

Here are the topics you'll find here today:

How much you can expect to pay marketers, based on their role and experience
What chief sales officers think will be most important to their success in 2021
How to reduce the risk of running software proofs of concept for balky customers
How your company stacks up against expansion-stage SaaS firms

MARKETING | STAFFING & HIRING

If you plan to hire marketers in 2021, how much should you budget for salaries?

"Job function makes a big difference in salary, with folks working across multiple channels making 25% ($17K) more than those focused on content/social."

This is among the many insights you can get about the salaries of 450 marketers, mostly in the US.

Do you plan to hire an in-house content marketer with 3 to 5 years of experience? If so, expect to pay about $56,000 in salary.

The data comes from an online community of marketers brought together by The Daily Carnage.

The data is thin for some job titles, and salaries vary by locale.

Despite these limitations, the data can help put you in the right ballpark for your budgeting and planning.

Source: "2020 Marketing Salaries: How are Marketing Salaries Influenced by Job Function and Experience? An Interactive Dashboard for Comparing Marketing Salaries." Steve Lamar. PromoPrep website. November 2020.

SALES & SELLING | OPERATIONS

What CSOs think will be most important for their success in 2021

"Most organizations were not fully prepared for what was an abrupt transition to virtual sales."

Many chief sales officers (CSOs) face lower budgets in 2021 as a result of COVID-19.

How do they plan to reset priorities in 2021, often with smaller budgets?

Among other changes, they will help their sales teams get better at remote selling.

Source: "CSO Priorities Heading Into 2021." Abhishek Sengupta. The Chief Sales Officer. Fourth Quarter 2020. Gartner. [Downloadable PDF, 24 pages.]

Related topics in the same PDF:

"4 Questions You Should Ask to Ensure a Successful Virtual Sales Kickoff."
"Effective Virtual Selling in a New Buying Environment."
"Infographic: Which Sales Force Sizing Method Is Right for You?"
"Connecting Innovation and Sales for the Future,"

PRESALES | SALES ENGINEERING

Running successful Proofs of Concept: How to reduce the risks of shooting yourself in the foot

The dreaded Proof of Concept (PoC) is fraught with risk for SaaS companies.

You invest big money and a ton of effort to prove the value of your software to a customer.

Then your customer may decide not to buy, for whatever reason.

Maybe your prospect was never fully committed from the start.

Maybe they didn't have enough skin in the game.

Or maybe they didn't implement your system properly.

One industry veteran quips that the acronym PoC stands for purchase order canceled.

How can you mitigate the risks of PoCs gone off the rails?

A new book offers ideas.

The Essential Guide to Navigate Your Proof of Concept: Understand and Implement Practices to Increase Your Proof of Concept win-rate. Tony Matos. 2020. [142 pages in print. Available in paperback and Kindle versions.]

SAAS | PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS & METRICS

For SaaS companies that sell to big business, COVID-19 barely caused a blip in revenue growth. So step on the gas.

"'What was the impact of COVID on enterprise software?' The answer: enterprise software is recession proof."

This is one of the more striking findings of the new annual Saas benchmark report from OpenView Partners.

This 2020 benchmark report incorporates data from more than 1,200 respondents at the expansion stage of their growth.

Other insights?

With demand for B2B SaaS remaining so strong, it's time to hit the accelerator again. Pursue aggressive revenue growth.

Source: 2020 Expansion SaaS Benchmarks. Sean Fanning, Kyle Poyar. OpenView Partners. November 2020. [Downloadable PDF, 53 pages. No charge.]

WRAP UP

That's it for this week.

If you're in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving.

If you're outside the US, this is an opportune time to thank you for your loyalty to Driven.

Have you found that Driven isn't that helpful to you? If so, please unsubscribe.

It's not for everyone.

And if you like Driven, please share a copy with a friend or colleague.

See you next on December 5.

Best.

Dave Vranicar

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.

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