It’s no secret that most B2B tech companies have had a less-than-ideal 2023. It has been full of layoffs, diminished growth, and missed revenue goals. Everyone is determined to have a better 2024, with the future of many companies depending on it.
According to our November Pulse Report, the top 3 priorities for revenue executives going into 2024 are:
- Improving customer acquisition (77.1%)
- Improving customer retention (50.5%)
- Improving the customer experience (37.1%)
We’ve seen different approach over the years that address improving customer acquisition, retention, and experience. Product-Led Growth has become a popular one, but if you haven’t already implemented a PLG strategy by now, it’s not going to be your salvation for a better 2024.
PLG requires that your product be developed and ready to support PLG, which is the number one reason organizations lack an existing PLG strategy (Gainsight). It also requires an exorbitant amount of time, money, data, and people power.
The list of individual steps required for this to be successful is longer than the wait list for The Eras Tour tickets.
You need…
- Predictability in your sales and marketing motions
- A value proposition that is easily understood
- A product that is easily self-activated
- Internal buy-in and alignment across departments, including time to strategize
- Money to hire engineers and time to build
- Clean and organized data, including the ability to interpret your data correctly
- Success metrics that can be defined and tracked
- Time and money to experiment and iterate
And that’s not everything. So, what should go-to-market leaders focus on instead?
It's simple and cliche, but it’s often overlooked: Take a deep look at what is working and not working.
Reverse-engineer your closed won deals to see how they were sourced, and if those channels can be scaled in 2024. Do the same for your closed lost deals.
Discover how you acquired the customers that renewed in 2023. Was there anything different about their customer experience that you can replicate? Do the same exercise for customers that churned.
Again, pretty obvious, but what can be automated? And where can AI be implemented?
15.2% of executives plan to invest in automation next year, and 30.5% are investing in AI and/or advanced technologies (Pavilion).
Talk to your team to gain an understanding of which tasks are time-consuming so you can consider if automation (e.g. Zapier, Make) and/or AI can play a role in optimization. And if you don’t know where to start, ask your technology vendors how they would approach your specific use cases. They have probably already thought about it (or built it).
Recommended Resource:
Course: AI Empowerment: Transforming GTM through Innovation (Available through Pavilion)
Try expanding other existing channels that you haven’t been leaning heavily on. A channel that Pavilion has been leaning on is ecosystem-led growth, and the data is compelling.
ELG-sourced deals:
- Are 49% more likely to close
- Close 31% faster
- Lead to 48% higher average contract values
And 87% say that ELG-sourced leads are of a higher quality than other lead sources (Crossbeam x Pavilion).
Pavilion knows this to be true with the 122% ROI we achieved on our GTM2023 event. We worked with partners like Winning by Design, Insight Partners, and Marlin Equity Partners to drive ticket sales and memberships post-event.
But two years ago when we raised our $25m Series A, we got high on our own supply and decided to compete with Winning by Design, Sales Assembly, and Sales Impact Academy...which we later realized was a mistake.
We don't need to be the top consulting firm in the world or the top live training platform for AEs and SDRs. We want to partner with those companies that provide added value. But we didn't extend that ideology far enough, until now.
We recently announced a partnership with Sales Assembly. And in getting here it took a lot of reflecting on what organizational improvements are needed to essentially survive long-term. This meant understanding Pavilion’s strengths and weaknesses and then, as mentioned, deprioritizing the areas we aren’t naturally as strong.
Deprioritizing created this opportunity to partner that otherwise would not have existed. And through this partnership, Pavilion is now able to fully focus on what we do best – training and support that elevates the needs of GTM executives, while still providing an outlet for Individual Contributor and team enablement.
So for next year? Consider:
- Taking a deep look at what is working and deprioritize areas that don’t perform well
- Looking for additional areas where automation and AI can be implemented
- Expanding efforts in existing channels such as partnerships or content
