Tips To Go From 0 to 1 From Oisín O’Connor, B2B GTM Expert
How do you go from starting a product company to your first paying customer?
I’m learning to define the GTM for a B2B SaaS startup from 0 to 1. I was fortunate to speak with Oisín O’Connor and crystallize some ideas I can apply directly to my job. Here’s what I learned.
I spend 48 minutes writing this blog. You need 3 minutes to read this.
I was talking to a product team that wants to connect the dots between now and the future. The team had an invite-only product. They found friendly businesses and provided the product for free for beta testing and design inputs.
Questions for the future:
When should the team charge for the product?
When should they take the product from private to public access?
When should they expand their direct sales efforts?
When should the team engage with channel partners?
Meet Oisín O’Connor
Oisín O'Connor is the Assistant Vice President (AVP) for GTM strategy within the Salesforce Practice at Prodapt. He oversees the execution of GTM strategies. Before Prodapt, O'Connor had two decades of experience. He worked in GTM leadership roles in Salesforce, Openet, and Matrixx software.
Oisín is part of Product Camp Dublin’s organizer group. I met him at the event.
GTM Steps For Seed-Stage SaaS Products
3 steps to go from 0 to scale:
Invite-only Beta testers
Expand direct sales
Engage with partners
Invite-Only Beta Testers: Path To First Case Study
1 - If you have the cash reserves, start by providing the SaaS product for free.
2 - Engage with early adopters and friendly customers.
3 - Request marketing permissions and C-level testimonials during the beta phase.
4 - Develop case studies and testimonials to demonstrate the product's value and establish trust. (Meme from Imgflip)
Goal:
Get to your first case study. The case study is an anecdote. It describes the benefit one business gets from your product.
Path To First Paying Customer
Goal:
Get to your first paying customer.
1 - Get payment commitments from customers.
2 - Offer discounts or complimentary services if necessary to secure initial sales.
3 - Begin with founder-led sales or a 1-2 person sales team.
Ramp-Up Outbound Sales
Concentrate on reaching out to potential customers who resemble your early adopters.
Collect and document customer feedback, objections, and their perceived value during this transition. This data will help refine the product's value proposition and better understand customer pain points.
Expand your sales team.
Refine Your Value Proposition And Polish FAQs
Use customer feedback and initial sales insights to modify your value proposition and sales collateral.
Understand
why customers choose your product,
which features resonate most, and
address any objections that arise.
This step prepares the startup for broader market penetration and partnership enablement.
Next, 4 Building Blocks To Scale
Establish these 4 building blocks to expand through any channel:
Validate your product's value with early adopters (first step during private beta).
Confirm that customers will pay (second step).
Identify and target similar customers (direct sales).
Proven sales materials (refined from direct sales).
Scaling Through Partnerships and Channels
Now, explore partnerships with channel partners.
Why now, not before?
Channel partners are only incentivized to sell a product that sells easily.
So you need to establish the 4 building blocks above.
These steps ensure you have a compelling product that partners are eager to sell, maximizing your market penetration.
Alternative Paths
You can try Product-led growth if your product has an Average contract-value (ACV) less than $1,000 per year, because sales team will be too expensive per sale for low ACVs.
You can do marketing to increase awareness and marketing-qualified leads instead of scaling through partnerships.
What other paths would you consider to scale?
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