Tough Times?
Times are tough in SaaS...or are they? Hear from industry executives on what's changed in SaaS and what we can do about it.
Hey there friends -
I’ve noticed what Ryan Walsh noticed (see below on sales cycles increasing).
I’ve also talked with executives about the SaaS landscape, budget cuts, increased scrutiny, and pressure…
Times are changing. Or are they? Jason Lemkin says they are still getting easier.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Jason Lemkin says SaaS is still growing - despite tighter budgets.
Plus don’t miss snippets from industry vets reassuring us the sky isn’t falling, there’s work to do, and how we can overcome and win in today’s world of selling.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
SaaS is Still Growing - Despite Tighter Budgets
Sometimes you need a SaaS industry vet to put things into perspective. Y’all know Jason Lemkin has been around the block. And he’s one of the more tied-in folks keeping a pulse on all things SaaS - IMO.
I found this Twitter thread (and article) of his refreshing - as it puts into perspective that despite tighter budgets, SaaS (yes - the thing most of us are selling) is still growing. Maybe we were just a bit spoiled from a Covid boom?
“no doubt things are a bit harder for everyone in SaaS and Cloud right now. A few of us are seeing no macro impacts, but probably the biggest tell is Cloud platform giants — AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. All are still growing at very strong rates. But all are growing more slowly than a year ago, and even more so than 2 years ago.
But they are still growing. The Cloud is still growing. SaaS spend is still growing. It’s harder to access that spend, but it’s hardly shrinking.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
Ryan Walsh gives us 5 critical reasons why we as leaders should be paying attention to our deal size and sales cycle length right now. Check out data from over 20k responses in the last 4 months.
Kyle Coleman posted about a conversation he had with a CRO at a $300m ARR company last week. His team was 106% to goal last quarter and the forecast for the rest of the year is strong. Here are his top 3 tips for navigating the macro: 1) Protect your revenue. 2) Drive Your Deals. 3) Back to Basics.
David Thomson pens a great post on the top things to consider when selling to a CRO. 1) Ditch the intro deck. 2) Quality > Quantity in demos 3) Avoid negotiating against yourself. 4) Ensure clear ROI – simple, but often missed. 5) Be Honest
Over the coming weeks - I’m going to finally press send on our new subscriber chat. Stay tuned - and subscribe now!…
🧠 Mindset
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings, and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights, and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles, and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
Are you a VP, Director, thought leader, or content producer in the SaaS space? We’d love to have you contribute. Just reply to this email and I’ll be in touch.
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