Bridge Group is a B2B SaaS sales consultancy, and we chat with themquarterly about the sales environment. Below is our latest conversation. They do strategic assessments, write playbooks, and can also domanagement training and coaching. Connectwith Kyle Smith (ksmith@bridgegroupinc.com) ifyou need help building or re-building your sales processes. We’ve hired them for our own portfolio needsmultiple times.
Whatis the state of the software market? The state of the market is healthy. Buyers pulled back in 2022 and 2023, and itwas largely driven by the rapid rise in interest rates. Now that it’s been 12+ months, buyers havesettled into this environment. That saidwhile we still have many clients achieving growth goals, albeit it has beenharder to achieve the growth given elongated sales cycles, more individuals inthe buying process, etc. And insanerocket ships still exist; look at Whiz who just turned down a major M&Adeal from Google.
We see companies adding headcount, adding entire teams of SDR’s, andthey’re poised to capitalize on growth. 2023 made software companies trim fat, so they’re being intelligent andintentional about what they add to the sales and marketing function. The fat trimming led to learnings that is nowresulting in more intelligent and controlled growth in 2024.
Tellus about the sales process getting harder. The buyer has changed over time; there aresignificantly more decision makers in every process, and more and more of themare millennials that are tech savvy. They don’t care as much about a consolidated product. They’re more willing to cobble together abest in breed in solution even if it means multiple vendors. The consolidator saying “we have one invoice”isn’t resonating like it used to. Thecustomer wants best in breed of everything, and the customer has the tools tomake disparate offerings blend together.
Ifyou have a good ACV of $40k, but some clients paying 6 figures, is it worthgetting an SDR team? If an AE thinks they can get one whale a year at$250k and can get a few $150k deals as well, there is a case to be made for anSDR team. An ACV of $50k+ can make thecase for an SDR team. You of course wantthat SDR team going whale hunting. Largedeals take a lot of grunt work and nurturing, account mapping, and gettingthrough a number of calls before you even get to a discovery call. SDR’s do that work. If you don’t have SDR’s and you’re justrelying a lot on inbound marketing, then AE’s are just taking what they canget. SDR’s give you the ability to whalehunt as opposed to just hoping the whale swims to you.
Let’ssuppose you have whiffed on the past 2 sales leaders. What do you do? Hire aprofessional search firm. Period. Everyone shows really well in an interviewand clearly their salesmanship is working, to your detriment. A professional search firm is a second set ofeyes to not only help you identify the great sales reps posing as sales leaders,but they can also bring you higher quality candidates so you’re less likely towhiff.
You need to know where you are and where you are trying to go. Going from $0 to $5mm ARR, $5mm to $10mm,$10mm to $50mm, $50mm to $100mm, and so on requires different personnel. The individual that got you to $10mm is unlikelyto be the same person that gets you to $100mm. Whiffing is very expensive. Ask yourself ‘what does it cost to get thesales leader wrong?’ It’s much better to overpay for a sure thing on the frontend versus continuously whiffing quarters. It’s just too expensive to whiff, especially if you’re within 24 monthsof acquisition. So bring in a prorecruiter and/or consultant to help. Andkeep in mind that hiring a great candidate is going to take 5+ months, soduring that time a consultant like Bridge Group can help get current systems inbetter shape.
Anyhiring tips? Ask the individual to assess the business beforethey know as much as you do. If they getmuch of the assessment right, it means they’re experienced and may be the rightfit.
Bridge is an outstanding firm for righting or building the enterprisesales engine. Reach out to them. We’ll continue to interview Kyle quarterlyand share data they release.
Thank you for your readership. Seemore blogs and SaaS data at blossomstreetventures.com. Email the author atsammy@blossomstreetventures.com.