Whoever had the need to think about the commercial strategy of a SaaS, you have certainly come across the following questions:
[su_note note_color = "#d8d8d5"] >> How many people / companies do you need to prospect to reach your sales goal?
>> What resources (both human and financial) will be needed for this?[/ su_note]
Answering these questions is not an easy task and influences all sales planning, both at the strategic and tactical level. To help with this mission, we built the worksheet From MRR to LEADS.
And you know what is better? We make this spreadsheet available for free. To do this, simply fill out the form below.
[su_box title = "Download your spreadsheet now" box_color = "#42DBB6"] [/ su_box]
What to expect from this spreadsheet when designing your business strategy?
First of all, a brief explanation of how filling in the information is important. The logic is to think backwards.
In other words: you set a Monthly Recurring Income (MRR) goal and you will be able to see the necessary effort involved to achieve the goal.
>> See also: The best way to optimize a sales funnel
>> Read more: What ACE saw throughout SaaStr
Does the spreadsheet help? Yes. Is it magic? Of course not. Especially because you will still need to fill in other information such as conversion rate.
Where to start filling out the spreadsheet
Some startups at a very early or even advanced stage will have difficulty filling it. But do not worry, it is super natural to assume premises.
[su_highlight background = "#42DBB6"]>> Download also the metrics dashboard for SaaS[/ su_highlight]
The important thing is to have a starting point and the "how" clearly. So, risk some numbers (in the best possible basis) and follow up frequently to check if the predicted vs. accomplished is far from the goal.
This worksheet works with the following inputs:
[su_note note_color = "#d8d8d5"]1 - Target MRR
2 - Average closed MRR per deal
3 - Business Gain Rate
4 - Percentage of leads coming inbound and / or outbound
5 - Inbound and outbound conversion rate [/ su_note]
Concepts that will help you at work
Before you start planning, it is good to make sure that you are very clear about some concepts. They are very important for the daily life of a SaaS - especially for the design of a business strategy - and you must know them to make good use of the spreadsheet.
[su_box title = "Important concepts:" box_color = "#42DBB6"]>> MRR: Monthly Recurring Revenue
>> MRR / Deal: Average closed MRR per deal
>> WIN RATIO: SQL Gain Rate for Closed Deals (Closed Deals)
>> PROSPECT: A company / person who shows interest
>> MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead, a company / person who shows interest and has the ideal customer profile
>> SQL: Sales Qualified Lead, a company / person who is interested[/ su_box]
[su_note note_color = "#d8d8d5"] ⚠️ Tip! ⚠️
If you want to consider MRR as an ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) or even a specific financial goal, that's ok. Just consider that the inputs should be normalized in the same period. If using ARR for example all fees must be annualized, in which case the MRR / Deal would be ARR / Deal and so on. [/ Su_note]
What to do with spreadsheet information in hand
With the information pointed out in the spreadsheet in hand, you will be able to scale a number of fundamental aspects of your business strategy. It is possible, for example, to calculate the ideal size of the sales team, based on their capacity, as well as to understand how much financial investment should be contributed to reach the number of leads / prospects.
Cool huh?! Now it's hands on and sales on the head!
[su_box title = "Download your spreadsheet now" box_color = "#42DBB6"] [/ su_box]
How to have better control of my SaaS
In addition to planning, it is very important to measure execution. For this, we have also prepared a super dashboard to control several of the most important metrics for a SaaS.