Exclusive Download: High Octane Team Technique™ – Break Down Your Organization Structure by Function & Create An Environment of Results, Not Excuses - https://bit.ly/3916Lgb
--
Many founders throw money at new employees hoping their
business will grow…
Only to find they don’t know where to ‘put’ their new employees, and they end up wasting cash on salaries for an under-utilized
team.
Ever experienced this before?
I definitely have.
See, I believe a successful founder doesn’t just build a business...
A successful founder builds a team of people and then the
people build the business.
That is my mantra. And as a founder your responsibility is to find, inspire and level up the right people.
That’s where your time is best invested…
But what’s equally important is structuring your organization so you can fully utilize your team’s time and skills.
And that’s where having the proper organization chart comes into play.
This helps you grow from a startup of 2 or 3 co-founders… to a team of 12… then to 25… then 100… then 250…
It shows you where people fit in. Who reports to who. And what’s the chain of responsibility…
And in today’s video, I’m going to share with you an organization chart that’s SO simple, it’ll take you all the way from a fumbling startup to a scaling corporation ready to go public (if that’s what you want).
In this video, you’ll be able to identify where your SaaS is, and where you need to be next. You’re going to learn:
- The 6 core functions of a software business
- The 5 levels of leadership to aim for
- Who your key ‘C’ level team should be
- How to divide your functions into teams that make sense
- Expected revenue bands per team size
- What $0K – $120K – $500K MRR looks like
- How to cap your direct reports
- Ultimately keeping your business goals manageable
I like to think of SaaS revenue in terms of the talent it can afford.
$1M in ARR might sound nice, but after you factor in costs (let’s say 30%), the rest is just salaries for your team.
Suddenly all that $1M gets you is 7 employees on $100K salaries without a dollar left.
It becomes extremely important to hire the right people at the right time to make sure every dollar spent grows your business to the next revenue band.
Take 10 mins to prepare a simple org chart with this video.
See you in the comments.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: High Octane Team Technique™ – Break Down Your Organization Structure by Function & Create An Environment of Results, Not Excuses - https://bit.ly/3916Lgb
Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ - Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - https://bit.ly/38HmL72
--
I don’t think a SaaS founder should be their own accountant.
I’m not, and I wasn’t for all 5 of my companies.
Your job is to get really good at running a business and making
money.
That’s it.
But to do that, there is ONE type of accounting that I believe you NEED to understand:
Don’t panic, you won’t need to calculate it yourself. That’s your accountant’s job.
But knowing the difference between Accrual Accounting and Cash Accounting is vital to making the best business decisions
for your SaaS.
So let’s take a quick 10-minutes to go over what exactly it is and why it’s valuable to comprehend it.
Once you understand Accrual Accounting, you’ll be able to:
- Clean up your cash flow
- Keep your finger on the pulse of subtle revenue changes
- Respond quickly to downtrends in your bottom line
- Reduce distortion in your metrics
I’ve read 2000+ balance sheets, P&Ls, cash flow statements, and I’ve taught dozens of SaaS founders how to interpret their figures.
Maybe I’m a freak because I love numbers so much.
But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Numbers don’t lie. Expectations do.
Fire up the video here and let’s get you up to scratch on Accrual Accounting. It’ll clean up your cash flow, help you track metrics
accurately and see important business trends.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually
awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ - Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - https://bit.ly/38HmL72
Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ - Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - https://bit.ly/32l5jkC
--
I believe that great SaaS founders stay ahead of the curve.
They’re the trendsetters, not the trend-followers, willing to try something new that makes waves in the market.
The problem is that I’ve encountered many cutting edge SaaS businesses whose marketing efforts are too far behind the times.
They innovate in software, but hedge their bets in marketing.
Then when a new marketing strategy gains momentum, these businesses are left scrambling to catch up to their competitors that have since overtaken them.
Innovators get the lion’s share of the growth.
That’s why I believe that you need to siphon off a portion of your marketing budget for more cutting edge strategies that have the potential for HUGE returns on investment.
But what strategies?
I coach hundreds of SaaS founders to help them grow and scale their businesses with innovative new strategies.
I get to see behind-the-scenes which marketing strategies are working and which aren’t.
Based on what I’ve observed first-hand, here are 3 powerful marketing strategies that are rarely used in SaaS but have created high ROI in 2020 and will continue to in 2021.
If you were to apply all 3 marketing strategies, then you would have:
I’ll keep an ear out in my networks for any other scalable, high ROI marketing strategies that are working.
If I find more, I’ll send them to your inbox.
But for now, I know these 3 marketing strategies work because I’ve seen it first-hand with my clients.
Have you tried any? Are you concerned it won’t work for you?
Let me know in the comments, I’ll do my best to help.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ - Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - https://bit.ly/32l5jkC
Exclusive Resource: Cancellation Capture System™ - The Flow, Design and Copy You Need To Save Cancellations & Learn as Much as You Can Before a Customer Leaves - https://bit.ly/3jIn03s
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It’s the thorn in every SaaS founder’s side…
The number that keeps you awake at night:
Churn equates to invisible dollars that slip through your fingers. The lower that number, the more successful and exponential your capacity to grow.
But how exactly do you measure churn?
There isn’t just one number.
There are multiple different measures of churn you should know.
Today I’m going in-depth into the different types of churn, and strategies to monitor, control and minimize that deadly number.
In this video, I’m going to simplify and explain churn in a way that you can apply. You’re going to learn:
If you’re a seasoned SaaS pro, churn might look like a beginner’s topic.
It’s not.
Sure, it’s one of the first numbers a SaaS founder should measure, but it pays to remain obsessed about that number.
If you can make any changes to your churn rate, your company will grow.
It’s that simple.
Looking forward to hearing from you in the comments on the video.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Resource: Cancellation Capture System™ - The Flow, Design and Copy You Need To Save Cancellations & Learn as Much as You Can Before a Customer Leaves - https://bit.ly/3jIn03s
Exclusive Resource: Precision Scorecard™ - Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - https://bit.ly/3jm3PMv
--
When I was 29 years old, I was pitching to investors for funding.
I’d breezed through my pitch deck, million-dollar smile on my face despite my shaky nerves when they asked:
‘Yeeeah! I got this’, I thought to myself.
CAC stands for ‘Customer Acquisition Cost’ and I had done the math. Smugly, I dropped an impressive number.
The investor’s eye’s lit up.
“Really? Wow!... But is that your Fully Loaded CAC?”
The room went so quiet you would hear a pin drop.
My jaw hung open, and I still cringe when I think of the dumbfounded deer-in-the-headlights look on my face.
All I could think was, "What the heck does fully loaded mean?”
I made a fool of myself that day.
Today I’m going to show you how to calculate your Customer Acquisition Cost - fully loaded - in just 3 easy steps so you never look like a fool in front of anyone.
If you want to make investors drool over a stake in your company, then you’ve got to know your numbers.
See, investors want to avoid risk at ALL costs.
They’ll pass on a promising business if the founder doesn’t know the right numbers.
Numbers don’t lie, and neither does your fully loaded CAC.
This is a quick dose of metrics-math. Check out the video here and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re there.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Resource: Precision Scorecard™ - Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - https://bit.ly/3jm3PMv
Exclusive Resource: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life - https://bit.ly/2T8CwL2
--
Have you ever wanted to cut a toxic person out of your life before?
It’s a more common feeling than you think.
Maybe there’s an old high school friend, a buddy from college, a distant relative… Whoever it is, you know in your gut that this person is toxic and brings negative energy to most conversations.
The question is:
Is it ok to cut them out of your life?
I think it is.
Negative influences can distort your self-belief and cause you to lose faith in your pursuit of a better life. It’s important to do something about those damaging relationships.
But there is a right way to cut people out.
(Don’t be an @sshole!)
The more you grow and change, the more you realize that some people you know just don’t support your growth.
Here’s how to cut people out of your life and move towards building a network of positive people without feeling guilty.
Maybe this is a topic that makes you feel uncomfortable, but remember this: I went to rehab when I was 17 years old.
I was the toxic kid that other people needed to cut off.
And I knew it.
A big part of my rehabilitation was to cut myself off from other negative people and build a supportive network of positivity while learning to be a positive influence on others too.
It made my growth possible.
If you want to grow, I believe you need to take a ‘friendventory’ and think carefully about your network.
If you do it the right way, it is not selfish.
It could be exactly what you need right now. Don’t you think?
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Resource: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life - https://bit.ly/2T8CwL2
Exclusive Resource: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life - https://bit.ly/3lD1gHv
--
I can tell if your business is going to scale successfully by asking one question:
Do you have a business coach, mentor or advisor?
If your answer is no… I’m worried for you.
Hear me out.
Succeeding in business means making the right decisions frequently.
I’ve seen small companies dominate in niches that were owned by big-business giants simply because they made better decisions.
But I’ve also seen companies run themselves into the ground in less than 12 months because they made too many wrong decisions.
As a founder, you’re faced with million-dollar decisions every day, even if it doesn’t feel like it.
You’ve got to know what to say YES to, and when to say NO.
Without any shred of doubt in my mind, I know the best way to consistently make winning business decisions is to:
Get advice.
My first two companies were failures, but my 3rd made me a millionaire. My 4th and 5th were even more successful again… Why? Because I got advice.
Business coaches, mentors, advisors – I’ve hired them all. I’ve even been advised by:
- Mark Cuban, Billionaire
- Travis Kalanick, founder of Uber
- Richard Branson, founder of Virgin
- Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup
- Sean Ellis, founder and CEO of Growth Hackers
- And many, many others
I invest over $250K a year (pre-Covid) on coaching, meeting mentors and seeking out strategic advice from experts.
I’m telling you… don’t try to be a business genius on your own. Find someone that can advise you.
And if you want to know how to find the right advisors for your business, then you’re in luck:
That’s what my latest video is about.
Advisors know their value and sometimes they’ll offer shady deals in exchange for their million-dollar advice. In this video, I’ll share with you:
- How to find the right advisors
- How to identify when you need advice
- What kind of deals you can expect with an advisor
- Why I won’t give equity for advice
- How to leverage social currency
- Dealing with an advisory board
- How to communicate with an advisor
The purpose of this video is to demystify how these kinds of business relationships work.
It can feel strange to hire someone just to point you in the right direction and help you choose right from wrong in your own business.
It felt weird to me the first time I did.
But once you feel the weight come off your shoulders knowing that you don’t have to have it all figured out, you’ll realize how infinitely valuable advice is.
Good advisors really can make or break your business.
Got any other questions about how these types of business relationships work? Leave me a comment below.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Resource: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life - https://bit.ly/3lD1gHv
Exclusive Download: EBR Flow Planner™ - 9 Box Model to Run Your Executive Business Reviews, Retain High-Value Clients & Increase Expansion Revenue - https://bit.ly/3l5q1Mp
--
Let’s pop the hood of your SaaS retention engine.
The machine that creates your revenue, that turns new customers into long term LTV...
Pry apart each leaky valve, tighten each bolt and make sure you’re running a fine-tuned growth-maximizing machine.
I’ll give you the 3 tools I recommend to improve EACH of the 8 key parts.
I love SaaS business models because they’re ideal for generating cumulative wealth…
Provided you have a great Customer Success system.
If you don’t, churn rates slowly creep higher and higher and the LTV of each customer drops.
I’ve identified that there are 8 key areas of a flawless Customer Success system that require a solution. In each category, there are multiple tools and tech you can use.
I have a recommended list of those tools, the ones I’ve used in business and can stand by.
If you’re not sure where to start to improve these categories, watch this video and try out my suggestions. Your churn rate will thank you for it.
In each of these 8 categories, I’m going to recommend 3 tools. The categories are:
You need a solution for each of these 8. If you don’t, then there are parts of your customer’s journey that will let you and your customer down.
There is no miracle cure-all for crushing churn rates. It’s all about excellent customer success systems.
But I’m not going to apologize for that.
You’re a business founder, SaaS owner or entrepreneur, right?
That means you’ve got to roll up your sleeves and fight the hard fight, figuring out how to grow and scale your business. It’s not easy, but it is worth it.
Got any other favourite tools you think other SaaS founders should know about? Add them in a comment on the video right here.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: EBR Flow Planner™ - 9 Box Model to Run Your Executive Business Reviews, Retain High-Value Clients & Increase Expansion Revenue - https://bit.ly/3l5q1Mp
Exclusive Download: Top 5 Productivity Hacks – Double Your Energy & Focus By Just Tweaking The Way You Do Everyday Tasks - https://bit.ly/3cfrDQs
--
What does success mean?
Get specific… what exactly does it look like to you?
Is that word just a placeholder for some anonymous measure of public respect and acceptance? Is it about bank account zeros?
My idea of success has changed… a lot. The answer I’d have given you when I was 21 is nothing like the answer I’d give you now.
Why?
Because I grew the F%$& up.
When I became a millionaire at 27 years old, I realized that I wasn’t anywhere near as successful as I wanted to be.
The elusive dream had changed.
Since then, I’ve taken the time to really decide what success looks like to me so I know what I’m aiming for.
Now I’d like to share my perspective on what that is.
I haven’t shared this before because, to be honest… it’s kind of personal.
But I’d like to share it because every problem became much more manageable when I knew where I wanted to end up. Perhaps you need that clarity too.
I’ve learned that success is different for everyone.
It’s subjective.
One person thinks it’s about the body they’ve got, another thinks it’s the car they drive, yet another thinks success is the property they own or the friends they have.
Have you noticed how you can use ‘success’ in a conversation and everyone assumes you must mean the same thing?
“10 steps to success”, “How to become successful”, “Success is just…”.
It can be a dangerous concept because we all want “it” without taking time to define what “IT” actually is.
Don’t chase an unknown dream.
Set the goal posts in the right place and don’t worry what anyone else thinks.
I’d love to know what real success looks like to you. Drop a comment on the YouTube video right here and let me know.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Top 5 Productivity Hacks – Double Your Energy & Focus By Just Tweaking The Way You Do Everyday Tasks - https://bit.ly/3cfrDQs
Exclusive Download: EBR Flow Planner™ – 9 Box Model to Run Your Executive Business Reviews, Retain High-Value Clients & Increase Expansion Revenue - https://bit.ly/2Fkf9uX
--
“HELP! I’m losing customers in the pandemic!”
As a SaaS Coach, I worked very closely with a lot of software founders who are nervous that their businesses won’t ever recover from coronavirus.
Customers are cancelling, accounts are drying up, and prospects are turning into dust.
We have never seen a global economic meltdown quite like this one… so the concern is 100% justified.
But listen to me: You are not powerless.
Today I’m going to give you a crystal ball.
I’m going to share my go-to system for identifying ALL of your at-risk customers before they cancel… and then how to save those accounts.
It’s like predicting the future and fixing it all at once.
I’ve been using this system with my SaaS clients to help them crush their churn rates to below 1%.
…even in the middle of a pandemic.
Watch the latest video below and I’ll walk you through how to maximize your customer retention.
In this video, you’re going to learn:
How to maximize customer retention + profits
How to find out WHY customers are unhappy
What to say that will win them back
What a critical event is
Why churn has nothing to do with software
How to identify red flags as early as possible
How to use accountability to save ANY customer
The trick is to have a system that alerts your support team when customers exhibit specific pre-churn behaviours, such as not logging in for a set amount of time, disengaging from support chat, or visiting cancellation pages.
Customers that meet enough of those conditions are in the danger zone.
As soon as those red flags appear, you then need to execute the Red Playbook – a system to save those accounts, correct the relationship and turn them back into raving fans.
With the right playbook, at-risk customers won’t have a good reason to cancel.
A system like this works.
Now more than ever, you’ve got to stay ahead of your at-risk risk customers and spot the red flags early.
Your business depends on it.
Remember, I’m here to help. If you’re tearing out your hair and not sure what to do with your business, reach out to me and my team.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: EBR Flow Planner™ – 9 Box Model to Run Your Executive Business Reviews, Retain High-Value Clients & Increase Expansion Revenue - https://bit.ly/2Fkf9uX
Exclusive Download: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life (Peers, Advisors & Mentors) - https://bit.ly/3m1hI5i
--
A few weeks ago, I owned up to the biggest mistakes I made in my 20s… mistakes that cost me literally millions.
This video is the sequel.
Believe it or not, when I turned 30 I didn’t magically become an angel, with a perfect track record of success.
(Shock! I can hear your gasps from here)
I squared up to that decade as a new man, confident and determined to avoid past mistakes.
…but immediately started making new mistakes!
The reason I’m sharing this is:
1. To humanize me (I’m not a flawless success story, I’m a patchwork of mistakes.)
2. To show you that mistakes are ok (Heck, they’re necessary.)
3. So you can avoid my mistakes (Don’t screw up the way I did.)
My 30s started out strong.
I was on the brink of exiting my second company, Flowtown, ready to add a few more zeroes to my bank balance.
Right after that, I started Clarity.fm and without any help from co-founders, I scaled the company, closed $1.6M in funding from investors like Mark Cuban, then successfully exited that company too…
…and then launched one of the biggest YouTube channels for SaaS Entrepreneurs.
But during this decade, I faced a new beast:
Myself.
My 30s was full of mistakes that came from within me. Broken thinking.
I had to reinvent myself – more than once – to become the leader I needed to be.
Please… don’t make the mistakes I did.
Watch my latest video where I roast myself, shake your head at my expense (I encourage it) but don’t repeat my screw ups.
Today I’m sharing with you:
- How I lost 30 – 40% in market value by drifting
- The wrong narratives that shaped my leadership
- The day I knew I crossed the line (and I had to change)
- My anti-portfolio mistakes
- How I passed on a $250M company *face-palm*
- Why I have 3 coaches… right now
Look, I get it.
Every advert in your feed, every case-study in your inbox, every silicon valley interview is screaming “SUCCESS!!” right in your face.
You just want a break, right?
I hope you can see that that’s why I make these videos.
It’s not to show off or to wave dollar signs in your face.
It’s because I want you to live a better, more fulfilling life while growing a richer business.
That’s what motivates me even if it means sharing my embarrassing mistakes. I hope you can see that I’m doing my best to help.
Peace.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life (Peers, Advisors & Mentors) - https://bit.ly/3m1hI5i
Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ – Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth – https://bit.ly/2GfadaI
--
If you want to stop an investor like me dead in their tracks, show them these 7 numbers.
With the right combination, they’ll fall over themselves to throw money at you.
Beg to invest.
Yes, even in the middle of a pandemic, when the world feels like it’s balancing on a knife’s edge…
These 7 numbers will show me your entire company’s health.
Scribble it on a napkin, drop it right in front of me…
And I’ll tell you: Yes or No.
I’m talking about the top 7 customer success metrics you need to measure.
I don’t care what you read about a CEO in magazines, how many Maseratis they own, or if they flew in on a private jet.
These numbers are the matrix code that reveal the TRUTH about any company.
I’m telling you right now, in your inbox, from me to you–
If you aren’t measuring these customer success metrics, you don’t know your own business.
So this video is for you. These are the numbers you’ve got to start measuring ASAP, including what they are and how to track them:
The reason the 7-number password can unlock an investment frenzy it because it immediately tells me:
1. How good your product is
2. How I can help you earn more
3. Your growth potential
4. Where to unlock lost revenue streams
5. If you’ll survive a new competitor in the market
6. What marketing opportunities you can leverage
7. What holes need plugging in your revenue
Over the last 5-7 years, I’ve been involved in hiring over 50+ CSMs (Customer Success Managers) across my portfolio of 40+ investments and my own companies.
To make sure that any CSM I hire will hit the ground running, I just say “These are the 7 metrics I need you to measure – find the numbers and report them back to me.”
The simple act of knowing these numbers makes it painfully obvious where you need to turn your attention.
Get a notepad and pen ready and start the video here.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ – Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth – https://bit.ly/2GfadaI
Exclusive Download: 5 Secrets of Silicon Valley – Discover My Silicon Valley Secrets To Skyrocket Your Business by Implementing 5 Little Changes That No One is Talking About - https://bit.ly/2Q1xfTW
--
I’ve got to come clean…
I’m not a guru.
I can’t read your future, don’t perform miracles, and I’m about as enlightened as a stick.
I’m just a SaaS-obsessed business coach that has made WAY too many mistakes, enough to fill entire encyclopaedias of ‘what not to do’.
But I did do something right:
I didn’t quit.
I squared up my mistakes (2 failed companies), welcomed the hard lessons, and eventually became strong enough to make the right decisions (building and exiting 3 companies).
I still get asked “What do you wish you did differently in your career?”
Oh man.
I could fill books.
I have to break my answer up into decades… starting with my 20s.
At 20 years old, I was an overworked developer working for free at someone else’s startup.
Just 10 years later at 30 years old, I had sold my 3rd business, was building my 4th and was already a multi-millionaire.
Even though I look back fondly on that decade, I still know I made decisions that cost me (or lost me) millions.
So, I’m putting a pin in my ego and owning up to my biggest mistakes in the hope that you can avoid them.
In this video I’m going to share with you:
- The solo mistake that cost me $10 million in lost revenue
- How I hired an executive that nearly cost me my business
- Why ‘needing to be liked’ sabotaged my company culture
- How wearing a suit-and-tie saved my company
- Why selling for millions cost me millions more! (Don’t sell early)
- How my failed investments poured cash down the drain
At least half of my wisdom comes from having screwed up enough times to know why the wrong decisions are actually wrong.
Now I get to save SaaS founders like you from the fate I barely escaped.
It would have been so easy to quit or to stay on a course doomed to fail.
But if I had joined the SaaS graveyard, I wouldn’t be in your inbox, on your news feed or sharing these mistakes on YouTube.
I’m here to help you get to your success twice as fast as I did.
Drop by the video and let me know in the comments: What is the biggest mistake you’ve made recently that you know you’ll regret for years to come?
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
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Do you have your dream sales team yet?
A team of high-converting closers who effortlessly book new accounts and funnel cash into your pockets until your revenue-pants are splitting at the seams?
No?
Neither did I.
I thought you could throw money (aka: investment capital) at business problems to solve them. Just hire a sales team and let the money roll in.
Turns out, it doesn’t work that way… (and I was a fool in my 20s.)
You need a structured weekly sales team meeting to create the 3 Big R’s:
1. Rhythm
2. Routine
3. Revenue
Once I figured that out, I got obsessed with tightening the bolts on my sales team machine until I had a competitive edge and could repeatedly win clients with confidence.
Now all of my sales teams are well-oiled machines… and I teach this one weekly 8-point agenda you can follow for one simple reason:
I know it works.
Fast forward to today and I’ve managed millions of dollars in pipeline and coached 100+ SaaS founders to build out their sales teams.
One of my largest clients has 150 sales people, and they use this exact weekly agenda structure I’m going to talk you through in this week’s video. Check it out!
This is what I have in store for you today. I’m going to show you:
- How to create sales momentum
- My recommended sales metrics tools
- Why world class salesmanship doesn’t matter (Wh-whaaat?)
- Why YOU are the x-factor in your team
- The value of a CSM at your sales meetings
- Why jealousy can destroy your company
- How to build a culture around training
If you can commit to one weekly meeting that follows this structure, your sales team will be closing more deals before the year is out.
One meeting.
… that follow this specific 8 point-agenda.
Look, I know that in the face of big numbers (millions, you say?!) it’s easy to think: “This meeting agenda is for big teams – it won’t work for me”.
Nope.
If I started from scratch today – with a team of only 1 salesperson – I’d still schedule this meeting.
I see it as hitting the gym. No matter how small you are, you don’t get big without doing your reps.
Hit that play button, soak up the agenda structure, and drop a comment to let me know if you’ll apply it to your next meeting.
Peace.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: The Rocket Demo Builder™ – Never give a boring software demo again and close up to TWICE as many deals by this time next week - https://bit.ly/3agnmLt
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“What the $%&# is a CSM… and how is that going to make me money?!”
When I started out in business nearly 20 years ago, there was no such thing as a CSM.
Those 3 letters just didn’t go together.
Nowadays, most B2B SaaS businesses see a CSM as essential to scaling a business faster, reducing churn, getting greater customer LTV and protecting your brand.
A CSM is a Customer Success Manager.
It’s not a glorified support person (like I once thought) and yes, they absolutely make you more money.
Having a great CSM on your team will boost your revenue.
I believe that for every $1 you spend on a CSM, you should be getting $5x back in retention/expansion revenue.
Funnel hackers would lose their minds over a funnel that converts 1:5 consistently, long-term…
…and yet CSM’s get dismissed by young businesses as an unnecessary cost.
I’m going to put an end to that mistaken belief in this week’s video, and I’ll open your mind to what a CSM should be doing in your business and why they are a godsend.
After you watch this video, you’re going to understand how a great CSM can:
Track your customer satisfaction with easy-to-follow metrics
Help your customers fall in love with your products
Reduce churn and improve customer retention
Increase lifetime value with upgraded accounts and upsells
Collect testimonials, case studies and referrals
Explode your word-of-mouth marketing
Feed product development and innovation
I mean… just look at that list!
This is one person you can hire in your business that can do all of the above… if you know how to work with them.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You can’t just hire someone and expect them to solve your problems without your guidance.
CSMs are a godsend, but you’ve got to work with them to build systems so that they can do what they do best.
Watch the video and I’ll set you straight on how to work with a CSM in your business.
While you’re there, drop me a comment to let me know:
As a customer, what was the best interaction you had with a company and why?
I’ll bet there was a CSM behind it.
Talk soon.
--
Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: EBR Flow Planner™ – 9 Box Model to Run Your Executive Business Reviews, Retain High-Value Clients & Increase Expansion Revenue - https://bit.ly/3k6Yb2v
Exclusive Download: Team Offsite Planner™ – The Simple Agenda to Develop Optimal Team Cohesiveness & Build a Killer Strategic Plan For The Following Period - https://bit.ly/39xljm7
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I have a confession…
In my mid-20s, I was the worst leader.
I was trying to run a team and was wildly out-of-touch with so-called “good leadership”. I just didn’t know it yet.
I held a team offsite, a getaway with the executive team to reflect on the quarter, set goals and come away reinvigorated.
It didn’t work.
My fault.
I tried to force passion on the team, crack the whip on our productivity and focus on project management.
In my mind, maximizing company efficiency was something we could achieve in a day if we worked hard enough. I was SO wrong.
But I noticed something else…
Our exec team had a chance to hang out like friends, drop their professional behaviour and get to know each without the daily demands of their work.
This had a greater impact on the growth of my company, more than anything else at that offsite.
It was as simple as building relationships.
I mean… duh, Dan! It’s obvious to me now.
Building relationships has become my #1 focus for ANY team offsite that I hold.
I’ve got it down to a fine strategy and I’ll show you what that is in today’s video, including an exercise that I insist everyone does at every company offsite I organize. Check it out!
Here are the 5 components of a successful team offsite:
Prep The Plan
Paint The Vision
Build Trust
Re-Test
Map Closure
Great leadership is a strategic advantage. I honestly believe that.
If you take two competing companies, one with good leadership and employee morale and one without…
I guarantee you that the one with good leadership will confront problems with more confidence, innovate more frequently and get more sh*t done.
How can you weather the storms of business if you don’t trust your team? If you don’t have a sense of camaraderie, honesty and support with your fellow team members?
This drives growth more than ANYTHING else.
If you aren’t holding company offsites at regular intervals, I suggest you try it. Start with just one and watch what a difference it can make.
Hope this video helps you build those valuable team relationships, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Team Offsite Planner™ – The Simple Agenda to Develop Optimal Team Cohesiveness & Build a Killer Strategic Plan For The Following Period - https://bit.ly/39xljm7
Exclusive Download: Impact Giving Flywheel™ – Align Your Team, Activate Your Partners and Add More Passion To Your Work While Having an Impact on The World We Live In - https://bit.ly/2Bfu9rM
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Hate to break it to you, but it’s not all about money.
I mean it.
Here’s an example…
One of my coaching clients recently hit a milestone that we’ve been working towards for years:
$1M per month in profit.
After 9 years of hard work, he turned that dream into a reality. HUGE achievement! But instead of celebrating, the next question that came was…
“What was the purpose? Why am I doing this? If we make more money as a company… what’s the point?”
Today I want to share with you how you can create a social impact through your business.
You can continue doing what you do best AND change lives, better the world, and help the people you want to help most.
I promise you, it’ll be more satisfying than any dollar amount in your bank account.
Running a business that cares about social change is incredibly rewarding. But it takes some thought. These are the 5 points I’d encourage you to consider:
1. Connect Your Core
2. Select The Give
3. DIY vs Partner
4. Partner Path
5. Influence & Inspire
There is SO MUCH MORE to the business game than just generating wealth.
To me, it’s about having a greater capacity to give back to the world.
With my first company, Spheric, we used to donate to Kiva, a charity that supports businesses in 3rd world countries with interest-free microloans.
Now I have my Creators program that helps at-risk youths.
These outlets for social impact have meant far more to me than the money I have earned.
It makes it all worthwhile.
But you can’t just throw your money at the first charity you see. You’re still a business and there is a process to maximizing your social impact while balancing your financial responsibilities.
Start by watching the video here.
It’s how my business-brain deals with the topic of charity, social impact and giving back to the world when you’re still a responsible SaaS founder.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Impact Giving Flywheel™ – Align Your Team, Activate Your Partners and Add More Passion To Your Work While Having an Impact on The World We Live In - https://bit.ly/2Bfu9rM
Exclusive Download: High Tempo Testing™ – Define a Solid North Star Metric & Identify Experiments Worth Running That Drive You Closer To Predictable Growth - https://bit.ly/2ZqX85n
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Alright, fine.
I’ll go on record and say it.
There is a huge difference between marketers who call themselves Growth Hackers… and those who actually know the SCIENCE of it.
Using the term ‘Growth Hacker’ in your LinkedIn bio doesn’t matter. It never did.
All that matters are the actual numbers.
In 2008 when I moved to San Francisco I met Sean Ellis, the guy that came up with the term ‘Growth Hacker’.
Sean is the CEO of GrowthHackers, author of Hacking Growth and he popularized the term. I have huge respect for him.
But let’s be real: growth hacking is a fancy name for metrics-based-marketing (that’s what we use to call it pre-2008).
Rather than traditional (and often outdated) marketing methods, it’s about granular metrics that allow you to measure funnels, flows, messaging, and your product-market fit in order to improve the virality of your marketing.
Done right, it means a tidal wave of attention and… sales.
For 20 years I’ve been analyzing and testing methods for explosive viral growth in business and I’ve made friends with lots of marketers that were doing this even before me.
What I want to share in today’s video are the specific tactics, strategies, and insights I’ve taken away from my own experiences and from being around some of the smartest marketers in the world.
Ready?
If I take everything I’ve learned about growth hacking and squeeze it into 5 high-level points, this is what you get:
1. Innovate (gotta get your fundamentals right)
2. Tooling and APIs
3. Work Backwards (the 3 Fs)
4. Copywriting
5. ABT (Always Be Testing)
I love marketing.
Don’t get me wrong… I’m a product guy, developer, and a technical founder.
But smart marketing allowed me to grow my 5 tech businesses, and successfully exit 3 of them.
If your attitude is “leave the marketing to the marketers”, I’d encourage you to challenge that idea.
If you create a culture around growth hacking in your business, you might find that scaling rapidly is just a few innovative ideas away.
Where do you start? With this week’s video.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: High Tempo Testing™ – Define a Solid North Star Metric & Identify Experiments Worth Running That Drive You Closer To Predictable Growth - https://bit.ly/2ZqX85n
Exclusive Download: High Octane Team Technique™ – Break Down Your Organization Structure by Function & Create An Environment of Results, Not Excuses - https://bit.ly/2VT7JDI
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When I was 24, I started my company Spheric.
It nearly killed me.
As an ambitious entrepreneur, I had to make it work and wouldn’t stop at anything. Before I knew it, I was pulling 100+ hour work weeks.
That’s 14 hours per day, 7 days per week.
(Sound familiar? Don’t lie… I bet you check in on your business on the weekend too.)
There is NO WAY I would ever recommend doing that again!
I overworked myself and nearly burned out. Finally, at 28, I sold the company and became very wealthy, able to afford some time off.
When I started my next company, Flowtown, with co-founder Ethan, I knew I had to do it differently.
Rather than destroying myself, I focused my attention on something else:
Assembling a kick-ass team that could out-perform me.
The difference between these two companies was night and day. The growth of Flowtown was easy by comparison!
As a SaaS founder, I don’t believe you build your business… You build the team, and then that team builds the business with you.
In this latest video, I’ll show you how and why you NEED to build a strong team for your SaaS.
Over the years I’ve collected a bunch of strategies that help me grow strong executive teams quickly. Here are my top 5 tips:
1. Buy Back Time
2. Follow The Workflow
3. Set The Roles
4. Revise Overtime
5. Make Hard Decisions (Someone has to do it)
A strong team means you will work less but get more done.
It also means freeing up your time so you can work on the higher leverage stuff that you want to work on.
Whenever you hear of those power-founders that build massive companies quickly, one after the next, I guarantee their ‘secret sauce’ is the leadership teams they assemble.
It pays to get good at this.
Not next year… not next month.
Now.
Take a few minutes to watch through the video here and share your thoughts in a comment. Your future self will thank you!
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: High Octane Team Technique™ – Break Down Your Organization Structure by Function & Create An Environment of Results, Not Excuses - https://bit.ly/2VT7JDI
Exclusive Download: Review Collector Maximizer™ – When, Where & How to Ask For Reviews, Plus The Top List of Sites That Really Move The Needle in Driving Qualified Leads - https://bit.ly/2ZjDMOb
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Try this theoretical A/B test in your mind.
The control is your SaaS product as it is right now. The ‘B’ variation is your exact same business…
…but with hundreds of 3rd party product review sites publishing in-depth reviews of your software.
Let’s get clear on this: You aren’t writing these reviews.
Other people are.
These reviews are shared on blogs, social media, and on YouTube. The publishers of these reviews are driving their own traffic.
Without changing anything about your product, here’s how your ‘B’ variation is better:
- Your website ranks higher on Google
- You get more traffic and product awareness
- You convert more paying customers
Why? These product review sites have their own marketing strategies, attract and educate the exact kind of people your product is for, and link directly to your site.
It’s like recruiting an army of marketers without paying a dime!
If you aren’t leveraging word-of-mouth marketing through product reviews… then you’re leaving money on the table.
But there are some very specific best practices to make sure you get the most out of customer reviews.
What are they? Check out this week’s video to find out.
To leverage product reviews and accelerate your company growth, these are the 5 cornerstone techniques:
1. Capture Feedback
2. Craft Profile
3. Grease Flow
4. Leverage Reviews
5. Maintain Momentum
As a SaaS coach, I’ve seen many of my clients using reviews to drive demand and volume for their signups, trials, and demos.
I’ve always done this with my own software companies too, even asking for reviews and encouraging our customer base to be vocal with their product experience.
There’s one major takeaway I want you to get from this video, though.
Don’t just cross your fingers and hope for reviews.
Create an environment that makes them happen.
Have you thought about leveraging product reviews? Leave a comment on the video with your story. Looking forward to hearing it.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Review Collector Maximizer™ – When, Where & How to Ask For Reviews, Plus The Top List of Sites That Really Move The Needle in Driving Qualified Leads - https://bit.ly/2ZjDMOb
Exclusive Download: Game Tape Reviewer™ – Improve Your Sales Process & Get Everyone On Your Team Closing Like Your Best Salesperson Using Structured Call Reviews - https://bit.ly/2B203Yy
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“10x more money per customer?”
Cha-ching!
Moving your business upmarket can mean massive revenue boosts.
It’s where the big-bucks get made.
Upmarket customers are the affluent, enterprise-level businesses that demand more from your SaaS… but also write bigger checks without even blinking.
By moving upmarket, your company’s growth can scale quicker from fewer customers.
I bet you’re already thinking: “SIGN ME UP!”
Like a cartoon character, your eyeballs become dollar signs, tongue hanging out, dreaming “money-money-money”!
Careful.
It’s a trap.
I’ve had the privilege of working closely with SaaS founders, seeing the numbers behind the scenes and I can tell you this:
Moving upmarket can destroy your business.
I’ve seen businesses commit to aggressively pursuing these upmarket customers by hiring new teams and launching new campaigns…
…only to fall flat on their face.
What happens then? You retreat. Tail between your legs, you let go of your new teams and crawl back to the market of low-ROI customers in the hopes of recouping some costs.
You simply can’t make that transition without a strategy.
This is Mark Roberge’s specialty.
Mark was HubSpots Chief Revenue Officer, a lecturer at Harvard Business School, ranked in Forbes top 30 Social Sellers in the world and the writer of The Sales Acceleration Formula.
A while ago I had a conversation with Mark about the process he uses to build a strategy for moving upmarket successfully.
That conversation inspired this week’s video.
If you want to transition to upmarket customers, then these are the 5 points I consider necessary to pull it off.
1. GTM metrics (it’ll make sense in the video)
2. Segment Map
3. Triple Review
4. Capture Fix
5. Lock-In Playbook
It should be no surprise to you that everything in business requires good strategies.
Some entrepreneurs just ride the right wave at the right time unaware that a portion of their success was luck.
But repeatable success is a different story.
In the last 20 years, I’ve started multiple 7-figure businesses in different industries, and successfully exited 3. Each company has challenged me in new ways I could never have imagined.
The only thing I can attribute to my success was remaining extremely realistic, grounded and developing proven strategies.
That’s why I make these videos for you every week.
Drop by the video here and leave me a comment. I love hearing from you and challenging my own thoughts.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Game Tape Reviewer™ – Improve Your Sales Process & Get Everyone On Your Team Closing Like Your Best Salesperson Using Structured Call Reviews - https://bit.ly/2B203Yy
Exclusive Download: Preloaded Year™ Template – 1-Page Visual Color-Coordinated Outline of Your Full Year Mapped Out Around Your Business & Personal Life - https://bit.ly/3cZpAPj
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12 months, 1 piece of paper, A4 only.
Does it fit?
Can you write a plan for your next year on a single piece of paper?
If not, then… your plan is too complex.
(This is coming from a guy who LOVES spreadsheets.)
Your next 12 months are going to fly by whether you want them to or not. The question is: Are you going to get 12-months’ worth of life out of them?
In business, it feels like everything has attachments, pivot tables, linked documents and subfolders. We’re used to overcomplicating things.
But when you’re faced with a decision that you have to make on the spot, does that overcomplication help?
No.
This is when simplified strategies work best.
It’s why I advocate for systems, models and playbooks in business. It takes that complexity and purifies it into something manageable.
Same with planning your life.
Years ago, my wife and I were struggling. I was building my company Clarity.fm and she was growing her agency.
2 entrepreneurs, with 2 kids… and LOTS of demand on our time.
It was hard to live an integrated life with the right balance of work, family and fun. So we had to get serious about planning our future in a way that was manageable.
We had to make it fit on a single page.
I learned this strategy from Taki Moore and it’s made my life so much more streamlined.
Want to know how you can do it?
Get yourself a piece of paper and pen (or a Google Doc), and follow along with this video.
Here’s the steps to get 12-months of life-planning on a single piece of paper.
Big Rocks First
Revenue Milestones
Think Once
Stress Test
Work The Plan
Now I know what you’re thinking:
“Rigid plans don’t work, Dan…”
That’s just it. You’ve got to plan for flexibility and for things to change. I expect 10% of my year to change. The other 90% might get shifted around, but they’ll happen… because I’m planning for it.
If something dramatic changes (like Coronavirus) in your life, that’s totally ok…
Just pull out the paper, reset and you’re good to go.
This is a system that reduces stress, streamlines your decisions AND is flexible enough to know that your year is going to change… all while getting the most out of it.
Your time is yours. It’s up to you to use it well.
Get on it.
See you in the comments.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Preloaded Year™ Template – 1-Page Visual Color-Coordinated Outline of Your Full Year Mapped Out Around Your Business & Personal Life - https://bit.ly/3cZpAPj
DOWNLOAD: Customer Support Builder™ - Best Practices, Processes, and Flows to Build a World-Class Support Experience That's Less Time Consuming - https://bit.ly/2MGhuQY
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There’s a GOLDMINE of product insights right underneath your nose…
And you’re probably ignoring it.
A treasure trove of data at your fingertips about new product features, your ideal customers, and opportunities for new verticals or marketing funnels you have left untapped.
This is the high-level stuff that I coach people through, and you’ve already got it.
Hiding in plain sight.
Where is it?
It’s in your customer support tickets.
Customer Support is one of my favourite things to talk about. I love it!
I performed customer support PERSONALLY for 2 years while building Clarity.
Why? Because it’s an incredible opportunity for a founder to learn from your customers, guide product strategy and make sure your product is serving real people.
Most CEOs and founders delegate their customer support as SOON as they can.
I get it. You want to work on the high-level strategy.
But… make a habit of scanning your support tickets.
If you’re smart about interpreting those requests and tracing them back to find product insights or marketing hacks, you’ll scale faster.
For my companies, I made sure Customer Support was one of our competitive advantages and we have since been recognized as having some of the best support in the industry.
Want to know what we did? In this video, I’ll walk you through our strategies to turn Customer Support from a burden to a privilege.
I’ll break it down into 5 key components behind my Customer Support growth-hacking strategy. Here we go:
1. Customer Outcomes
2. Support Support (Yes, you read that right)
3. Flow Escalation
4. Measure the Metrics
5. Productize the Knowledge Base
One thing I LOVE about Customer Support is that it’s your opportunity to set word-of-mouth marketing alight.
No matter how many ads you are running or marketing funnels you’ve built, people trust the recommendations of other people most.
Word-of-mouth marketing trumps all others.
Having a kickass Customer Support system means active customers are getting incredible first-hand experiences from your team… and that translates into direct recommendations.
Looking back at my experience across 5 companies, I’d say the 2 things that made our support world-class were:
1. We documented and backfilled lessons learned from support, and put them into a growing knowledge base.
2. We used automation, snippets and text expanders to quickly use templatized answers to common customer issues.
The result? Support demand dropped and so did response time.
Tune in to the video right here to get a dose of Customer Support strategy that’ll turn dreaded tickets into welcome insights.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
DOWNLOAD: Customer Support Builder™ - Best Practices, Processes, and Flows to Build a World-Class Support Experience That's Less Time Consuming - https://bit.ly/2MGhuQY
Ever noticed my black wedding ring? Want to know a secret about it?
It’s electronic (made by Oura).
It measures a lot of cool stuff about my body, including my sleep.
I didn’t care about sleep for YEARS. It wasn’t until I had kids (aka: human alarm clocks) that I had to dial in my routine and structure.
As soon as I started measuring my sleep, I knew I wanted to manage it better and get more from it.
I wanted a world-class sleep every night.
I met with biohackers and sleep nerds who’ve performed countless studies on what makes sleep great. I read their books, ran my experiments and tuned my body to maximize sleep.
Now I fall asleep almost instantly and get a sleep quality score of 93 / 94 most nights.
My 8-hours each night is so restful that I know I get WAY more out of each day. I’m sharper, more focused, and have clarity of mind.
I recommend all entrepreneurs improve their sleep.
I don’t expect you to go to the lengths I have. I know it’s not for everyone… but I have some strong opinions on sleep and want to share the short version with you.
If you want to get a quick improvement without all the experimenting, then here it is.
Here are the 6 deep-sleep tips for you that I outline in this video.
Daily Dumps (Hilarious name, I know… but stick with me!)
Early To bed
Cold Room
Ramp Down
Black Out
No Consumption ← The truth hurts…
I’m no stranger to stress. I bet you aren’t either.
Running your own software business is guaranteed to have stressful moments.
But wouldn’t you be a better leader and grow a stronger company if you slept well every night, and could face the stress of each day fully energized?
Just try it.
Don’t believe the myth that you have to run on 4 hours of sleep per night because “there’s too much to do in 24 hours”.
In this video, I mention lots of resources, apps, devices and experts for improving your sleep. I’ve put all of those together into a resource pack for you too.
Although I recommend you start by checking out the video, the resource list is right here when you need it.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
How To Get To Sleep When Your Mind Is Racing: https://youtu.be/4mQx5WHN2b4
Oura Ring: https://ouraring.com/
SleepStream 2: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sleepstream-2/id432771824
Sleep Master Sleep Mask: https://amzn.to/2MefgYK
Exclusive Download: Funding Options Evaluator™ – Evaluate The 6 Models and 11 Sources Available to Fund Your SaaS Business Without Giving Up Valuable Equity - https://bit.ly/2XvvRfR
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If I took the pain of early-stage software founders and boiled it down into one question, it’s this:
“How do I fund my software business without giving up ownership?”
Although I don’t believe that money solves everything, I know that it helps.
With enough funding, you can:
- Hire talented staff
- Outsource your problems to agencies
- Invest in ads and marketing funnels
- Survive any harsh drops in the market
All of that sounds like a dream for SaaS founders trying to grow their business.
But thinking “If only we had the money” can easily walk you straight into a trap:
Selling too much equity.
Equity is the #1 most VALUABLE thing you have in your company, and you want to protect that rather than giving it away for a quick cash injection.
If you want to successfully exit your company in the future, then the equity you’ve lost can strip you of millions of dollars from that final sale to new owners.
The good news is that there are non-dilutive funding options available.
That means you don’t have to sell a percentage of your company, but you still get the cash to grow and scale your business.
If you can pull it off, that is 100% the way to go. It’s a win-win.
But evaluating your SaaS funding options can be overwhelming… So in this video, I’ll show you how to figure out the best way to secure money while protecting your company.
- Examine Your Exit
- Map Growth Engine ← This is critical.
- Evaluate Options
- Calculate The Cost
- Lock It In
I get to coach some of the fastest growing entrepreneurs and businesses who want to spend money to make money.
If you can turn $1 into $3 in a short enough period, then you’re ready to SCALE.
But you’ve still got to get the money to spend in the first place.
One of my coaching clients, Mark, had grown his SaaS to $1M ARR and wanted some extra funding without giving up a chunk of his company. He secured $750k in non-dilutive funding.
So what did he do then?
You bet he poured that cash into the SaaS growth engine and revved it up!
That’s the value of getting your funding sources right: you can maximize your growth AND retain ownership as you do.
Tune in here to check out the video and if you have any questions, leave me a comment.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Exclusive Download: Funding Options Evaluator™ – Evaluate The 6 Models and 11 Sources Available to Fund Your SaaS Business Without Giving Up Valuable Equity - https://bit.ly/2XvvRfR