At Least 20% of Your New Customers Should Come from Referrals and Word of Mouth. Ideally, 50%.
Dear SaaStr: What Percent of My Revenue Should Come from Referrals and Word of Mouth? "Word of mouth is ultimately the only way you can scale in SaaS." pic.twitter.com/UAsIkG4Ixx — Jason ✨👾SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) December 18, 2024 Ultimately, most...
VPs That Can’t Hire … They Aren’t Real VPs. At Least, Not Yet.
The best VPs can recruit in ways I barely understand You need someone for a key role? They somehow have 2-3 strong candidates in a week or two This is so, so hard But the very best VPs make it somehow look almost effortless It's also the only way to scale —...
Sometimes All Your Bigger Customers Want is Just To Be Heard
A ways back we put together a series of SaaStr posts on how the customers I visited in person never churned. Some almost churned, but if I went out in person, and built a relationship, they never left. At least, not on my watch: I Never Lost a Customer I Actually...
How Long It Roughly Takes to Close a Deal in SaaS. And Why.
Dear SaaStr: How long does it usually take to close a deal in SaaS? Ok, here’s a really rough set of timelines to how long it takes to close an Opportunity in SaaS: So: A $5k deal, or say $499 a month, can often be closed in a call or two. Certainly the buying...
Outbound Always Works. If You Do It Right. And You Put In The Time.
"Crummy outbound may not work that well these days. But great outbound still works like magic." pic.twitter.com/DwjcgRLOVA — Jason ✨👾SaaStr 2025 is May 13-15✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) January 31, 2025 These days, it can really feel like the Old Bag of Sales...
You’ll Lose Customers. It Hurts. But Don’t Let Them Become Angry Ex-Customers.
When a customer leaves happy, they often still recommend you When a customer leaves unhappy, they always recommend a competitor — Jason ✨👾SaaStr 2025 is May 13-15✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) February 19, 2025 The other day, I had an experience I’ve never had in 14...
Eventually … Almost Everyone Has a Sales Team
Eventually … everyone goes a bit enterprise Eventually … everyone adds a sales team https://t.co/6h3LesrvRo — Jason ✨👾SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) October 16, 2025 The lure of freemium (like The Force) is strong. No headaches. Customers try and...
5 Ways AI Has Already Changed SaaS Sales Forever with Perplexity’s CBO Dmitry Shevelenko and SaaStr CRO Confidential Host Sam Blond
Perplexity’s CBO Dmitry Shevelenko and host of the SaaStr CRO Confidential series (and former CRO at Brex), Sam Blond at SaaStr Annual share how AI has already fundamentally rewired how SaaS sales works.
In The Age of AI, It Just Won’t Be Enough Just To Be a “Good People Person” in Sales
The #1 objection I hear to AI in sales is that what matters most in sales in B2B and SaaS is being a “good people person”. That does matter. It matter even more in field sales, in-person sales, and true enterprise sales. But is it enough in the age of...
15 Questions VPs of Sales Should Ask CEOs. Before They Take That Job.
Dear SaaStr: I am a candidate for a VP Sales job. What are great questions to ask the CEO? If you’re a candidate for a VP of Sales role, asking the right questions during the interview is critical—not just to impress the CEO, but to ensure the role is the right fit...
In The Age of AI, Onboarding and Time-to-Value Should Be The #1 Goal for Customer Success
So we’ve been proponents of customer success at SaaStr since the earliest days, since our first SaaStr posts in 2012. The magic of high NRR and a strong CS team was something we were preaching and doing deep dives on since well before it was well understood....
Events Work. Events Are Back. But Are They Worth the Big Expense?
Just got an email from a CEO yesterday that they closed a $450,000 TCV deal from a buyer they met at SaaStr Annual in September Don’t say events don’t work Be where your customers are. Even in the age of AI. — Jason ✨👾SaaStr 2025 is May 13-15✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk)...
30+ Tough Learnings from Losing a Top Customer
On both SaaStr University and Twitter, we had 30+ founders, CEOs and execs share their top, tough learnings from losing one of their top customers. There are some great teachable moments here, and also some deja-vu if you’ve been through it! “I should...
