SaaS companies that are looking to scale - or even achieve hypergrowth - in their near future should be aware of one key thing when deciding what to invest in: your employees are your biggest asset.
Without a strong GTM team that has been trained, knows your product inside-out, understands customer pain points and works hard to achieve targets, your business will struggle to grow at the rate you’d hoped.
However, SaaS company leaders can’t simply assume that salespeople will automatically stay motivated and invested in their roles. Sales isn’t that simple - it can be extremely challenging at times, particularly when considering the growing number of SaaS companies in the UK, US and globally.
It is the responsibility of team leaders, managers and business owners in the SaaS market to consistently empower their salespeople in order to get the best results out of them.
Let us explain further.
1. EMPLOYEES WANT TO FEEL VALUED
It’s no secret that feeling valued is one of the biggest motivators in the workplace. If an employee believes that their employer invests in their wellbeing, contributes to their career development and provides them with the training and support they need to do their job well, the possibility of them being successful is very high.
If an employee feels like a cog in a machine, they are 34% less likely to achieve their sales quota. Therefore, by ensuring your go-to-market team members feel needed, valued and appreciated, this will have a direct correlation in regards to achieving their sales targets, and helping the overall growth of your SaaS business.
Are you unsure how to measure if your employees feel valued or not? Ask them. Either through one-to-one meetings with managers, or through anonymous employee feedback surveys, give your team the opportunity to provide real, honest feedback. This will then give you the chance to see what needs to be improved, and how you can help every team member feel valued and empowered.
2. THE ECONOMY IS IMPACTING SALESPEOPLE FROM ALL ANGLES
Regardless of how well an employee is currently performing in their sales role, there will always be peaks and valleys when it comes to selling software. One of the biggest contributing factors to why salespeople struggle from time to time is, of course, the economy.
Factors such as inflation, the cost of living crisis, Brexit, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic have all contributed to a very challenging economy to sell in over the last three years. Consumer habits have changed, achieving targets has become more difficult, the cost of living has increased so much that your employees may feel demotivated and burnout as a result of their personal lives, too.
Employers have little control over how the economy impacts their employees - but they can be mindful of it, and act accordingly. In order to empower your employees and help them work to the best of their ability, it could be time to review targets, discuss salaries and offer additional support.
3. HAPPY EMPLOYEES ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE
One thing SaaS team leaders may notice about their GTM team is that the employees that are the happiest often achieve the most, and consistently reach their sales targets. The reason for this is pretty simple.
Gartner states that by providing your employees with meaningful work, boundaries to limit risk associated with seller innovation, and leveraging the output of successful seller insights, sales people will automatically feel more empowered as a result.
In simpler terms: if your salespeople feel important to your organisation and that their contributions are worth something, they will be happier as a result. Happier employees means an increase in productivity, due to feeling empowered by their employer.
STRIVE WILL HELP YOU DEVELOP A BEST-IN-CLASS GTM TEAM FOR YOUR SAAS COMPANY
Here at Strive, we source top tier sales talent for scaling and hypergrowth tech companies. To learn more about how we can help your business scale, contact our team on 0203 983 0770 or email hello@scalewithstrive.com.
