Sid Kumar, VP of GTM Strategy & Planning at Databricks, discusses the urgent need for a fresh Go-to-Market playbook emphasizing customer retention. He reveals how a 5% lift in retention can dramatically boost revenue. Kumar highlights the importance of a unified customer journey, strategies for diagnosing revenue leakage, and adapting to different market segments. He also advocates for breaking down organizational silos and aligning marketing and sales efforts, all while maintaining a simple and agile approach to meet evolving market demands.
Improving customer retention by just 5% can significantly boost revenue growth, underscoring the importance of focusing on the customer aspect.
A successful go-to-market strategy requires a unified view of the customer journey, essential for breaking down organizational silos and ensuring collaborative execution.
Deep dives
The Importance of Customer Retention
Improving customer retention by just 5% can lead to a dramatic increase in revenue growth, potentially rising by up to 90%. However, many companies overlook the customer aspect of their business, often lacking a unified view of the customer journey. Many go-to-market leaders admit they do not have a single, cohesive understanding of their customers' experiences. This lack of clarity makes it challenging to effectively orchestrate resources and align strategies aimed at facilitating customer growth.
Creating a Unified Customer Journey
A successful go-to-market strategy starts with a clear understanding of the desired customer experience. Companies often dive into their customer journeys without meticulously mapping out their desired outcomes, leading to inconsistent approaches across different departments. By assessing how different functions interact with customers, organizations can create a more intentional and aligned customer journey. Establishing a unified view allows teams to break down silos and collaboratively drive toward shared goals.
Defining Roles and Responsibilities
Establishing clear roles and responsibilities across different departments is crucial for optimizing customer engagement efforts. Each function, from sales to customer success, must understand its contributions to delivering value to the customer throughout the journey. Organizations should prioritize defining these roles, ensuring everyone is accountable for different phases of the customer experience. This clarity helps to drive effective execution and avoid overlap or confusion among teams.
Agility in Planning and Execution
With rapid changes in the business environment, organizations must adopt an agile mindset in their planning processes. Rather than sticking to rigid annual plans, companies should regularly revisit their assumptions and input metrics to remain responsive to market dynamics. This approach encourages continuous evaluation and adjustment of strategies based on real-time data and insights. The emphasis on agility allows organizations to pivot quickly when necessary, ensuring alignment with rapidly evolving customer needs.
The majority of revenue comes after the initial sales. A 5% lift in retention can lead to a 20-95% increase in revenue. But most companies neglect the customer side - so we need a new playbook.
That's exactly what we talked about with Sid Kumar, VP of GTM Strategy & Planning at Databricks.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:23) - Meet Sid
(03:05) - The Need for a New Go-to-Market Playbook
(03:17) - Defining a Connected Go-to-Market Strategy
(04:52) - Challenges in Customer Journey Mapping
(06:02) - Practical Steps for Creating a Unified Customer Journey
(12:28) - The Importance of Keeping It Simple
(16:48) - Adapting Go-to-Market Strategies for Different Segments
(17:34) - Diagnosing Revenue Leakage and Efficiency
(24:20) - Entering New Markets: Challenges and Missteps
(24:57) - Unpacking the New Playbook: Customer First Approach
(25:24) - Reframing Marketing and Sales Alignment
(27:14) - The Role of Customer Success in Go-To-Market Strategy
(30:50) - Breaking Down Organizational Silos
(38:42) - The Evolving Role of Revenue Operations
(42:30) - Always Planning: Adapting to Market Changes
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That's why Growblocks built the first RevOps platform that shows you your entire funnel, split by motions, segments and more - so you can find problems, the root-cause and identify solutions fast, all in the same platform.