Topline

The podcast discusses strategies for dealing with early termination requests from customers in a multi-year contract. They emphasize the financial implications and importance of accountability. They explore the complexities and consequences of signing lengthy contracts and highlight negotiation possibilities. The chapter also emphasizes the importance of timely communication with investors and client engagement.

The hosts discuss balancing efficiency with innovation in business, the challenges of standing out in crowded inboxes, the role of community and conferences in the business landscape, capitalizing on small wins and creating momentum, setting expectations and supporting sales teams, and the challenges of raising venture capital in the SaaS industry.

There are two schools of thought about price increases heading into 2024. While the data shows that the average ACV for B2B SaaS products has increased by 9% in the last year, industry pundits including Jason Lemkin have said that if you raise prices in the current economy, you should expect to lose customers. On this week's Topline Hotline, Sam, AJ and Asad share their advice on price increases.

With all three hosts in Nashville for GTM2023, this week's episode recaps key learnings from the event, including why alignment is so critical for growth and why we should all be leaning in to AI, and reflects on the events happening in Israel and Gaza.

On this episode of Topline Hotline, the hosts answer a question about how GTM leaders forecast churn, and whether they rely simply on historic data or include things like customer health scores, rep feedback, time to first value, etc.

QuotaPath’s Kelly O’Halloran shares findings from the company’s recent compensation study, which found that it takes employees 3 to 6 months to understand their comp plan, and 39% of reps say that their comp plans don’t meet key business objectives. The result - 90% aren’t meeting quota. Hear more about the data, along with what it means for the broader tech industry, on this week’s episode.

On this week's Topline Hotline, the hosts answer a community question about what to do when inbound lead flow slows and your sales team has excess capacity - and specifically, whether the team should have a specialized role focused on inbound only. Submit your question by using #Topline on LinkedIn or in the #function_CRO channel in Pavilion, or by emailing topline@joinpavilion.com.

Carta Head of Insights Peter Walker joins Topline to talk about key findings from the company’s State of Startup Compensation Report for H1 2023, including what’s happening with layoffs, why Q3 was the quarter with the largest number of startups dissolving or declaring bankruptcy, and how these trends are impacting employee attitudes around compensation, equity, and job mobility.

This week, the hosts discuss how much experience an SDR needs to be successful in the role. Hint: Traits like ambition, curiosity, and persistence matter more to the Topline crew than previous SDR experience.

This week, Sam, AJ, and Asad talk 2024 planning, positive signs in the market, their approach to forecasting, and employee attrition trends heading into next year.