Today, we discover a surprising way to stay resilient. Plus—leaders, listen up: It’s not about the power of “what” and “how” anymore. It's about mastering communication of the "why."
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How is the B2B SaaS market trending?
📈7 day +0.76% | 📈30 day +1.61% | 📈90 day +3.70%
We are still, slowly, yet steadily, in the positive percent change realm—when we look at the overall B2B SaaS Index. Today, we see a 1.61% positive trend upward, when comparing to the numbers existing over the last month and a .76% increase over the last week.
How are churn and new revenue trending over time?
MRR LOSS -0.43%
MRR GAIN +0.08%
Daily updates of the index can be found in your subscriber newsletter each day, so be sure to check back to see what’s up in the B2B SaaS market—for better informed decisions on market spend, sales forecasting, and growth choices.
You can also share the data with friends, colleagues, and fellow industry players that could use it right now. Send me their email address to abby@recurnow.com and I’ll get their name on the list. Or they can subscribe directly at index.profitwell.com.
Now, what's happening in the B2B SaaS world?
Fading? There's resilience in gratitude
If you know me, you know I am a steadfast believer in the power of a positive mindset. And it looks like Wall Street Journal Columnist Elizabeth Bernstein agrees with me on this one. She says that practicing gratitude is a surprising way to stay resilient.
And during a time when the unknown is seemingly around every corner, this tactic has personally served me well.
"Feelings of gratitude activate three main areas in the brain," says Dr. Korb—the brain stem region that produces dopamine, the primary reward chemical; the reward center, where dopamine is released; and the anterior cingulate cortex, which helps us focus on information that is relevant and communicates between the brain’s thinking and emotional circuits.
But we know gratitude cannot be forced. So Elizabeth outlines the pathways you can take to implement this new mindset—which could ultimately be the difference between your succeeding and struggling right now.
It’s about preparing yourself, taking hyper specific actions—saying thank you, writing letters, keeping a journal, and sometimes conjuring up the bad to re-highlight the good—and practicing.
We know anything that comes with good reward does not come easy. So practice, and inevitably patience, is required.
Here's a link to Elizabeth's take in full, filled with first-hand testimonials, expert industry advice, and a list of actionables. And remember, if you ever want to connect on topics like this, I am here to discuss. You can always reach me at abby@recurnow.com.
Our dear friend freemium
The folks over at the Product Led Growth Collective say that transitioning your traditional operation to one that's product-led can change just about everything.
In a recent testimonial from Vidyard, their team says the evolution of the buying process inspired them to change the way they build and sell their software. Product Manager Ashton Rankin says, “There's an assumption that freemium products are just for small business buyers. We held that belief ourselves at Vidyard, until we realized it was completely wrong.”
And our ProfitWell crew is comprised of major freemium fans, so this one especially caught my eye. We’ve dug into the data from over 50,000 buyers and found that customer acquisition cost for customers acquired through freemium is almost half. And retention and NPS are noticeably better for freemium products—which makes us wonder, is every company destined for freemium?
Click here to enlarge graph.
“Product-led freemium is a much more widely applicable growth strategy than you might imagine, so don’t fall into the trap of assuming the market is narrow. It's not." And although the journey to being product-led was not without its challenges, Ashton says, the final outcome has been extremely positive for both user and business. Click here to read Ashton's piece in full.
Resources: Interested in more info. on freemium and PLG? We got you covered.
Leaders—meet the power of "why"
In an ongoing crisis, clear communication is more important, yet far more difficult, than ever.
"Employees and customers are hungry for information, so we’re tempted to pull together presentations and communicate with urgency instead of with careful planning."
But if we present, without addressing our audience’s most pressing questions, the Harvard Business Review writes, we’ll sow more confusion than bring clarity. So, as leaders, we must run with a new approach—addressing, at its core, the “why” of the information we’re presenting.
Click here for the article in full.
This is how most leaders approach their talks, especially professionals who are deep subject matter experts. They focus on the content they want to share, with many not even considering the “why” from the audience perspective because it seems so self-evident to them, they think it’s, in turn, obvious to everyone else.
Yet answering the question of why you're presenting something will actually serve as an act of empathy and add a layer of persuasion to your communications.
But we get it. Defining the “why” isn’t always cut and dry. So HBR has your steps to doing so. Here's the piece in full, so you can get a better idea of what this approach is all about, why it’s powerful (especially in a remote world), and how you can get cranking with it.
Reminder: Subscription Stimulus Package
Click here for our list of partners in their entirety.
Your Subscription Stimulus Package is still thriving and ripe for the taking. It's an initiative we launched with 70+ other names in the space, with room still for more partnerships, to help get our neighbors back on track during a time of uncertainty for so many.
If you're interested in up to 20% of your MRR in savings, head here.
If you're looking to partner with our crew and offer your own savings initiative, send a note to brian@profitwell.com for more on collaboration.
ProfitWell featured user
Today’s featured user is Trainual, the team helping companies build their playbooks and train their teams with every process, policy, and procedure.
Trainual helps fast-growing businesses organize the chaos of onboarding and training while streamlining for scaling up. (Because we can all admit: Onboarding is a mess if it's fallen to the wayside. And as new employees, as we all once were, we can also attest that a streamlined process makes all the difference in first impressions and positive company outlook.)
Yes, it takes time to document your business knowledge. But it takes considerably less time when you start with templates, process playbooks, integrations, and employee engagement tools, courtesy of Trainual.
(And the Trainual team just so happens to use Dunder Mifflin as a mock case study in their demo, so I give them an A+ for prospect engagement.)
Here's a link to your free trial—so you, too, can get on board with better onboarding.
There you have it, your latest in B2B SaaS. We’ll meet you back here tomorrow with more.
Remember, we’re launching a weekly version of Recur Now, a newsletter with a roundup of the best in each week’s news. If you want in on that, reply to me at abby@recurnow.com and I’ll get you on the list.
This series is a Recur Studios production—the fastest-growing subscription network out there. If you find use for this show, subscribe for more like it at profitwell.com/recur.
