# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending June 12, 2020

Published: 12 June 2020
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-june-12-2020

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

Predictive Churn. Churn is a key metric for every SaaS Business - but it’s a metric of hindsight and not exactly useful for future forecasts apart from presumptions based on past trends. So checkout [this tool](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ruI7JYoTpGdabZI_nB4S5un7FmLWXyXRYPtY8WRYnPQ/edit) (another handy Google Sheet) from Newfund as a way to analyze the strength of revenues streams for any B2B startup. A complimentary article outlining the methodology behind the predictive churn tool is [here (you should read this first)](https://medium.com/entrepreneurial-resolutions/how-to-analyze-your-revenues-resiliency-e853a327c556).

Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ruI7JYoTpGdabZI_nB4S5un7FmLWXyXRYPtY8WRYnPQ/edit

## 2. REVOPS

aka Revenue Operations is definitely a thing and it needs to be. You may already be practicing this without using the phrase - it’s a way too maximize revenues and in this [Age of the Customer](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2016/03/age-of-the-customer.html) it’s also a way to align operational excellence around the customer experience. Here is a good [introductory article](https://www.chargebee.com/blog/what-is-revops/) from Chargebee on RevOps and [here are 3 nuggets of wisdom](https://www.chargebee.com/blog/revenue-operations-tips-from-experts) from some significant RevOps leaders.

Link: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2016/03/age-of-the-customer.html

## 3. GROWTH

To compliment above, should a “Growth Team” be party of your revenue strategy? Growth is a fairly generic term, so [take a read of this article](https://blog.growthhackers.com/the-benefits-of-a-growth-team-ac62f69b6fa9) from Andy Boyd who reviews the benefits of such a team, especially important as there has [never been a more important time to focus on efficient growth.](https://a16z.com/2020/04/07/saas-businesses-weather-hard-times-by-focusing-on-efficient-growth/)

Link: https://blog.growthhackers.com/the-benefits-of-a-growth-team-ac62f69b6fa9

## 4. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Customer behaviors have changed dramatically in the past few months and now is the time to start a) Evaluating current customer experience strategies and b) Changing them to gain an advantage during the global impact of Covid-19. McKinsey has [an article on the impact and trends in customer behavior during this pandemic era](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/elevating-customer-experience-excellence-in-the-next-normal), mapping out ones they feel are here to stay - emphasizing that primarily, recoveries will be digital. This is signaling a great opportunity for tech companies in this post-COVID economy - which McKinsey is also labelling “[The Careful Economy](https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/covid-response-center/conversations/the-new-possible/the-careful-economy)".

Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/elevating-customer-experience-excellence-in-the-next-normal

## 5. TRUST

This is an extension from the above reference to the [Careful Economy](https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/covid-response-center/conversations/the-new-possible/the-careful-economy), but worth separating out as, according to Godard Abel (Co-Founder and CEO at G2, who know a few things about trust), [SaaS buyers are increasingly more skeptical, suspicious, and unconvinced](https://www.saastr.com/the-saas-trust-crisis-with-godard-abel-video-transcript) in this current post/current pandemic world. Making it harder to market and sell software and services than ever before.

Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/covid-response-center/conversations/the-new-possible/the-careful-economy

## 6. MARKETING

To drive marketing-based results via relevant content, a good content strategy is (obviously) key. ContentTools (now part of Growth hackers) has [a five step guide to develop a great Content Strategy](https://blog.contentools.com/content-marketing/five-essential-elements-for-a-great-content-strategy-2). Want a shortcut? I got ya, [here are 5 B2B examples you can copy.](https://www.convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/b2b-content-marketing-examples/)

Link: https://blog.contentools.com/content-marketing/five-essential-elements-for-a-great-content-strategy-2

## 7. CAPITAL

We are seeing a growing world of Debt in the Venture and SaaS world…..and according to Nathan Latka, [thats a good thing](https://www.saastr.com/were-about-to-see-a-lot-more-saas-debt/) and [here is why](https://tomtunguz.com/venture-debt-spike/) (from Tomasz Tunguz in 2017).

Link: https://www.saastr.com/were-about-to-see-a-lot-more-saas-debt/

## 8. SALES

I’m sure you have all seen it - a salesforce that likes to cherry pick leads or opportunties based on effort and the source of the lead. It’s a form of confirmation bias that leads to missed opportunities and revenue. So here is an interesting thought exercise - [what if you wrapped an SLA around leads](https://www.saastr.com/the-1-most-important-thing-you-can-do-with-your-leads-implement-an-sla)? Where all leads need to be followed up on.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/the-1-most-important-thing-you-can-do-with-your-leads-implement-an-sla

## 9. ONBOARDING

Good onboarding is a good investment - it impacts [product activation and adoption](https://userpilot.com/saas-product-onboarding) (which improves retention). [Here is an onboarding checklist](https://www.profitwell.com/blog/saas-onboarding) with examples & metrics and, at minimum, good onboarding emails are needed - [here are 8 tips to writing great ones](https://baremetrics.com/blog/onboarding-welcome-email).

Link: https://userpilot.com/saas-product-onboarding

## 10. POC’s

(aka Proof of Concepts) in enterprise sales are [a powerful sales tool](https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/saas-poc-paid-pilot-program/) and critical part of the customer journey. But often times they can be just as big an anchor in sales as they can be an accelerator. [Here are some pro tips if your POC’s get stuck](https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/troubleshooting-enterprise-proof-of-concepts).

Link: https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/saas-poc-paid-pilot-program/

## POD OF THE WEEK

I love good growth stories. Here are the [7 Marketing Steps Lemlist took to get to $1m ARR](https://saasmarketer.io/saas-marketing-playbook)

Link: https://saasmarketer.io/saas-marketing-playbook