From Impossible to Inevitable: How SaaS and Other Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue

by Aaron Ross

WHERE OUTBOUND WORKS BEST—AND WHERE IT FAILS If you want to go big with outbound prospecting, it works best when you have these four conditions in place: You can sell deals that are large enough to be profitable, usually $10,000–$20,000 in lifetime value (bigger is better). Yes, outbound can work with smaller deals, but it's harder to do it profitably. Your value proposition is easy for a prospect to understand and say yes or no to. If your proposition or messaging is jargonish or vague (“we can help you grow revenue or reduce expenses”), you'll struggle. Products tend to be more concrete than services, so tend to be easier to sell. We're talking on average. The more concrete you can make your offering and value—even in services—the easier for a prospect to “get it,” the better. You've Nailed a Niche and know very clearly what kinds of companies need you, what they care about and how you stand out from their other options. You're selling something they “add in” without having to rip-and-replace a prior system: If you're trying to call in and compete with DropBox or some financial system, to get a company to rip that out and replace it with your service, it's hard. You have to have a damn good reason for them to do it—a reason that you're 10 times better. It's much easier to look for opportunities where the buyer doesn't need to replace or trash an entrenched system that works “well enough.” Whether you call this white space, green fields, blue skies, or magenta flowers, lo...