Growth. It’s the topic every sales and marketing leader is focused on right now. We’re coming off a difficult year across B2B SaaS, and the economic headwinds continue to add complexity to our plans. That’s why efficient growth matters more than ever.
To dive into current challenges, trends, and solutions to power-efficient growth in the year ahead, we recently partnered with Gong to host a panel discussion in London. As G2’s VP of the EMEA region, I was joined by Lesley Ronaldson, VP of EMEA Sales at Gong, Paul Gilhooly, VP of EMEA Sales at 6sense, and Julia Pilkes, Senior Director of Marketing at HubSpot.
I was excited to hear what these expert leaders are seeing, hearing, and doing in their own organizations. It was also nice to reconnect with Paul, as he and I shared our first-time dad journeys and GM roles at the same time, and Lesley, who was a prior colleague of mine at LinkedIn.
As you might imagine, several key themes emerged from our discussion.
Leveraging AI to drive efficiency
AI adoption is surging as buyers increasingly expect personalized experiences across all touchpoints. With this in mind, my fellow panelists and I agreed AI must be leveraged not just to create more content, but to free up time for high-value tasks.
For example, Gong uses AI to automate 10% of its pipeline and surface red flags to managers while Hubspot has decreased landing page design from weeks to minutes, allowing marketers to invest elsewhere.
Targeting the right accounts
With sales cycles lengthening, targeting high-potential accounts is critical. Targeted account outreach is a more effective approach than higher outreach volume for quality over quantity, the panelists agreed.
To embrace this approach, AI presents another application to dynamically assign in-market accounts and map buying committees. Focusing outreach on emerging personas, like revenue operations professionals, is another way to boost win rates.
Optimizing the customer journey
To improve retention and combat churn, it’s crucial to ensure friction points are eliminated in the customer journey. This means creating integrated customer experiences across sales, marketing, and customer success – aligning these teams with shared goals, data, tools, and human relationships. Also, look to optimize the journey but incorporate consistent executive-level involvement.
Emphasizing strong leadership
The panelists also emphasized focusing on what they consider to be “controllables” — like execution, focusing resources, and transparent communication. Strong execution and process disciplines pay off, especially in tougher times.
Also, look to test various approaches and embrace diverse viewpoints, as authentic, empathetic leadership will earn trust. And that is paramount to guiding teams through uncertainty.
I’m grateful to have the opportunity to hear from industry leaders like Lesley, Paul, and Julia. In the year ahead, I’ll be even more intentional to focus on what is in my control and prioritize initiatives that drive the most business impact, while maintaining compassion as a leader.
Our discussion reinforced that while times are challenging, leaders who double down on efficient growth, transparent leadership, and customer experience can build momentum, despite market uncertainty.
