How Analytics Can Guide Your Decisions – with Mark Stouse

EPISODE SUMMARY

Data is information that is collected for us to review what happened in the past. This helps you to create and weigh decisions in the future. But, data is not enough to help you. You need to know how to transform that data into something that will guide you to success. 

In this week’s episode of SaaS-Story in the Making, B2B SaaS Sales Coach and Host Matt Wolach sat down with Proof Analytics CEO Mark Stouse to share their expertise on the power of data to propel your business forward. Aside from analytics, gain insights on how to start and learn from risks that can pave your way to better decisions and, eventually, to success. See how this revolutionary thinking will make your SaaS a success.

PODCAST-AT-A-GLANCE

Podcast: SaaS-Story in the Making

Episode: Episode No. 225, “How Analytics Can Guide Your Decision – with Mark Stouse”

Host: Matt Wolach, a B2B SaaS sales coach, Entrepreneur, and Investor

Guest: Mark Stouse, Chairman and CEO of Proof Analytics

TOP TIPS FROM THIS EPISODE

Utilize Data Analytics for Better Decision-Making

Making company decisions based on raw data is dangerous because it’s already the “past.”  An easy way to see this would be how the pandemic reshaped business operations. Tactics that worked for your company in 2018 may not necessarily work for you in 2022. This is where data analytics comes into play.

Data Analytics takes into account everything that may affect your business. This means that it interprets not only your company metrics and factors you can’t control, like global crises, but it also teaches you exactly how to circumvent the obstacles that it identified and how to best utilize the opportunities that arise.

Accelerate Sales Velocity by Inhibiting Risk Aversion

Average sales velocity is undoubtedly an overlooked Key Performance Indicator (KPI). Even if you have a reasonable closing rate, taking too long will affect business sustainability. Prolonged deal velocity tends to happen due to the sense of risk among buyers. This is even more palpable when you are elephant hunting or a start-up without an established brand reputation.

In order for your business to thrive, you will have to increase the conversation rate by lowering the customer’s risk aversion. How do you do that? You increase the confidence and trust in your brand. You also make it easier for the customer to say a hell yes to your product. Mark’s success is a testament to that method.

Mark went against the norm for Marketing Resource Management (MRM) by opting for a monthly subscription. This led to him selling over 1,200 seats in just 10 days. It worked because a subscription allows the customer to test the product and see if they like it. If it doesn’t work out, they just drop it, unlike in a contract where they’re locked in. Just like Mark, you can employ this strategy to accelerate your sales.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

Analytics Fuels Your Journey to Success

Like oil, data is helpful as it will boost your company’s trajectory. However, much like crude, raw data will not help as it’s merely descriptive. This is where analytics becomes a God-send because it refines or processes data from a disjointed theory into cohesive practicality. Analytics helps you make sense of the data into something useful.

To put it into context, analytics helps you draw the line between diverse statistics. It tells you what exactly, for example, the degree of customer engagement relative to the company revenue entails. Then, it means you what your next steps would be based on that and even forecasts the outcome. This way, you get to strategize long-term and stay ahead of your competitors.

Sales is a Win-Win

Currently, there is a backlash in the SaaS marketplace. The Crux of the issue is that customer skepticism is at an all-time high. There’s a pervasive view that vendors prioritize their self-interest over the customer’s well-being. Mark expounds on this by saying how customers feel “that their SaaS vendor has, at a minimum oversold them on the capabilities of their product, and in a maximum, lie through their teeth about the capabilities of the product.”

Contrary to this, sales are actually mutually beneficial. While it’s true that vendors profit from closed deals, it actually benefits the customer more. Beyond the micro-scale of solving problems, a great product may elevate the customer’s business entirely. So companies targeting increased sales velocity do not necessarily translate to compromising customer decision-making. It simply helps everyone win faster.

TOP QUOTES

Mark Stouse

[10:34] “If you’re just looking at data, you’re not keeping up. In fact, you’re just in the past totally.”

[15:14] “The mistakes are extremely unfun at the moment, but they typically translate into some of the best things in the future. “

Matt Wolach

[18:51] “Sales is a win-win. If you have a great product, they will benefit a lot from it. And if you do your job really well, you’re going to make their business better.”

LEARN MORE

To learn more about Mark Stouse and Proof Analytics, visit https://www.proofanalytics.ai/. 

You can also find Mark Stouse on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markstouse/. 

For more about how host Matt Wolach helps software companies achieve maximum growth, visit https://mattwolach.com/.