Hello All,
So far, we’ve been trying to use Excel to track the various metrics typically involved in selling SaaS products.
However, it’s becoming quite complex to maintain, and becomes extremely difficult to do various scenario planning etc.
Have you guys used any online tool which can help in doing the same? So far, SaaSOptics looks quite good (but very expensive for a startup).
To give you an idea, here’s the kind of details we’re looking to get into about tracking our metrics:
Thanks,
Vikram
Yatin Mulay
Have you checked out kissmetrics.com ? You can take 14 day free trial to see if it fits your needs. As per https://blog.kissmetrics.com/5-metrics-for-saas/ they do track the imp SaaS KPIs. ( Kissmetrics is founded by Neil Patel who also is founder of CrazyEgg )
There’s also a shared Google Doc done by Ryan Carson https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkxZrw3662U_dEhQa0Y4T3c5RU5mcGd6N0twYXhLZWc&hl=en#gid=0
$0.02
Vikram Parekh
Thanks Yatin. Yes, we’ve looked at KISSMetrics and I follow Neil as well.
What I’m finding challenging is the part before tracking…we’re at a stage where we need to forecast some numbers, how much will we spend across various online channels, what could be our conversion targets, and based on that what could be our CAC, LTV etc.
We’re primarily using this exercise to see what would be take for us to get to a zero touch / low-touch sales model, vs. what we currently have a very high-touch sales model.
Thanks for your inputs,
Vikram
Abey John
IMO, getting into scenario modelling is a waste of time if you are a startup.
1. Low touch works if your product pricing is low. Zero touch is a fantasy, doesn’t exist. Low touch includes automated email drip campaigns and etc.
2. High touch is needed if your pricing is high. Period.
If you are low priced and you are forced to be high touch then the problem is with your value-benefit story and your marketing funnel. Fix that. Cost of setting up the marketing funnel will be high up front but it get pays for itself as your customer numbers grow.
If you are less than 2-3 years old I would suggest shooting LTV in the face. Or you should have had at least 30 customer exits for whom the value prop of your product/service no longer holds true. All the numbers you get are chalk marks in the rain storm of growth. Unless of course you have lifecycle benchmarks that you can at least quasi-reliably lean on.
Watch CAC and make sure it is trending downwards. Don’t bother about actual numbers. CAC is a another cost element in the overall product cost. Cost of Sales once you reach “normality” (whatever that is) usually hovers between 5-20%. CAC is a line item under Cost of Sales
Vikram Parekh
Thanks Abey for the insights. Very helpful as always!!
Abey John
Welcome! 🙂