How to Build a Winning GTM Strategy: Sara’s Saas Playbook

In this edition, we dive into an insightful conversation with Sara Archer, Head of Sales at ChartMogul. From defining your ICPs to leveraging AI for enrichment and sales efficiency, Sara shares how her team drives impactful growth with a high-touch approach.

Discover her unique tool stack, the "Olympian mentality" behind SaaS sales, and actionable tips for aligning your GTM motion. Whether you're scaling or refining, this newsletter is packed with strategies you can implement today!

Introduction

Ani: The last time we met was at the leadership dinner after SaaStock, and you taught me how to eat oysters! That was unforgettable. How have you been? Why don’t you introduce yourself to our listeners?

Sara: I’m now daydreaming about seafood since I live in landlocked Germany, where white fish is the best you can get! I’m based in Münster, and I’m Sara Archer, the Head of Sales at ChartMogul. What I wouldn’t give to have this chat over a plate of oysters!

Falling Into Sales by Accident?

Ani: Walking down memory lane, even before ChartMogul, you’ve held a variety of sales roles. Can you share how your journey into sales began? Did you start there or pivot into it?

Sara: Like many in sales, I fell into it by accident. I studied cognitive science and theoretical linguistics, with plans to pursue a PhD. But as I was applying for programs, I needed to pay the bills. Living near Washington, D.C., and putting rent on my credit card, my now-husband and I decided one of us needed to bring in money.

I landed at a small firm as a BDR (Business Development Representative), sourcing deals and opportunities. That job launched a 10+ year career in sales operations, spanning various roles. I’ve since worked on bringing SaaS products to market and building commercial teams to connect those products with happy customers.

From US to Germany

Sara: Originally from the U.S., I moved to Northwest Germany seven years ago. It’s been an exciting journey combining my background in sales with my passion for growing SaaS businesses in different markets and environments.

A Global Team with Local Impact

Ani: You’re based in Germany, and ChartMogul seems to have a significant presence across the globe. Would you say Europe is a bigger market than North America?

Sara: We’re quasi-headquartered in Berlin, but our team of around 70 people is spread worldwide, with offices in Toronto, Berlin, and Seoul. 

Our customer base is evenly split, about 50% in North America and 50% in Western Europe. Key hotspots include Berlin, Paris, Madrid, London, and other startup hubs with strong ecosystems.

How Sales Strategies Differ by Region

Ani: With such a global presence, how do sales tactics differ across regions? For example, the U.S. is known for email-heavy and outbound-focused sales. What adjustments do you make to cater to regional markets like Europe or APAC?

Sara: ChartMogul’s go-to-market motion is primarily inbound. We offer a 14-day free trial as the main call to action, and my sales team focuses on converting these trials into paid subscribers. About 20% of our 3,000 monthly leads are assigned to the sales team, while the rest follow a strong self-serve model.

Regional differences come down to:

• Negotiation Styles: North Americans are quick to buy but equally quick to churn. European customers, on the other hand, take a more deliberate approach, evaluating thoroughly but staying loyal once they commit.
• Technical Considerations: North American customers often use Stripe, which integrates seamlessly with our product. In Europe, GDPR concerns lead to homegrown billing solutions, resulting in more technical or prolonged sales cycles.
• Pricing Expectations: Certain markets, particularly in Europe, expect tougher price negotiations compared to North America.

Free Trials and Sales Activation

Ani: You’re in charge of free trials at ChartMogul. How do you handle the activation period, and when do you reach out to users?

Sara: Initially, we reached out to every lead because we thought intervention would help conversion. Over time, we changed that. Now, we focus on fewer, higher-value leads, which has been much more effective.

We’ve set up a system where each sales rep has their own dedicated Slack channel, like Needs Action Jordan, with customized alerts for their specific territory. When an SQL is assigned in the CRM, an alert triggers in Slack, and the rep follows a playbook specific to that lead.

Ani: How do you ensure that the system works for the sales reps?

Sara: The key is tailoring it to the individual. When we onboard a new AE, we sit down with them and our RevOps team to configure their Slack alerts and playbooks based on their territory. It gives them ownership over how they manage their leads. The result is that they’re more focused and engaged because they’re working with a system that fits their specific needs.

Ani: What’s the benefit of this approach?

Sara: It’s helped us reduce the volume of leads our sales team handles while keeping our self-serve motion consistent. Reps now focus on strategic opportunities, and we’re seeing positive results because they’re not overwhelmed with irrelevant tasks. We’ve found that allowing AEs to customize their approach leads to better outcomes.

From Subscription Analytics to CRM

Ani: You've been with ChartMogul for six years and must have seen a lot of changes. 

I noticed you mentioned ChartMogul CRM. Did it start out as a CRM, and how did the product evolve?

Sara: ChartMogul began almost 10 years ago as a solution to track SaaS metrics like ARR and MRR, integrating with billing data like Stripe and Braintree. Our core product was subscription analytics, simplifying the calculation of recurring revenue metrics. 

About two years ago, we decided to add CRM capabilities based on how our customers were using ChartMogul and the need for a seamless experience. We wanted to bring customer engagement into the same platform where people analyze their revenue data.

Ani: How does the sales team stay aligned with product updates and communicate new features?

Sara: We have a strong integration between sales and product teams. When a new feature is coming out, we don’t rely on just documents; it’s a more dynamic process. We have product demos, regular updates, and updated playbooks. 

When we launched the CRM functionality, we made sure the sales team understood the new capabilities and how it would benefit our customers. This alignment ensures that the sales reps can effectively communicate the value of new features, like managing customer relationships and recurring revenue in one place.

Challenges of Scaling

Ani: ChartMogul has grown significantly over the years. What challenges are you currently facing, especially with new market expansion or product offerings like CRM? 

How do you track what matters most?

Sara: One of the biggest challenges right now is competing with established CRM giants like Salesforce and HubSpot. We launched our CRM in 2024, and while it’s an exciting development, it means we’re contending with much larger players and newer tech contenders. 

My focus is figuring out the right go-to-market strategy for the CRM, how to price and position it competitively, and how to build long-term demand as the product matures. I also just hired a sales rep focused solely on selling CRM, so we’re working through how to position and grow that part of the business.

From a product development perspective, I'm also thinking about retaining our long-term customers, some of whom have been with us for nine years. And, of course, the daily grind of tracking metrics like MRR and ARR to understand both new customer acquisition and the health of our self-serve funnel is a constant challenge. Even after our best quarter, you start from scratch every month, especially during the holiday season. So it’s a lot of ongoing work.

Ani: What metrics do you track most closely?

Sara: I obsess over MRR movements and customer retention. These are the key metrics for tracking the health of our sales team and product adoption. 

We need to ensure that customers who’ve trusted us with their business for years continue to find value. It’s a balance of growing new business and maintaining the trust and satisfaction of existing customers.

Tackling Outbound Challenges

Ani: Outbound emails seem tricky, especially for new companies. We find it tough to even manage cold outreach. How do you handle this internally, and do you have any tips for new or existing founders?

Sara: The hardest part of outbound is the messaging. When I work with early founders, there’s often too much corporate jargon in emails, which can be off-putting. I always advise them to skip the pleasantries, don’t start by asking how someone is doing, especially when you don’t know them. Just get to the point. 

For us, personalized video works really well. We send Loom videos for every SQL that signs up, and we see about a 40% response rate. Video works particularly well in inbound motions, but one strategy I’ve seen work in outbound is permission-based videos. You start by asking, "If I make you a video, will you watch it?" This creates a kind of obligation to engage.

Ani: I love the video tactic. Asking for a call can be a big ask, but with videos, you respect the recipient’s time, they can choose to watch it at their convenience. Plus, you can track engagement. I think I'll borrow this idea.

Sara: Absolutely! Another thing I encourage is using honest language. For example, as a founder, you might say, "I’m working hard to build this product and aiming for 10 customers by the end of the year. I reached out because I think you might have valuable feedback. Could you spare 10 minutes to talk or share a few points?" It’s all about being human and relatable. People respect that transparency, especially if they see you’re genuinely trying to build something that succeeds.

Nurturing Cold Leads & Bridging Marketing-Sales Gaps

Ani: Many emails go unseen, prospects open them but don’t respond. How do you handle cold leads, and do you have a strategy for re-engaging them?

Sara: A lot of our re-engagement efforts come from our product team. We focus on building features that bring demand back naturally, and sales can amplify that. One of my team members keeps a "graveyard" of old leads and revisits them each quarter. 

We don’t always convert them, but some churned customers end up coming back, sometimes contributing 10% of revenue. It speaks to the strength of the product, we’ve built something people realize they can't get elsewhere. There's no silver bullet, but the constant innovation and product development keep bringing people back.

Ani: So, you focus on building demand first, and then re-engage cold leads later. I also know that marketing plays a huge role in generating those leads. 

How do you ensure smooth communication between sales and marketing, especially since what they define as a lead can be different?

Sara: Our VP of marketing, Rachel Whitehead, deserves a lot of credit for making this work. Early on, I was skeptical about the whole ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) exercise, but Rachel tied our ICP directly into our sales process. 

Every lead that comes in gets assigned an ICP score, and sales reps know exactly which ones are high-priority. Marketing also ties every campaign to generating specific ICP leads. 

For example, if we do a workshop for new founders, we're targeting ICPs four and five, those are long-term fits, and they enter our self-serve funnel. For high-value leads (ICPs one and two), we might host intimate dinners or tailored events, ensuring both teams are aligned on targets.

AI in Sales & Marketing

Ani: I love how you have a structured approach with the ICP categorization, ensuring both sales and marketing teams align. It really prevents the typical misalignment where sales teams might not engage with webinar leads, for example. But let’s switch gears to AI. 

How much is AI integrated into your processes, and how has it changed your workflows?

Sara: We’re using AI in a couple of ways. First, we have an internal enrichment model powered by OpenAI. When a new trial lead signs up, we run a script to research the domain (excluding free emails like Gmail). 

It enriches the lead with valuable data like employee count, location, and tech stack, which then shows up in the CRM for the sales team. This saves them from having to do manual research.

Second, we use a tool called Sales Room for call execution. It helps prep me for meetings by pulling research on potential buyers, and after the meeting, it transcribes everything and creates a follow-up email automatically. This means I don’t have to take manual notes, and I can focus on building relationships and high-value tasks instead of administrative work. It’s a huge leap from the old tools I used at the start of my career, and I’m excited to see how AI will continue to free up time for more creative work.

AI in SaaS Roadmap & Pricing

Ani: ChartMogul recently shared predictions for SaaS in 2024, particularly around the growing importance of AI and machine learning. 

Beyond the use cases you’ve already mentioned, do you see any new features on the horizon influenced by AI? 

How is it affecting your pricing and product roadmap?

Sara: That’s a great question. We’ve actually started productizing our internal enrichment solution. It began as something we built for ourselves, but we saw the value and decided to offer it to our customers. We've already closed our first enrichment customer. However, the challenge with AI tools is that as they become more mainstream, they can become table stakes. 

Customers might expect enrichment as a basic feature and no longer want to pay extra for it. We’re keeping an eye on this because what’s innovative today could be commoditized in the near future. So, while we’re testing it with a few customers now, the next challenge will be figuring out how to position it in the market long-term.

Rapid Fire Round with Sara: Insights into Sales, Tools, and Metrics

Ani: Let’s dive into some rapid-fire questions. First one, what are some unobvious metrics or tactics that matter to you the most in your sales or GTM?

Sara: A bit old school, but time to outreach is a big one for us. We noticed we got a little lazy in terms of follow-up speed, so we started tracking how quickly we reached out to leads. Not just for initial contact, but across the business, how fast do we schedule a meeting with an engineer candidate, for example? Anything that tracks urgency is key.

Ani: You mentioned that the team got a bit lazy in the past, how did you reignite that? What helped bring back momentum?

Sara: We reduced automation and focused on quality over volume. I actually took sequencing away from the team because it was overused and hurting quality. 

Instead, we reduced lead volume so the team could focus on ICP 1s and ICP 2s. It’s been about balancing efficiency and quality.

Ani: Sounds like your sales team is like a special ops team now, super high touch. Now, for tools, if you had to pick your Swiss Army knife tool, what would it be?

Sara: Definitely N8n. We moved from Zapier to Pipedream and then landed on N8n, which does incredible things for us across the business. It automates a lot of processes, like managing Slack channels. It’s become a go-to tool for us.

Ani: What about a less-known superstar tool that you use but isn’t super popular?

Sara: InCycle is a hidden gem. It’s a data management tool for cleaning and normalizing data. 

You can de-duplicate, and fix name and company cases, it’s a game-changer for data hygiene. Everyone should be using it.

Ani: Lastly, when you wake up, what’s the first thing you check? And what tool do you use to track it?

Sara: It’s always new business MRR for me. I get my dopamine hit courtesy of ChartMogul. I check the email notifications and Slack summary to see if we have any new business activity. After that, I dive into new leads.

Final Thoughts & Advice from Sara on GTM and Sales

Ani: When you refer to "new leads," are you talking about top-of-funnel leads or those that are already activated?

Sara: Top-of-funnel leads for sure. My sales team is pretty senior and self-managing to an extent. As a sales leader, I focus on the pipeline first and foremost. Getting people to pay attention in a competitive landscape and scheduling that first conversation is the toughest part. Once someone is in active evaluation, closing is easier, it’s all about getting that initial interest.

Ani: Any final thoughts on upcoming trends in GTM, or advice for entrepreneurs focusing on growth or GTM in today’s landscape?

Sara: The biggest truth about sales is that it’s a performance sport. You need consistent, high-quality inputs to generate results. It’s all about finding the right customers, getting in front of them, and having the right messaging. 

You’ll lose plenty of games, but you’ve got to keep pushing forward. That’s just the nature of the game.

Ani: Where can people find you online, Sara? Any resources you’d recommend?

Sara: LinkedIn is a great place to connect with me personally. If you're building a business with recurring revenue, check out the ChartMogul newsletter. It drops every Friday with resources and data-backed content for SaaS businesses.

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