Hi, .

Here is what happened in Trenches last week.

How to automate sales & marketing alignment to 2x inbound conversion

We sat down with Arthur Castillo and Nicolas Vandenberghe to chat about friction points in lead handoff processes and qualification. The most insightful part was about automating enrichment, qualification and disqualification. Guys shared several case studies:

• How Gong improved form conversion by 70% and fast-tracks ideal leads
• How TravelBank Automated 80% of Their Inbound Process

Lots of insights came from the community questions.

Access the case studies and recording here.

194 SQOs, 92 closed won opportunities and $557k revenue from market research

This Thursday at 11 a.m. EST. (5 PM CET) we are going to host our first Demand Gen Roundtable with Erin Balsa where she'll share how to successfully run market research and generate SQOs.

Sign up here.

Questions from fellow Trenchers

Let's help each other. If you can contribute or advise to any question below, just click the link and share your thoughts.

• Does anyone have a template they use to outline KPIs / track outbound and tie to overall company goals? from Noah Green
• Anyone can recommend an alternative to ZoomInfo? by Staci Harvatin
• What percentage of your marketing budget is payroll vs programs vs tools vs consultants/freelancers? by Jessica Morales
• Any recommendations for 3rd party intent data providers? by Andrew Black

LinkedIn Inbound Marketing Ebook + Workshop on AppSumo

We also launched our bestselling ebook "LinkedIn inbound marketing" + the recording of our workshop in Valencia on Appsumo.

You can purchase it for $49 instead of $99 here.

Post Of The Week

Here is how Anna explains it:

✅ 1) I only canceled my paid seat because I was changing jobs – not because I wasn't happy with the product. User needs change over time, and the traditional subscription revenue approach doesn't take this into account.

✅ 2) I'm still a paying customer with my freelance business (and a happy one, should I add). What's often overlooked is that users can have not just multiple accounts, but also multiple roles within those: for instance, I might be the super user for one tool in my day job, and have viewer rights for the same tool that my agency, freelance client, or inhouse sales team is using – just think tools like Figma or Avoma. (This "loop" also creates a nice way to attract more users beyond just the core users, but it's another story)

✅ 3) I'll probably start using Calendly in my new day job if I need a scheduling tool. I've already formed a relationship with Calendly and it's unlikely my preferences change drastically.

✅ 4) My total account/lifetime value has already exceeded acquisition costs by heaps (lead source: WoM / brand affinity, if you wish). So even if I never upgraded again, I was (am) still a good customer. 

✅ 5. Then there's "externalities" and influenced revenue that subscription revenue doesn't take into account. One of my old colleagues is paying for Calendly after I introduced it to her, I have already recommended Calendly to others, some of whom have upgraded to paid. With many products, you would also be paying for additional add-on services on top of subscription revenue.

I have similar on-off relationships with many other SaaS tools and platforms (e.g. Miro for my consulting business, or BookBeat for reading books) and I still love them all – regardless of whether I'm a paid user right now.

The takeaway?

Subscription revenue (i.e. the old way of understanding "recurring revenue") is rarely the whole truth.

Best Shares From Trenches Community

• 5 most common reasons why the ABM campaigns are falling down by Andrei Zinkevich
• Only Eminem can start an email with "Hi, my name is" from Relja Denic
• Marketing is not open-heart surgery by Wiebke Arendt
• 10 ways to STAND OUT in a crowded B2B market by Vladimir Blagojevic
• "In our industry salespeople don't listen. So I avoid them" by Ryan Paul Gibson

See you in Trenches 😉

Andrei

P.S. If you didn't join Slack community yet, here is a link.