growth. This is a topic that all sales and marketing leaders are currently focused on. We are heading into a challenging year across B2B SaaS, with economic headwinds continuing to complicate our plans.that's why Efficient Growth is more important than ever.
To dig into current challenges, trends, and solutions for power-efficient growth in the year ahead, we recently partnered with Gong to host a panel discussion in London. As his VP of EMEA for G2, I'm joined by my VP of EMEA Sales, Lesley Ronaldson. gongPaul Gilhooly, Vice President of EMEA Sales; 6 senseand Julia Pilkes, Senior Director of Marketing. hubspot.
I was excited to hear what these expert leaders are seeing, hearing, and doing in their organizations. It was also great to reconnect with Paul and my former colleague on LinkedIn, Leslie, as Paul and I simultaneously shared his journey to first-time fatherhood and his GM role.
As you might expect, several important themes emerged from our discussion.
Increase efficiency with AI
AI adoption is on the rise as buyers come to expect personalized experiences across every touchpoint. With this in mind, the other panelists and I agreed that we need to leverage AI to not only create more content, but also to free up our time on high-value tasks.
For example, Gong uses AI to automate 10% of the pipeline and present red flags to managers. Meanwhile, Hubspot has cut landing page design from weeks to minutes, freeing up marketers to invest elsewhere.
Target the right accounts
As sales cycles get longer, it's important to target high-potential customers. Panelists agreed that targeted account outreach is a more effective approach than doing more outreach, as it promotes quality over quantity.
To take this approach, AI provides another application for dynamically allocating accounts within a marketplace and mapping purchasing committees. Focusing your outreach on new personas, such as revenue operations professionals, is another way to increase your win rate.
Customer journey optimization
To improve retention and combat churn, it's important to ensure you eliminate friction points in the customer journey. This means creating a unified customer experience across sales, marketing, and customer success, aligning these teams around common goals, data, tools, and relationships. We also strive to optimize processes, but incorporate consistent executive-level involvement.
emphasize strong leadership
Panelists also emphasized focusing on what is considered “controllable,” such as execution, focusing resources, and transparent communication. Strong execution and process discipline pay off, especially during difficult times.
Also, try different approaches and be open to diverse perspectives so that truly empathetic leadership can earn trust. And that's most important in guiding your team through uncertainty.
We are grateful for the opportunity to hear from industry leaders like Leslie, Paul, and Julia. In the year ahead, I will be more intentional about being a compassionate leader, focusing on what I can control, and prioritizing initiatives that have the biggest impact on the business.
Our discussion highlights that although times are tough, leaders who double down on efficient growth, transparent leadership, and customer experience can build momentum despite market uncertainty. Did.
