SaaS leaders: Use customer insights to accelerate growth during a downturn

Welcome to TechCrunch+ Tuesday

I try to keep things fresh, so I was dismayed to realize that I’d used the word “downturn” in two different headlines this morning.

Despite the quickening pace of layoffs, there is some good news for SaaS startups: 70% of SMBs plan to increase IT spending in 2023, and the procurement process is getting faster.

According to Caroline Hogan, senior director of vendor marketing at Gartner Digital Markets, this means companies can boost growth and revenue just by studying buyer decision patterns.

“At the awareness stage, businesses are looking to solve a problem or challenge using technology,” writes Hogan.

“Therefore, it’s essential to clearly communicate the benefits of your product and develop use cases tailored to the challenges businesses are facing.”

For example, Gartner found that 41% of SMB customers rely on customer ratings and reviews before making a purchase.

Which begs the question: When was the last time you checked your reviews on Capterra or GetApp? Here’s a follow-up: Which methods are your sales team using to encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews?

If you don’t have ready answers, you’re leaving money on the table. (Don’t worry, I won’t tell your investors.)

“Understanding shifts in how buyers are researching, evaluating, selecting and purchasing software is critical to accelerating growth,” says Hogan, who shares several tactics for gathering actionable insights.

Thanks very much for reading,

Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist

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