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poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
6
โ˜•๏ธ
Yes, we turn bad technical fit and budget prospects away quite often.

If their stack does not match our integration capability they theyโ€™ll never reach full utility and will churn after one year of floundering. Also, at a certain MRR level they will never meet CAC payback and cost us more to service than revenue taken.

Be upfront and honest that you do not service accounts under a certain size. Tie it to utility or cost of ownership and you strengthen that talk track.
detectivegibbles
Politicker
2
Sales Director
Exhibit A on how to "interview" your potential customers.

Anyone that works for PBC is lucky.
ventox35
Politicker
0
Sales Leader
i should have been more clear that we are a service provider. no product. Everyone in the market NEEDS and USES our service, it's almost a commodity. very thin differentiators. the business has to go somewhere.

in light of that: how do you feel?
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
2
โ˜•๏ธ
Do you still spend money on people to service these accounts? The smaller clients often cost more to service.
ventox35
Politicker
0
Sales Leader
yes, but they pay no attention to that MRR size.

i think i agree with turning prospects away.

what i'm trying to understand, is how to turn away and not ruin company's reputation
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
4
โ˜•๏ธ
You do it without being a prick. Reference a minimum contract value AND provide a competitor recommendation. Suddenly youโ€™re a hero they can aspire to use in the future when they grow.
detectivegibbles
Politicker
2
Sales Director
...and maybe even develop a healthy relationship with a company that will deal with smaller MRR sizes and provide a finders fee/referral fee to you?

"Hey customer,

While our minimum MRR size is XXX, we're currently not in a position to bring on clients under that threshold

But...I've got a great relationship with ABC company that not only handles but specializes in MRR of this size.

I think you'll be extremely happy.

I'd love to hear how it's going, let's connect in 6 months"

Make intro - maintain relationship - and still possibly make money. Or if you can't get a referral fee, I'd assume a nice bottle of bourbon would do?

Is this realistic?
activity
Politicker
4
VP, Business Development
This is a healthy thing for companies to do. Especially when you are selling a technical product.
ventox35
Politicker
1
Sales Leader
@activitywhat about a service that's essentially a commodity?
punishedlad
Tycoon
2
Business Development Team Lead
My employer doesn't turn anyone away, but that's because we have a minimum contract amount baked into our pricing to cover costs. This culls anyone who can't afford it early in the process and allows us to stick to our guns.
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
We respect and embrace everyone. The reason -when we were at a growing phase our analysis showed that the major chunk of the business was coming from these smaller accounts (we are not a service though). The goal here became to see if we can grow them rather than shooing off.
saaskicker
Celebrated Contributor
2
Enterprise AE
probs trying to boost profit margins.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
1
Sales Rep
Is the service typically too expensive for them? I see that happen every once in awhile
ventox35
Politicker
0
Sales Leader
different philosophies at each company that cause them to utilize the service in varied ways.

ours is often too expensive for them unless we negotiate discounts. which is stupid, their MRR is no good for the bottom line
Maximas
Tycoon
1
Senior Sales Executive
So turning away prospects who are less than a certain MRR amount I can see it normal when selling a service since the service costs are variable and increasing by time that's why you need to maintain a high profile, but that's not the case with the product selling .

All what I recommend here is either to give the prospect a heads-up prior to doing so plus trying to be more selective when it comes to the prospects profile prior to selling em the service and signing the contract!
Pachacuti
Politicker
1
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Some customers are worth more than others. I have put the same amount of effort, and sometimes even more, into smaller fish compared to the whales I'd prefer to land.

A company has to draw the line somewhere.
JMSwiggidy
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Yes, we have a deal minimum and a few other qualifying factors. Iโ€™m in SaaS though, so for us itโ€™s more about being able to scale the account / fitting with our current ICP.

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