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Feb 26, 2021 · 20m · saastr

The Playbook to Boosting Net Retention (Quickly) with Terminus's CEO | SaaStr Software Community

Tim Kopp · 17m spoken
0:00 / 0:00
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Terminus CEO Tim Kopp presents an executive playbook detailing how the company boosted its Net Retention Rate by 40 points in a single year across people, process, and product pillars. He outlines how SaaS leaders can transform existing customers into long-term growth engines through organizational alignment, proactive account health tracking, multi-product expansion, and full-funnel marketing.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Jason holds 0.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Jason as informed peer 0.0 Guest teaching 1.0 Guest disagreement 0.0 Jason pushing back 0.0
05100:0010:0020:002:09–4:22 · Jason as informed peer 0/10 The Terminus Backstory and Three-Pillar Framework Tim Kopp presents a solo webinar keynote explaining the Terminus backstory, COVID impacts, and his three-pillar framework for driving net revenue retention. Host Jason Lemkin is absent, so host-side metrics are zero.4:23–9:44 · Jason as informed peer 0/10 People: Aligning Organizational Structure and Account Teams Kopp details organizational restructuring, moving retention under the CRO, creating 'Terminus 360' teams, and answering audience text questions on compensation and red account managers. The host does not speak.9:48–14:15 · Jason as informed peer 0/10 Product: Strategic Acquisitions and Multi-Product Expansion Tim Kopp explains product expansion through M&A (Sigstr, Ramble, GrowFlare) and discusses CS-led product audits in response to chat questions. There is no host involvement.14:18–18:18 · Jason as informed peer 0/10 Creative Customer Marketing and Full-Funnel Strategy Kopp advocates for investing in customer marketing and full-funnel strategy, sharing creative campaign examples like the Dunder Mifflin case study. The session concludes without live host moderation.2:09–4:22 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Terminus Backstory and Three-Pillar Framework Tim Kopp presents a solo webinar keynote explaining the Terminus backstory, COVID impacts, and his three-pillar framework for driving net revenue retention. Host Jason Lemkin is absent, so host-side metrics are zero.4:23–9:44 · Guest teaching 1/10 People: Aligning Organizational Structure and Account Teams Kopp details organizational restructuring, moving retention under the CRO, creating 'Terminus 360' teams, and answering audience text questions on compensation and red account managers. The host does not speak.9:48–14:15 · Guest teaching 1/10 Product: Strategic Acquisitions and Multi-Product Expansion Tim Kopp explains product expansion through M&A (Sigstr, Ramble, GrowFlare) and discusses CS-led product audits in response to chat questions. There is no host involvement.14:18–18:18 · Guest teaching 1/10 Creative Customer Marketing and Full-Funnel Strategy Kopp advocates for investing in customer marketing and full-funnel strategy, sharing creative campaign examples like the Dunder Mifflin case study. The session concludes without live host moderation.2:09–4:22 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Terminus Backstory and Three-Pillar Framework Tim Kopp presents a solo webinar keynote explaining the Terminus backstory, COVID impacts, and his three-pillar framework for driving net revenue retention. Host Jason Lemkin is absent, so host-side metrics are zero.4:23–9:44 · Guest disagreement 0/10 People: Aligning Organizational Structure and Account Teams Kopp details organizational restructuring, moving retention under the CRO, creating 'Terminus 360' teams, and answering audience text questions on compensation and red account managers. The host does not speak.9:48–14:15 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Product: Strategic Acquisitions and Multi-Product Expansion Tim Kopp explains product expansion through M&A (Sigstr, Ramble, GrowFlare) and discusses CS-led product audits in response to chat questions. There is no host involvement.14:18–18:18 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Creative Customer Marketing and Full-Funnel Strategy Kopp advocates for investing in customer marketing and full-funnel strategy, sharing creative campaign examples like the Dunder Mifflin case study. The session concludes without live host moderation.2:09–4:22 · Jason pushing back 0/10 The Terminus Backstory and Three-Pillar Framework Tim Kopp presents a solo webinar keynote explaining the Terminus backstory, COVID impacts, and his three-pillar framework for driving net revenue retention. Host Jason Lemkin is absent, so host-side metrics are zero.4:23–9:44 · Jason pushing back 0/10 People: Aligning Organizational Structure and Account Teams Kopp details organizational restructuring, moving retention under the CRO, creating 'Terminus 360' teams, and answering audience text questions on compensation and red account managers. The host does not speak.9:48–14:15 · Jason pushing back 0/10 Product: Strategic Acquisitions and Multi-Product Expansion Tim Kopp explains product expansion through M&A (Sigstr, Ramble, GrowFlare) and discusses CS-led product audits in response to chat questions. There is no host involvement.14:18–18:18 · Jason pushing back 0/10 Creative Customer Marketing and Full-Funnel Strategy Kopp advocates for investing in customer marketing and full-funnel strategy, sharing creative campaign examples like the Dunder Mifflin case study. The session concludes without live host moderation.

speaking balance: gold is Jason, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Jason 2.7% · guest 97.3%0:00 · Jason 2.7% · guest 97.3%3:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%18:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%18:00 · Jason 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:40 Calling out boring B2B marketing

In a completely non-combative solo presentation, Kopp's sharpest critique is urging B2B marketers to stop being boring and that enterprise sales is not a license to suck.

 Hardest push from Jason ▶ 0:05 Host handover

The host only introduces the guest at the very beginning and offers zero pushback throughout the keynote.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:23 Explaining org structure realignment

Kopp shares his playbook on why customer acquisition and retention must report under the same CRO leader to align incentives.

 Jason holds their own ▶ 0:05 Host introduction

The host does not engage in dialogue or demonstrate expertise, simply handing the floor over to Tim Kopp.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicJason as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementJason pushing backWhy
The Terminus Backstory and Three-Pillar Framework 0100 Tim Kopp presents a solo webinar keynote explaining the Terminus backstory, COVID impacts, and his three-pillar framework for driving net revenue retention. Host Jason Lemkin is absent, so host-side metrics are zero.
People: Aligning Organizational Structure and Account Teams 0100 Kopp details organizational restructuring, moving retention under the CRO, creating 'Terminus 360' teams, and answering audience text questions on compensation and red account managers. The host does not speak.
Product: Strategic Acquisitions and Multi-Product Expansion 0100 Tim Kopp explains product expansion through M&A (Sigstr, Ramble, GrowFlare) and discusses CS-led product audits in response to chat questions. There is no host involvement.
Creative Customer Marketing and Full-Funnel Strategy 0100 Kopp advocates for investing in customer marketing and full-funnel strategy, sharing creative campaign examples like the Dunder Mifflin case study. The session concludes without live host moderation.

Statements from this episode (12)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kopp: Terminus Boosted Net Retention Rate by 40 Points in One Year
“We move NRR, our 40 points in a year, which is pretty remarkable.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 0:40
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Kopp: SaaS Boards and C-Suites Will Discuss NRR More Than Ever
“I believe at a board level discussion at a C-suite, we're going to see more and more discussion, particularly for those of you in marketing you're going to hear more about NRR than ever.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 1:19
Insight
Kopp: Retention and Acquisition Must Report to the Same Leader
“My view is that retention and acquisition, but both should sit under the same leader. Why would you go about acquiring customers that you can't retain? The incentives, incentive alignment, everything should tie together.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 4:36
Disclosure
Kopp: A Quarter of Terminus Is Dedicated to Account Support
“40 to 50 people who are part of our company, really about a quarter of our company is dedicated to this function and making it work now.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 5:23
Opinion
Kopp: Modern marketing massively underfunds customer marketing
“I think marketing today is massively underfunded as it relates to customer marketing.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 6:21
Disclosure
Terminus shifted CSM compensation from gross dollar to logo retention
“We changed CSM compensation to go from gross dollar retention to logo retention. So even if that meant that we had to right size an account, we always wanted to do what was right for the customer.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 7:16
Insight
Kopp: Most SaaS retention issues break down during team handoffs
“I think we're a lot of the retention issues breakdown as in handoffs.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 8:33
Insight
Kopp: Single-product SaaS companies struggle to increase net retention
“If you're a single product company, it's really hard to move the lever on net retention.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 9:56
Insight
Kopp: A Single Point of Contact for Escalations Drives Retention
“There's just so much power and focus and having the singular point of contact that all escalations go through. If you could do one thing, that would be the one thing I would suggest.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 14:04
Disclosure
Kopp: Terminus shifted significant marketing budget to customer-facing discussions
“I shifted a significant amount of resources into customers and to making sure that we did the proper level of frankly, just like getting marketer to marketer discussions happening and we embrace the mindset of no selling, but just hands-on marketer to marketer…”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 14:53
Insight
Kopp: B2B companies have no excuse for boring marketing
“Quit being so boring. Just because you're in B to B is not really a license to suck. You need to really up level your game and continue to get more and more creative with marketing.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 16:24
Disclosure
Terminus had its CPO lead customer success for six months
“In fact, the person is our chief product officer. I had him go and lead our customer success team for six months to understand and have empathy for our customers, for what they're doing to really embrace that, to be able to make better trade-offs.”
Tim Kopp Feb 26, 2021 ▶ 18:57
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