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May 23, 2024 · 19m · top-founders

How to 3x your revenue with 3 simple pricing changes

Brad van Leeuwen · 17m spoken Nathan Latka · 28s spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Brad van Leeuwen shares how SaaS management platform Cledara tripled its sales pipeline by diagnosing enterprise sales friction, leveraging macro purchasing data to refocus on SMBs, and streamlining its pricing, packaging, and sales cadences.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 2.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 0.0 Guest teaching 0.0 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 0.0
05100:0010:000:38–4:25 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Brad van Leeuwen Introduces Cledara's Go-to-Market Overhaul This is a solo presentation by Brad van Leeuwen with no host interaction. Brad outlines how Cledara restructured its go-to-market strategy after pipeline generation flatlined.4:26–8:06 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Diagnosing Pipeline Friction and Elongated Sales Cycles Monologue presentation detailing Cledara's data and sales metrics. Brad explains how attempting to sell to enterprise committees doubled their sales cycle from 30 days without increasing win rates.8:07–11:20 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Analyzing Macro Trends with the SaaS Buyers Index Brad presents proprietary data from the SaaS Buyers Index showing that SMB spend rebounded in late 2023, contrary to standard investor advice to move upmarket.11:21–14:46 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Renewal Economics and Land-and-Expand Validation Brad explains why Cledara unbundled IT and finance features into add-ons to simplify initial purchasing and capture renewal expansion.14:46–17:51 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Optimizing Conversion Rates and Sales Velocity Brad shares data showing that changing the CTA to 'get started free' yielded a 9x higher click-through rate and compressed discovery into an 8-minute demo close.17:53–19:32 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Key Takeaways and Concluding Insights on Pricing Levers Brad wraps up his talk by challenging the prevailing industry narrative that SMB SaaS is dead, urging founders to simplify pricing and packaging.0:38–4:25 · Guest teaching 0/10 Brad van Leeuwen Introduces Cledara's Go-to-Market Overhaul This is a solo presentation by Brad van Leeuwen with no host interaction. Brad outlines how Cledara restructured its go-to-market strategy after pipeline generation flatlined.4:26–8:06 · Guest teaching 0/10 Diagnosing Pipeline Friction and Elongated Sales Cycles Monologue presentation detailing Cledara's data and sales metrics. Brad explains how attempting to sell to enterprise committees doubled their sales cycle from 30 days without increasing win rates.8:07–11:20 · Guest teaching 0/10 Analyzing Macro Trends with the SaaS Buyers Index Brad presents proprietary data from the SaaS Buyers Index showing that SMB spend rebounded in late 2023, contrary to standard investor advice to move upmarket.11:21–14:46 · Guest teaching 0/10 Renewal Economics and Land-and-Expand Validation Brad explains why Cledara unbundled IT and finance features into add-ons to simplify initial purchasing and capture renewal expansion.14:46–17:51 · Guest teaching 0/10 Optimizing Conversion Rates and Sales Velocity Brad shares data showing that changing the CTA to 'get started free' yielded a 9x higher click-through rate and compressed discovery into an 8-minute demo close.17:53–19:32 · Guest teaching 0/10 Key Takeaways and Concluding Insights on Pricing Levers Brad wraps up his talk by challenging the prevailing industry narrative that SMB SaaS is dead, urging founders to simplify pricing and packaging.0:38–4:25 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Brad van Leeuwen Introduces Cledara's Go-to-Market Overhaul This is a solo presentation by Brad van Leeuwen with no host interaction. Brad outlines how Cledara restructured its go-to-market strategy after pipeline generation flatlined.4:26–8:06 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Diagnosing Pipeline Friction and Elongated Sales Cycles Monologue presentation detailing Cledara's data and sales metrics. Brad explains how attempting to sell to enterprise committees doubled their sales cycle from 30 days without increasing win rates.8:07–11:20 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Analyzing Macro Trends with the SaaS Buyers Index Brad presents proprietary data from the SaaS Buyers Index showing that SMB spend rebounded in late 2023, contrary to standard investor advice to move upmarket.11:21–14:46 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Renewal Economics and Land-and-Expand Validation Brad explains why Cledara unbundled IT and finance features into add-ons to simplify initial purchasing and capture renewal expansion.14:46–17:51 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Optimizing Conversion Rates and Sales Velocity Brad shares data showing that changing the CTA to 'get started free' yielded a 9x higher click-through rate and compressed discovery into an 8-minute demo close.17:53–19:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Key Takeaways and Concluding Insights on Pricing Levers Brad wraps up his talk by challenging the prevailing industry narrative that SMB SaaS is dead, urging founders to simplify pricing and packaging.0:38–4:25 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Brad van Leeuwen Introduces Cledara's Go-to-Market Overhaul This is a solo presentation by Brad van Leeuwen with no host interaction. Brad outlines how Cledara restructured its go-to-market strategy after pipeline generation flatlined.4:26–8:06 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Diagnosing Pipeline Friction and Elongated Sales Cycles Monologue presentation detailing Cledara's data and sales metrics. Brad explains how attempting to sell to enterprise committees doubled their sales cycle from 30 days without increasing win rates.8:07–11:20 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Analyzing Macro Trends with the SaaS Buyers Index Brad presents proprietary data from the SaaS Buyers Index showing that SMB spend rebounded in late 2023, contrary to standard investor advice to move upmarket.11:21–14:46 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Renewal Economics and Land-and-Expand Validation Brad explains why Cledara unbundled IT and finance features into add-ons to simplify initial purchasing and capture renewal expansion.14:46–17:51 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Optimizing Conversion Rates and Sales Velocity Brad shares data showing that changing the CTA to 'get started free' yielded a 9x higher click-through rate and compressed discovery into an 8-minute demo close.17:53–19:32 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Key Takeaways and Concluding Insights on Pricing Levers Brad wraps up his talk by challenging the prevailing industry narrative that SMB SaaS is dead, urging founders to simplify pricing and packaging.

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

0:00 · Nathan 17.5% · guest 82.5%0:00 · Nathan 17.5% · guest 82.5%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 17:58 Pushing back against 'SMB is dead' narrative

Brad directly challenges prevailing industry consensus by asserting that SMB SaaS is actively thriving for companies that reduce purchasing friction.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 0:04 Nathan Latka's introductory framing

Because the main episode is an unhosted keynote presentation, the host's only vocal presence is his standard database pitch during the intro.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:30 Empirical data disproving upmarket bias

Brad uses transaction data across thousands of companies to demonstrate that board mandates to pursue enterprise customers overlooked a major rebound in SMB software purchasing.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 0:04 Latka highlighting GetLatka metrics database

Latka demonstrates his authority and extensive dataset by referencing thousands of SaaS founder interviews filtered by CAC, churn, and valuation metrics.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Brad van Leeuwen Introduces Cledara's Go-to-Market Overhaul 0010 This is a solo presentation by Brad van Leeuwen with no host interaction. Brad outlines how Cledara restructured its go-to-market strategy after pipeline generation flatlined.
Diagnosing Pipeline Friction and Elongated Sales Cycles 0010 Monologue presentation detailing Cledara's data and sales metrics. Brad explains how attempting to sell to enterprise committees doubled their sales cycle from 30 days without increasing win rates.
Analyzing Macro Trends with the SaaS Buyers Index 0020 Brad presents proprietary data from the SaaS Buyers Index showing that SMB spend rebounded in late 2023, contrary to standard investor advice to move upmarket.
Renewal Economics and Land-and-Expand Validation 0010 Brad explains why Cledara unbundled IT and finance features into add-ons to simplify initial purchasing and capture renewal expansion.
Optimizing Conversion Rates and Sales Velocity 0010 Brad shares data showing that changing the CTA to 'get started free' yielded a 9x higher click-through rate and compressed discovery into an 8-minute demo close.
Key Takeaways and Concluding Insights on Pricing Levers 0020 Brad wraps up his talk by challenging the prevailing industry narrative that SMB SaaS is dead, urging founders to simplify pricing and packaging.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cledara's 'get started free' CTA drove 9x more clicks than demo requests
“Click-through rate of get started free was nine times higher than book a demo.”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 15:51
Disclosure
Cledara SDR quota attainment dropped despite hiring more reps
“We started flatlining on our pipe gen, right? The quota attainment was dropping off as we were adding more SDRs. We were not booking necessarily, ah, more demos.”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 2:40
Disclosure
Moving upmarket failed to boost Cledara's overall sales pipeline
“Though we did book opportunities with buyers of that size, and though we closed them, It didn't really have an impact on the total amount of pipeline we were booking.”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 3:41
Disclosure
Moving upmarket elongated Cledara's sales cycles without improving their win rates
“Interestingly, our win rate didn't change. It just took a lot longer, and we had to work a lot harder for it.”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 5:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Over 60% of companies have at least 40% untracked shadow IT
“More than 60% of companies have at least 40% of their software, being stuff that IT, finance didn't know, ah, that they had, right?”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 6:49
Insight
Small SaaS buyers increase spending faster than enterprises in strong markets
“When markets are good, buyers are smaller buyers, which are more volatile, perform better.”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 9:41
Assertion Supported
SMB SaaS spending growth surpassed enterprise growth in late 2023
“The interesting thing happened Q-three last year. So, around Web Summit last year, we gave a State of the Union on, on SaaS. And we said, it's interesting. The small buyers come back. The small buyers started outperforming the big buyers for the first time in …”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 10:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Software buyers allocate 95% of their annual software budgets to renewals
“Buyers of software allocate 95% of their annual software budget to renewals, not new purchases, right?”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 11:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Buyers spend 30% more on average for renewals than new software
“What this shows is that buyers are willing to spend, on average, 30% more for a renewal than a new purchase.”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 11:55
Insight
Shrinking buying committees through pricing and packaging accelerates sales pipeline
“So if you can remove people from the buying committee by changing your pricing and packaging you've got a big opportunity to accelerate pipeline a lot.”
Brad van Leeuwen May 23, 2024 ▶ 19:06
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