Launching in new geography? What I know - Part 1

Let's talk about key aspects regarding sales, marketing, revenue, gtm and so on. What I know, what I have done; I will let you know. 

How to launch in new geography? 

Here is the thought process which worked for me. It may change based on the size of the company, maturity of the product/ platform and most importantly the team in the region/ geography. 

If an office already exists, which does something else other than revenue generating operations, that is a good start. However this is not a must.  

• Start small. Connect with some of the prospects and understand their ecosystem in terms of what their pain points are, how they solve those now and so on. 

• Interview sales managers, product managers, and CSMs from industry to get a pulse on pricing, customer nuances and more. This will help. 

• If you feel a spark, go ahead with marketing, events, etc. for lead generation. 

• Most important, a strongly differentiating point of view and/ or value proposition is needed to attract and retain customers. 

Every quarter/ year, rinse, learn and repeat. 

War scars are always visible … 🙋

How to build a sales, marketing (gtm) teams? 

My thoughts assume that the company is post revenue and product market fit. A handful of paying customers exist and now it is the time for the big next step. 

• Get a list of prospects. There are many ways to do it. Validation of the list is key. Just have an idea about what and where the product/ platform fits. I mean small, mid-size companies or enterprises ONLY. 

• Find out where prospects go and go there. Events, Influencers, podcasts, news channels and so on. Be cautious otherwise these things can drain money. 

• See if any of the existing team members are interested in doing this. They already know the market, product and can navigate internally fast. 

Will talk some other time on profit and loss on sales and marketing. 

Money spent is cheap if you can spend 1 and get more than 3 plus back … 👍 

What about Pricing?

• Already a pricing range exists. However, I suggest not to helicopter land that pricing into a new geography. Be cautious. 

• Based on the market and customer input; create a package specific to the geography. Customers usually pay more for compliance and security specific to an industry. Add those in the product as the gtm initiatives progress. 

• If new to the market, then do not focus on price. Focus on traction instead. Some initial customers are needed for sales teams to get motivated, product to get started and marketing to work. Let the flywheel cross that initial friction. 

Experiment, reflect, learn and repeat. 

Price is the fitness of business; let’s not ignore it ever … 👏

How to grow revenue and scale? 

• Position to be the most innovative product. Dollar or marketing spend usually lasts a month or two however what remains is the product. 

• Take care of existing customers. They are a goldmine for revenue considering upsells, cross-sells, and expansions. 

• Go multi-product which compliments existing customer base and can attract new prospects/ customers. 

• Support, privacy, and security are fear factors. Bank on those and retain customers.

• If financial allow, consider small acquisitions as part of revenue growth. 

Please note that these are some of the recommendations based on what I have done. 

Explore others which fits … 🌈

Keep exploring - you will find something great.

What I know, I will let you know.

Swagat Irsale is a Growth and Scale Advocate. He works with start ups and scale ups and helps them grow revenue and build enterprise products which users use.

You can connect with him on Linked in if you wish to.

https://www.groadv.com/post/grow-revenue-the-journey-zero-to-one-billion-swagat-irsale