The Science of Scaling
How to Build a Moat Strategy That Wins w/ Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta)
Wed Jul 19 2023Description
The episode discusses ankle biters as a sign of success and competition in the startup world. Stevie Case, CRO of VANTA, shares her experience dealing with ankle biters and how being a professional gamer helped her in her current role. The episode also explores VANTA's challenges with copycat competitors and their strategies to rebuild confidence in their sales team. Additionally, it covers the importance of trials, handling objections, and improving sales team performance. The episode concludes with insights on building a sustainable business and overcoming competition.
Insights
Ankle biters are a sign of success and competition in the startup world.
Stevie Case, CRO of VANTA, shares her experience dealing with ankle biters. Stevie dropped out of college to become a professional female gamer playing Quake. Being a professional gamer taught Stevie skills that she now applies as a CRO. Stevie joined VANTA because of its strong product-market fit and potential for scale.
VANTA faced aggressive copycat competitors trying to undercut them on price.
There are currently 43 distinct copycat competitors in the space. Some competitors have managed to gain traction by copying VANTA's original product. Ignoring ankle biter competitors allowed them to gain traction, so Vanta had to redefine their story and rebuild confidence in their superior product.
Using handheld trials guided by SES, Vanta doubled their win rate by allowing prospects to try the product before buying it, highlighting its quality compared to competitors' products.
The increased win rate from trials also boosted the team's confidence as prospects confirmed that Vanta's product was better.
Understanding why customers care about SOC 2 certification led to quantifying ROI and sharing customer case studies.
Vanta's deep understanding of what customers need in years two and three of their compliance journey gave them an advantage over competitors who couldn't build for those stages.
MedPIC and BAND are sales qualifying methodologies that Vanta implemented.
For more complex sales, using a tool like MedPIC is better than BANT. Focusing on the most likely forecasted deals and understanding the conversations that lead to signing are important.
Frontline sales managers play a crucial role in training and coaching salespeople.
Increasing win rates was a key goal for Vanta, which required getting frontline managers fully bought into the training program. Reinforcing desired behaviors through questioning and accountability is important at all levels of management.
Reinforce the concept of being on the hook for a repeatable process
Build a framework that reinforces these concepts. Frontline managers need to be bought in for success. Ankle biters rely on cheap pricing and logo wins, but we focus on building a sustainable business. Initially matched pricing, but now command a premium with tighter controls. Reliance on discounts is not good except in rare cases of being the low-price player. Constantly reassess discounting strategy based on market dynamics. Creating an attractive category can attract competition.
Chapters
- Ankle Biters and Competition in the Startup World
- Dealing with Copycat Competitors
- Executing Trials and Handling Objections
- Improving Sales Team Performance
- Building a Sustainable Business and Overcoming Competition
Ankle Biters and Competition in the Startup World
00:00 - 07:36
- Ankle biters are a sign of success and competition in the startup world.
- Stevie Case, CRO of VANTA, shares her experience dealing with ankle biters.
- Stevie dropped out of college to become a professional female gamer playing Quake.
- Being a professional gamer taught Stevie skills that she now applies as a CRO.
- Stevie joined VANTA because of its strong product-market fit and potential for scale.
- VANTA faced aggressive copycat competitors trying to undercut them on price.
- There are currently 43 distinct copycat competitors in the space.
- Some competitors have managed to gain traction by copying VANTA's original product.
Dealing with Copycat Competitors
07:15 - 14:53
- Competitors copying and undercutting prices is a common challenge for successful companies.
- HubSpot faced tough competition when one of their main competitors bought a rival company and sold it at a much lower price.
- Having a strong execution strategy is crucial to building a sustainable advantage in the market.
- A sustainable moat test asks how a company would still win if competitors with significant resources copied their product and sold it at a lower price.
- Vanta focused on rebuilding confidence in their sales team by educating them about the company's multi-year lead and innovative product.
- Ignoring ankle biter competitors allowed them to gain traction, so Vanta had to redefine their story and rebuild confidence in their superior product.
- Customers should care about Vanta's multi-year lead because compliance standards like SOC 2 or ISO 27001 require ongoing security improvements.
- Vanta's deep understanding of what customers need in years two and three of their compliance journey gave them an advantage over competitors who couldn't build for those stages.
- Using handheld trials guided by SES, Vanta doubled their win rate by allowing prospects to try the product before buying it, highlighting its quality compared to competitors' products.
- The increased win rate from trials also boosted the team's confidence as prospects confirmed that Vanta's product was better.
Executing Trials and Handling Objections
14:27 - 22:22
- Using trials helps mitigate the risk of customers not understanding the value of a product.
- Defining success and getting commitments from buyers before starting a trial is crucial.
- Executing trials well, with clear expectations and value exchange, sets a company apart.
- Moving to a value-based sale and deeper discovery helped Vanta handle objections and differentiate from competitors.
- Understanding why customers care about SOC 2 certification led to quantifying ROI and sharing customer case studies.
- The sales conversation shifted from facts and figures to deal-specific focus on compelling events.
- Being successful at order taking can run out when competition or other factors change.
- MedPIC and BAND are sales qualifying methodologies that Vanta implemented.
Improving Sales Team Performance
21:54 - 29:20
- Vanta has had to become a better sales team due to changes in the market.
- MedPIC and BAND are sales qualifying tools used to gather information and assess the likelihood of a sale.
- For more complex sales, using a tool like MedPIC is better than BANT.
- Focusing on the most likely forecasted deals and understanding the conversations that lead to signing are important.
- Asking why repeatedly helps uncover the true motivations behind a buyer's decision.
- Frontline sales managers play a crucial role in training and coaching salespeople.
- Increasing win rates was a key goal for Vanta, which required getting frontline managers fully bought into the training program.
- Reinforcing desired behaviors through questioning and accountability is important at all levels of management.
- Building deep reinforcement into systems like CRM helps ensure consistent application of concepts.
Building a Sustainable Business and Overcoming Competition
28:51 - 33:36
- Reinforce the concept of being on the hook for a repeatable process
- Build a framework that reinforces these concepts
- Frontline managers need to be bought in for success
- Ankle biters rely on cheap pricing and logo wins, but we focus on building a sustainable business
- Initially matched pricing, but now command a premium with tighter controls
- Reliance on discounts is not good except in rare cases of being the low-price player
- Constantly reassess discounting strategy based on market dynamics
- Creating an attractive category can attract competition
- Thank you to Stevie for sharing insights on upsetting the competition