A new playbook for pipeline creation is emerging

Since the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, conversations have emerged about the “Predictable Revenue” model being dead or at least dying (for some) and that a new playbook for pipeline generation is emerging, which we totally agree with.

But before we dive into the new playbook, let’s refresh our memory about the “Predictable Revenue” model. 

Especially in the context of B2B SaaS sales, it refers to a sales strategy and organizational structure that aims to generate consistent and scalable revenue growth. The concept originates from the practices developed at Salesforce.com by Aaron Ross, the author of the book “Predictable Revenue.” 

How the Predictable Revenue model works in a nutshell

Specialization of sales roles

Instead of having each salesperson manage the entire sales cycle from prospecting to closing, roles are divided into specialized functions:

• Lead Generation: Focused on generating leads through cold emailing, social media, and other channels.
• Sales Development: Responsible for qualifying leads and setting up demos.
• Account Executives: Focus on converting qualified opportunities into paying customers.
• Customer Success: Dedicated to ensuring customer satisfaction and upselling or cross-selling as appropriate.

Cold emailing and outbound prospecting

The Predictable Revenue model emphasizes the importance of outbound prospecting, particularly cold emailing, for generating new leads. This approach involves reaching out to potential customers who may not actively seek the solution but could benefit from it. 

Emphasis on predictability over volume

While traditional sales models might focus on the sheer volume of leads and deals, the Predictable Revenue model prioritizes predictability and scalability. The goal is to create a sales process that reliably generates a steady flow of new business, allowing for accurate forecasting and strategic growth planning.

Use of automation

The Predictable Revenue model extensively leverages technology and automation tools to support its structured approach. CRM systems, email automation tools, and analytics platforms streamline processes, manage leads, and measure performance. 

What’s wrong with the Predictable Revenue model?

Most B2B SaaS players still do things by the Predictable Revenue model. And from the looks of it, at least in theory, it’s not bad. However, since so many companies have adopted this approach, the competition got crazy. The number of attempts required to book a meeting is rising, yet high-quality conversations per day are declining. (Source: The Bridge Group).

Some of the problems this is causing:

1. Email-sending domains get ruined as everyone sends nearly the same templated emails over and over again to the same prospects without diving into technicalities like sender reputation and email warmup.
2. SDR teams are pushing hard, yet performance-wise, things often go downhill, leading business owners to wonder if they should even have extensive sales teams in the first place. 
3. While automation is good, using many different tech tools to try and automate the process is becoming costly and time-consuming, with finance leaders advising to cut software costs across the board. 
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Hence, while the Predictable Revenue model is not dead, a new pipeline generation playbook is paving its way. And it’s not entirely separate from its predecessor, making it a huge bonus to know about and use it. 

What the new playbook for pipeline generation entails

As markets evolve and buyer behaviors shift, the playbook for pipeline generation gets a few exciting updates. Let’s discuss a few of them: 

Cold email gives way to “warm” outbound and signal-based prospecting

Email is still here as a reach-out channel. It’s not gone and is not going anywhere in the near future (at least per our humble predictions). 

However, the days of “spray and pray” emails are gone. Signal-based selling is becoming more important. The idea is that salespeople need to take signal-based triggers more seriously before reaching out to prospects. 

We’ve discussed some of those triggers in the article: 7 signal-based triggers to schedule more meetings

Some of them are: 

1. Your potential customer is hiring for a new role
2. You’ve identified gaps or changes in their tech stack 
3. They received funding recently
4. Your prospect recently changed companies

Luckily, if you have tried Luna.ai, you may have noticed already that it allows you to filter a 300M pool of prospects based on multiple tags, such as company size, role, tech stack, and more. Luna.ai also takes care of your email deliverability and sender reputation, ensuring that your emails hit inboxes rather than spam boxes. 

Check out this comprehensive guide on email deliverability: How your sales outreach emails can get to an 80% open rate

Personalization at scale

Your emails need to get better along with everything else you are doing, including but not limited to paid ads. 

By getting better, we mean more personalized, of course. 

There is an extensive guide on email personalization at scale that you can check out: How to personalize cold outreach at scale leveraging AI

The main takeaway is that while you can use ChatGPT and other LLMs to personalize your emails, writing the right prompts to elicit personalized and engaging email copy takes time. And when it comes to personalization at scale, you might want to know a little bit more about your prospect than their name, role, and company name. Luna.ai also solves this for you by generating personalized outreach at scale using the information your prospect has on their website and social platforms. 

Product-led-sales is back again

Good old product-led sales is back since being forgotten in the last two years. Imagine you’re at a party, and instead of introducing yourself with a long speech, you dazzle everyone with a magic trick. Instantly, people are interested in you. That's kind of what product-led sales is like for companies. 

In the traditional way of selling software, sales teams do a lot of talking. They explain why their product is great, give presentations, and try to convince customers to buy.

Product-led sales flips this around. It’s like saying, “Don’t just take our word for how awesome our product is; come and see for yourself!” The product itself leads the way. Companies let potential customers use the product first, often through a free trial. The idea is that once people get hands-on and see how helpful the tool is, they’ll want to upgrade to get even more features.

Note that PLS doesn’t mean getting rid of your Account Executives or SDRs. In fact, the best PLG/PLS companies still use sales to assist in the buying process. 

Lead gen+sales development+account executives+customer success= ONE person

AI and automation help combine several roles in one. Instead of having a lead generation function, an SDR team, account executives, and customer success managers, companies are moving to smaller team models. 

In smaller B2B SaaS companies, a single person is responsible for the end-to-end sales cycle since they have AI tools to help them with lead gen and personalized email reach-out at scale. 

A sales automation platform like Luna.ai is handy because it allows the person in charge to combine strategy and execution to meet sales goals while maintaining close relationships with existing customers. 

Networking, building a community, and thought leadership

These three are similar but also pretty distinct from one another. Let’s start with good old networking. LinkedIn is by far one of the best places for networking with like-minded professionals.

When building a community, it’s important to remember this (a quote everyone quotes but very few people actually follow), “Audiences are one-to-many. Communities are many-to-many.”

We’re already seeing great examples of communities such as Elena Verna’s or Lenny’s breaking ground. This leads us to the following key point: thought leadership.

B2B influencers are emerging just like B2C influencers were a decade ago. Using niche influencers to connect with their communities will be key. You can also work towards becoming a B2B influencer yourself. 

Founder brand

Even if notorious for many, Elon Musk is one great example of a founder brand. For some founder brands, the key selling proposition is thought leadership; for others, it can be innovation, intrigue, and even a little bit of controversy. For your founder brand, it’s up to you to decide what leverage you want to pull to get attention and build connections with like-minded people.

A warm connection with someone always leads to intros. And, as we all know, intros can turn into demos very quickly. 

Wrapping up

Old playbooks for pipeline creation are dying, but that’s not necessarily bad. Instead, companies are getting savvier in choosing the right tools to help them execute better and faster. More and more companies are choosing full-cycle sales reps or leaner sales teams that utilize AI for personalized outreach and multiple sending accounts to reach out at scale.