Value Creation Framework for Scaling Mature SaaS Companies
Read Time 9-10 Min
Scaling a mature SaaS company can be challenging, especially when growth begins to plateau. In this blog, we will explore how to implement an effective value-creation framework tailored to the unique needs of mature SaaS businesses. By understanding and leveraging the GTM Building Blocks, you can unlock sustainable growth opportunities and drive long-term value for both your customers and stakeholders.
Building From the Base: GTM Building Blocks
The GTM Building Blocks framework lays out a clear sequence to ensure growth strategies are aligned from the foundation up, ultimately driving value creation at every stage. Each step builds upon the one before it, creating a solid structure that addresses all essential components for scaling your mature SaaS business. Starting from the base, the blocks are:
Where Do We Play?
This foundational step involves identifying your target market or niche. For mature SaaS companies, this is crucial because it helps determine which customer segments present the greatest opportunity for growth and value creation. By understanding where to focus your efforts, you can allocate resources effectively, creating value by maximising the return on investment and avoiding wasted effort.
This is how we begin to think about things.
Whitespace
This is the unexplored space beyond your current reach. Whitespace requires innovation and bold moves. It’s where untapped potential lies and new markets emerge, think of it as the frontier for future growth.
TAM (Total Addressable Market)
TAM covers everyone you could sell to if you had unlimited resources. It’s the entire market your solution can theoretically serve, bounded only by what you can do today and what’s planned on your roadmap.
SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market) & SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market)
SAM and SOM focus on realism. SAM is who you’re built to serve now, while SOM narrows it down to who you’re likely to win. It’s your operational reality, where your current resources meet market demand.
RTAM (Right Now Target Addressable Market)
Sometimes, a shift in the economy speeds up the need for your solution. RTAM is about agility, those companies that need you now. Think of how remote collaboration tools skyrocketed during the pandemic. Speed is critical; those who adapt quickly create an edge that’s hard to beat.
ICO (Issues, Challenges and Opportunities)
ICO is the sweet spot: companies with specific problems that only you are BEST equipped to solve. They have unique challenges, and your solution aligns with their exact needs. This isn’t about just selling a product, it’s about solving real issues. It’s how niche solutions become essential players in the right markets.
Each layer brings focus, helping you target where you’re most likely to succeed, not just where you could play.
How Do We Win?
After determining the market in which to compete, it’s vital to understand what will make your offering stand out. How Do We Win? is all about defining your competitive advantage, be it superior technology, better customer support, or a unique feature set. This clarity ensures that your team knows why customers should choose you over competitors, thus enhancing the value you deliver to your customers and driving long-term success.
Buyer Journey
Understanding the Buyer Journey is key to guiding your prospects from awareness to conversion. Mapping out each stage of the journey helps you align your messaging and sales tactics to meet customer needs at the right time, ensuring a seamless experience that adds value at every touchpoint. By ensuring that prospects receive the right message at the right time, you increase the perceived value of your solution. The big question you have to ask yourself is this, “how do our prospective customers make decisions about the issues, challenges and opportunities that we solve?”
Sales & Customer Process
This block focuses on optimising the steps your sales and customer teams take to move leads through the funnel and convert them into satisfied customers. The goal is to create a frictionless experience for both your internal teams and your prospects, making it easier to sell and provide ongoing value. A well-optimised sales process not only accelerates growth but also ensures that customers feel valued and supported throughout their journey.
Go-To-Market Methodology
Your Go-To-Market Methodology defines how you reach your target customers and present your value proposition. It’s a strategic blueprint for aligning marketing and sales efforts to drive growth and create value. Ensuring that every action taken is coordinated to achieve the best results allows you to consistently deliver value to both your customers and your business. It removes your GTM execution from being down to the discretion of reps in the field. You want to create your own internal blueprint.
Team & People
The effectiveness of your strategy relies heavily on the people executing it. Team & People is about making sure you have the right talent in the right roles, equipped with the necessary skills and motivation to bring your go-to-market strategy to life. This includes hiring, training, and ongoing development, all of which are essential for building a team that can consistently deliver value to customers and achieve growth objectives. Your “team” also includes your partners.
Go-To-Market Technology
Finally, at the top of the framework is Go-To-Market Technology. Technology supports all other layers by enabling automation, improving efficiency, and providing insights. Choosing the right tech stack, whether it’s for CRM, marketing automation, or analytics, ensures that you have the infrastructure needed to scale successfully and continue creating value for customers. Effective use of technology enhances every aspect of your strategy, maximising efficiency and impact. The goal is to achieve full visibility from strategy to cash in the bank. But remember, this requires pidgeon steps.
Applying the GTM Building Blocks to Scale Your SaaS Business
To effectively use the GTM Building Blocks framework to scale your mature SaaS company, it’s essential to apply each building block strategically to create value at every stage:
Reevaluate Your Market and Competitive Position
Start by asking Where Do We Play? to determine whether your existing market still offers growth opportunities. Mature SaaS companies may need to expand their target audience or enter new market segments to reignite growth and create value. Once you've identified a market, answer How Do We Win? by determining how you will differentiate yourself from the competition and deliver unique value to your customers.
Practical Tip: Run a GTM audit of your business. It’s one of the easiest ways to remove bias & assumptions so you can get a clear view of your status quo. This is one of the most important exercises you should run during planning.
Map the Buyer Journey and Optimise Sales Processes
Mapping the Buyer Journey is crucial for understanding your customers’ needs and pain points. Develop messaging and sales tactics that address specific challenges faced by prospects throughout each stage. Focus on refining your Sales & Customer Process to ensure leads can easily navigate from awareness to advocacy, reducing friction at every step and consistently adding value throughout the journey.
Align Marketing and Sales with Go-To-Market Methodology
Review your Go-To-Market Methodology to ensure that marketing and sales efforts are in alignment. Identify any gaps that may be hindering efficiency and adjust accordingly to maximise value creation. For mature SaaS companies, this may involve implementing more sophisticated lead nurturing campaigns or experimenting with new marketing channels to drive engagement and value for your customers.
Empower Your Team and Leverage Technology
Your Team & People are the key to executing your GTM strategy effectively. Invest in training and ensure team members are aligned with the company’s growth goals, so they can deliver value at every interaction. Leveraging the right Go-To-Market Technology is equally important, use tools that facilitate collaboration, streamline workflows, and provide the insights needed to make data-driven decisions that enhance customer value.
Finding Simple Ways To Increase Revenue - A Case Study Breaking Through a Growth Plateau
Situation
Earlier this year, we were approached by a global mature SaaS company with more than $100million in annual revenue. They came to us and said that they had issues in their sales process where deals were not being handled correctly, and therefore revenue was being missed.
What We Did
We did a cross-functional audit using the Revenue Funnel GTM building blocks. We uncovered a variety of hidden blockers:
“How do we win?” - was undefined and competitors were capturing business they should be winning
The Buying journey - was not clearly understood and differed across divisions. It was also under-optimised with many missed opportunities to drive incremental value especially during the awareness stage.
The Sales process was not aligned with current B2B Buyer trends and created a disconnect with new prospects from the first touch-point
The GTM methodology was inconsistent and there wasn’t much buy in from Reps
The People - there was a cultural shift happening, yet enablement was neglected to help bring reps along for the journey. It created a conflict of interest and low morale
Technology - ownership and accountability not defined and therefore tech was added without long-term thinking and thus severe bottlenecks existed across the entire funnel.
The $75 million Dollar Opportunity
With so many new areas uncovered, we had to work with the revenue team to build an initial plan. In connecting the dots between what we found, the revenue goals, broader company objectives and the reality on the ground, we identified $75 million in additional potential revenue.
The lesson here is that you are most likely sitting on a treasure trove of revenue opportunities. You just need a map and a spade in order to find it. Developing a new lens to audit, refine and execute your GTM strategy can be an absolute game changer in the coming years.
Value creation starts from internal value identification. When you’re able to identify where value can be created, you can then develop a plan of action for your chosen markets.
Keep Growing Through Challenges
Growth challenges are a natural phase for any maturing SaaS company. The key lies in recognising the early signs and responding strategically. By using the GTM Building Blocks, starting with Where Do We Play? and How Do We Win?, you can reignite growth and maintain your competitive edge in a crowded market. Each building block reinforces the next, ensuring that no crucial step is overlooked as your company scales and continues to create value.
Growth may stall at times, but it doesn't have to stay that way. With the right approach and a willingness to adapt, you can break through any growth plateau, create meaningful value, and take your SaaS business to new heights.
