Insight: SaaS (27) How to carry out the Pod in SaaS?
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We covered the operation between the SaaS departments in the previous post ‘Insight: SaaS (26) Four departments collaboration’. Let’s think about how Pod Structure is carried out in SaaS today.
The Pod is a visual representation of a minimal executive team, and the peas in the pod are team members who serve distinct responsibilities. A Pod is the minimal execution group. Different roles come together to accomplish the team’s objectives. Pods can theoretically be employed in any role-coordination-based business model, including SaaS.
In theory, Pod Structure is like compressing the company’s main operational guidelines into a tiny team. The company does what this POD Structure does. Almost any business model can be converted into a Pod structure. No matter how large a business organization is, it can be simplified into one pod provided the company’s business model is clear enough.
This leaves us with some inspiration. In fact, you can figure out how a company works if you understand how the Pod performs internally and how the Pod’s staff roles are arranged. Not only do we need to learn about pods from Pod Structure, but we also need to learn how to start from the beginning. The best way to administer a corporation is to run its pods well. The pod is a mode of thinking, not a “process.”
So, let’s return to the world of SaaS. Marketing, Sales, Product, and Customer Success Management are the four major roles of SaaS companies. Because the Product can also be differentiated into a Product Manager-Designer-Engineer Pod. We strive to establish a SaaS Pod Structure by focusing on Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success Management.
If it’s a standard B2B sales organization, SDR makes the outbound calls for leads. After the leads have been gathered, they will be sent to AE for sale. They will be moved to the CSM department to take customers on board after the transaction is completed.
This sales process can be transformed into a PODs model.
Instead of assigning leads from the public lead database, the two AEs only take leads presented by the SDR. They will be given on to the group’s CSM for follow-up customer success support when the transaction is completed. AE can immediately assess the quality of SDR’s clues and make necessary modifications. Similarly, CSM can take part in the entire customer transaction process. In regular mode, it is exceedingly impossible for CSM to influence the source of leads, but it is vital to be responsible for all client renewals. It may be looking for the wrong target, to begin with. CSM can now participate in the creation of the client persona using Pod Structure. This enables this POD to create a locally optimal customer persona appropriate for a certain sales approach.
SaaS companies adopting Pods have some unique advantages:
1. The team could have a specific target group and use various sales approaches based on the various group personas.
When it comes to selling to huge clients, the Pod approach is the most practical. Because so-called giants are often of similar size, their exact requirements vary. A tiny Pod structure is a sales unit that creates its own marketing strategy based on the needs of the customer. Instead of using standard sales strategies to close huge accounts, try something new.
The Pod model sales staff, for example, can immediately test when faced with industry expansion. To try to expand into other industries and client groups, you can form Pod groups with talents. Gain experience through quick trial.
2. POD is more considerate of the customer’s journey.
All of them have a Pod structure, from the first touch with the SDR to the last contact with the CSM employees. With information sharing between members of the Pod, the previous salesperson’s query being repeated again by the next salesperson does not occur. AE can assist consumers in transitioning to the CSM service stage at any time because they are in the same Pod. Customers have a better experience.
3. POD is simple to scale.
The cost of the Pod structure is straightforward. It’s handy to figure up how much a Pod structure will use. Uncontrollable costs are more likely to develop with a company’s rapid expansion. However, it will not happen with Pod.
It’s simple to create a yearly plan for a Pod structure, including how many sales they’ll produce as a group and how many renewal rates they’ll reach.
The management capacity of talents can be easily exercised through using pod structure. Any team member can act as the team’s manager. Except for their personal responsibilities, they must understand the roles and working styles of other team members and be able to organize the team as a whole. SaaS management expertise is hard to come by, and cultivating strong management talent in SaaS is still a challenge. SaaS can provide the ideal training camp for managerial skills thanks to its pod format.
4. Optimize the internal configuration of POD at any time.
It is vital to modify the role arrangement inside the Pod at any time to maximize the Pod’s effect. Maximizing your POD structures efficiency can be configured in a variety of ways, as seen below.
Why don’t most organizations use the pod structure since it has so many benefits? It is challenging for a large organization to restructure a successful management system. The people inside the Pod system, on the other hand, have the potential to generate havoc as a result of dual leadership. A junior marketer must choose between obeying the Pod leader’s orders and obeying the Marketing department leader’s orders. As a result, the Pod structure is still appropriate for new businesses or startups.
The Pod structure’s concept is still worth considering by entrepreneurs. How can we demystify the situation and discover the key to the company’s success?
Please send me an email (jasperhanlingyi@gmail.com) if you have any questions or suggestions.
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