Adi's Newsletter #001

Deal won; what next?

The pace at which the negotiation (SaaS Contracts) happens at the quarter's end cuts through the bureaucracy in any growing organisation. The SaaS buyers are surprisingly accommodative because they can get discounts and know most sales reps are desperate to close.

The time between deal closure and onboarding kick-off needs to be minimal. There is a tendency to make sure customers are ready for onboarding by giving them work to do. This works for incentivised customers to use your product, but for most, this DIY material you send through email is unnecessary friction.

It would be best to give the customers a face/name they can talk to. This individual is best introduced during the later stage of the sales process. Irrespective of how good this individual is, the customer will rely on the sales rep he has been talking to for months. A good sales rep will work through the handoff for a few weeks or months and not leave the customer high and dry. Sometimes, though, the sales rep can get “too involved”, and the onboarding team must set boundaries and clearly define who owns the relationship with the customer.

The kick-off call tends to become a meet-and-greet call, solution review, and onboarding preparation. That’s too much going on in one call. It's best to do the work outside of this call by setting up a 1-1 meet and greet call between the customer champion and project owner, helping them plan the onboarding, using kick-off only for alignment, and deciding the next steps for both organisations.

If you keep the customer waiting after the deal is signed, you are digging your grave. Send automated emails, ask a person to reach out, send Slack messages and show the same level of urgency you displayed while securing their business.

Killer Soup & Merry Christmas

Director Abhishek Choubey’s work is notable and influential and always has something interesting to say. His new series “Killer Soup” on Netflix is the most fun he has had while directing a movie or a show. It’s a limited series with eight episodes. The ensemble cast is robust, with each actor delivering an excellent performance. The show stars Manoj Bajpayee, Konkana Sen Sharma, Naasar, Sayaji Shinde and more. The show is set in Tamil Nadu and has many South Indian actors, and the milieu set is authentic. I loved the Thupalli character and his use of poems to help the police find the murderer. The series is bizarre, fun, and beautifully crafted. I recommend binge-watching it over the weekend!

The director Sriaraam Raghavan only has six movies in his filmography and yet is a revered auteur that who’s who wants to work with. Merry Christmas is his latest offering juxtaposing two actors you wouldn't think of pairing: Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi. The movie narrates what happens on a fateful night, which involves a murder, love and everything in between. This movie is running in theatres and is expected to be available on Netflix soon.

Shamar Joseph, West Indies Pace Bowler, Debuts in Test Cricket

A 24-year-old from the remote Baracara village debuted against Australia and took a wicket on the first ball of his career. He moved out of town to seek a better life, and his neighbour asked him to join a cricket academy. He was found by Courtley Ambrose (Former West Indies great), and then he played for Guyana. Sports has a penchant for coming up with these stories that sound unbelievable and inspire the young to dream. He took five wickets in his first match and later showed his showmanship with a bow after the innings!

Bonus Content

1. Want to get your PlayStation repaired in Bengaluru? Check here.

2. Pricing shift in SaaS over the past decade. Read here.

3. What I wish someone had told me by Sam Altman. Read here.

I hope you find this newsletter useful. Until next time.