6 Key Lessons I Learned from Pavilion CRO School. Part 2
Last week, I talked to you about what I learned from Pavillon CRO School.
It was one of the most read newsletters so far, with also lots of people signing up. Also, some of you asked how to join; here is my referral link.
Joining Pavilion and the CRO school was the best thing I have done in terms of learning and development last year.
Last night, I finished another incredible course through Pavilion led by Winning By Design. Stay tuned for takeaways and learnings on that; it was mind-blowing.
But let's go back to Pavillon CRO School.
Last week, we went through my key learnings part 1.
Here is a quick recap of the first takeaways shared:
Strategy, People, Process, Systems, Metrics
When to Scale
The 3Ps of Scaling.
If you missed the newsletter, you can read it here.
Now, let's talk about the other three takeaways.
Let's roll on.
Developing a Theory of Enterprise Value (with Sam Jacobs)
Session 3 was with the man himself, Sam Jacobs.
Sam is the CEO and Founder of Pavilion, and I have been following him on Linkedin since 2020.
He is incredibly meticulous and data-driven, and his session was mainly around scaling, using data and developing a theory of Enterprise Value.
One of the quotes that struck me was: "Being a spreadsheet person is a must-have for an executive."
Pavilion Intellectual Property, do not share or copy
Sam touched on so many important topics.
One exciting concept we touched on was the SaaS business and its proliferation. Sam mentioned several times that many companies call themselves SaaS but aren't.
The customer who buys your service or product recurrently defines whether you are SaaS.
The last information that stuck with me is the phases of growth and the different stages of growing your startup.
Pavilion Intellectual Property, do not share or copy
The last part was about numbers and knowing your Unit Economics.
As mentioned, Sam is very data-driven, and knowing your numbers and economics is a must-have for any CRO.
Forecasting (with Stephanie Valenti)
With Stephanie, it was all about numbers.
Forecasting is a crucial process and principle for any CRO, and nailing your forecasting is a must-have.
I have seen forecast meetings where the sales leaders would get hammered by peers and senior leadership for missing forecasts.
Stephanie started discussing the fundamental forecasting difference between analytical and quantitative KPIs.
According to her, the funnel metrics forecast won't really work, but waterfall forecasting is another better way.
Pavilion Property, do not share or copy
Start with "controllable" actions → outcomes:
Leads (inbound) driven by product and marketing
Actions (outbound) targeting of accounts
Use conversion rates:
Incorporate stage-to-stage time length (critical for B2B)
This should be done by customer segment, product, or territory.
Foundations of Customer Success (with Layton Chaney)
Layton is incredible. He spent so many years in CS and now has a consultancy firm. CS and existing business is an upcoming trend in SaaS these years.
With budget constraints, new logos and acquisition fatigue, most companies are turning over from loss with great existing business performances.
CS and AM have been out of scope for many years, with leaders focusing only on increasing new logos.
But we have now realised that growing an existing account is more profitable and manageable than acquiring a new one.
Pavilion Intellectual Property, do not share or copy
Layton gave so many takeaways, but what stuck with me are mainly 3:
The Tiering of Customers to improve customer satisfaction
The A's of Customer Success
Why CS should have a seat at the revenue table
Summary
I love my Pavilion membership, but what I like the most is learning at my own pace.
Pavilion makes it so easy to join courses, watch on-demand webinars or get the template you need when you need it.
But the most important thing is that I can learn again and be on top of trends, insights, and new ways that help me and my clients enormously.
Thank you for reading this far. I'll see you all next week again.
Same inbox, same day, same time.
Ciao!
