David Henry
In this customer spotlight, we interview Kian Zanganeh, BDR Manager at Mode. We’ll learn how Mode is using Endgame to find better prospects and generate pipeline more efficiently from their user base.
Mode was founded in 2013 to create a platform that gave businesses the power to sort through large volumes of data quickly and efficiently to find actionable insights. Mode describes themselves as, “a modern analytics and BI solution that combines SQL, Python, R, and visual analysis to answer questions faster.
Product-led sales was a natural evolution for the Mode team because two of their main strategies for acquiring users are through Mode Studio, a free version of their product, and a trial of their paid plan.
Kian knew their initial approach had limitations because it wasn’t dialed into what mattered most: how customers use the product. The static data in their CRM didn’t allow them to take a targeted approach to the top of the funnel based on product usage.
He knew that having a one-stop shop to look at the product usage information they already had–but in real-time–would make the difference. Kian wanted a dashboard that let them see product usage for both domains and individual users and employ that information to prioritize users and create more compelling messaging.
The BDR team needed to do excessive research to be effective, but they were also experiencing tool fatigue. Kian’s team needed to be familiar with over 6 different tools and dive into the details for every user that they contacted.
The team is asked to know six different softwares at this point and there's many different avenues that eventually lead to adding a user to a sequence. Our reps were spending hours on just research.
The original workflow had the team looking at a Mode report and then going through numerous steps to sequence a user. Kian wanted to eliminate the multi-step research and give the team the information they needed to quickly take action and convert users into pipeline.
Endgame helps Mode orient their BDR team around product usage by running two key product-led sales plays:
Mode has more users than their BDR team can reach out to, so the first use case was to filter users by Signal Strength and surface them for the BDR team so they can convert them into PQLs. Endgame's Detail View makes it easy to see who the power users and champions are alongside product usage data, so the BDR team knows who to reach out to and has the context to personalize the message.
Endgame breaks down Signal Strength by Poor, Fair, Good, and Excellent. For Mode, Excellent users are ready to convert, but Good and Fair users need a little extra guidance from the BDR team to become a PQL.
If they're Fair, they're probably only two or three reports away from being Good. We’ve seen users grow into better opportunities when they receive engagement that drives them toward product value.
The BDR team monitors account usage, so when they grow, they can encourage them to upgrade and access tools that would better support their business. They also reach out to existing SMB accounts with Excellent Signal Strength that are still using Mode Studio to let them know they can make their processes smoother by upgrading.
One of the best sources of pipeline for Mode are the free users of their Mode Studio product. With Endgame, they are able to identify accounts that are violating the terms of service of the free product, and reach out to get them to upgrade.
Their free product is designed to meter usage, but not block users with limits. This way the user can get more value out of the product without arbitrary limitations and become a stream of high leverage PQLs for the BDR team to engage.
From there, the BDRs take action to spur the account to upgrade instead of being restricted. Kian has found that this play has become their bread and butter, with more than 50% of accounts contacted to date choosing to upgrade rather than losing access.
Our product-led sales motion is built on Endgame and we will continue to fit it into our process until where we know there's not a single studio org that's falling through the cracks. That’s my end state goal.
Although Kian has seen a lot of success with Endgame, he still feels there is untapped potential. He’s building a sales play that looks at product signal thresholds and creating engagement strategies for each: like when a user creates a Mode account, creates a report, shares a report, and so on. The objective is to coach people through key moments in the product–and when they see the value, have sales reach out.
