# Jehan Lalkaka > I help B2B SaaS founders and CMOs find and fix growth bottlenecks across acquisition, conversion, and retention using customer research and execution. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/about/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T01:38:17.000Z I'm Jehan or Jay, if you've known me a while. After more than 15 years of customer research and hands-on growth work, I’ve learned that the best companies know how to quickly identify and fix where growth is breaking down. They know which opportunities are worth pursuing and how to act on them. My work helps B2B SaaS teams find those answers and turn them into repeatable, compounding deliverables. I've led product marketing at Ninety, brightwheel, Udacity, 15Five. Trained at LinkedIn, eBay, Amazon, and Carnegie Mellon. 👉 Read my articles on [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/people/jehanlalkaka/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) and [Entrepreneur](https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/jehan-lalkaka?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) --- ## I've worked with... LinkedIn Udacity brightwheel 15Five Emplify Ninety HiBob Jaspersoft Spokn Siena B2B SaaS: Series A and up --- Most B2B SaaS companies have no shortage of growth ideas. The harder challenge is determining which ones deserve the company’s time, attention, and investment. When traffic slows, teams launch more campaigns. When conversion falls, they rewrite the messaging or add sales follow-up. When customers churn, they revisit onboarding, change the product, or build new features. Any of those responses could be right. But companies often move toward a solution before they fully understand what is holding growth back. That leads to scattered priorities, wasted effort, and initiatives that treat symptoms rather than causes. For more than 15 years, I have helped B2B SaaS companies understand their customers, strengthen how they go to market, and turn more buyer and customer activity into sustainable growth. As an executive leader, I help organizations answer three practical questions: - Where is the weakest link in the growth engine? - Which initiatives are most likely to strengthen it? - How do we align the organization and deliver outcomes? The answers may lead us to awareness, lead quality, free-trial conversion, sales effectiveness, onboarding, product adoption, expansion, or retention. I do not begin with a predetermined channel or tactic. I follow the evidence to the part of the business that needs attention most. ## I start with the people making the decision Depending on the problem, I speak with prospects, lost deals, trial users, customers, or recently churned accounts. These conversations help uncover what people were trying to accomplish, where they lost momentum, and why they decided to move forward, stop, or leave. I combine those insights with product usage, funnel performance, sales intelligence, internal perspectives, and a review of the end-to-end customer experience. Together, that evidence shows us where momentum is being created, where it is being lost, and what the company can do about it. The result is not a research report filled with interesting quotes. It is a focused set of evidence-backed priorities the organization can act on. ## The MADE framework I organize this work through a framework I developed called MADE: **Map the journey.** Understand how buyers and customers move from initial interest to purchase, adoption, expansion, and renewal. **Align around what matters.** Bring leadership, Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success together around the most important problems and opportunities. **Develop and deploy the right solutions.** Turn the findings into changes that address the underlying cause rather than its symptoms. **Evaluate, learn, and improve.** Measure what happens, learn from the response, and use that evidence to guide the next decision. This gives teams a disciplined way to move from customer evidence to business action. Read more about the MADE framework [here](https://jehanlalkaka.com/how-i-work/). ## I lead through execution My role does not end when the strategy is approved. I work across Product, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and leadership to set priorities, make tradeoffs, and put the strongest ideas into market. That may include changes to positioning, messaging, campaigns, conversion experiences, sales tools, onboarding, lifecycle programs, customer education, or the product itself. The solution changes because the problem changes. What remains consistent is the process: understand the constraint, align the organization, act on the strongest evidence, and learn from the result. I bring the perspective of both a specialist and an operator. I understand customer research, product marketing, conversion, and growth. I also understand the work required to lead inside a SaaS company: setting direction, earning support, aligning teams, navigating competing priorities, shipping meaningful work, and helping the organization adopt new ways of operating. I'm not interested in generating more ideas. My goal is to help the organization make better growth decisions, turn those decisions into action, and build a stronger system for improving the business over time. ### Writings URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/writings/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T19:55:10.000Z Notes from the inside of B2B SaaS product marketing at Ninety, brightwheel, Udacity, 15Five, Emplify, and earlier at LinkedIn, SurveyMonkey, Amazon, and eBay. Practical, opinionated, and based on real-life experience. ### Portfolio URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/portfolio/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T10:41:17.000Z Welcome to my portfolio! You'll find a small sampling of how I've helped B2B startups achieve their pipeline and sales goals. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan is a powerhouse product marketing player-coach with a stakeholder-friendly, deliverable-first approach that works well in startup environments. His willingness to jump into projects from day one has made him an incredible asset to the organization and a genuine joy to partner with. [****S**arah Reynolds](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlizreynolds/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) CMO, Udacity **Recurring themes across my portfolio:** - I've driven business results at well-established tech companies like LinkedIn and eBay, as well as high-growth startups like 15Five and Udacity - As a full-stack product marketing leader, I operate at multiple altitudes, from influencing strategy to creating messaging and positioning to the very tactical, like writing copy. - I'm a big fan of grounding actions in sound logic, moving quickly, and iterating based on real-life feedback - And lastly, the work I do creates massive leverage across Product, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success --- **Table of contents:** 1. [Strategy development](https://jehanlalkaka.com/portfolio#1-strategy-development) 2. [Buyer persona development](https://jehanlalkaka.com/portfolio#2-buyer-persona-development) 3. [Positioning and messaging](https://jehanlalkaka.com/portfolio#3-positioning-and-messaging) 4. [Customer proof points](https://jehanlalkaka.com/portfolio#4-customer-proof-points) 5. [Analyst relations](https://jehanlalkaka.com/portfolio#5-analyst-relations) 6. [Competitive messaging](https://jehanlalkaka.com/portfolio#6-competitive-messaging) ## 1\. Strategy development **Problem:** Emplify (employee engagement platform) was considering entry into the leadership development category and needed support from the board of directors. **Solution:** Working for the SVP of Product at the time, I created a deck with a clear storyline, outlining why we should enter the leadership development market and how we can find success. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-24.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/ti7szza2ensf8gwk?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version **Result:** The board gave their support, and as we were building products and services to enter the leadership market, we got acquired by 15Five. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I hired Jehan to lead Product Marketing at \[Emplify\]. As a former Product Marketing leader myself, I set a high bar for excellence in the role—Jehan cleared it and then some. He is both a self-starter and an excellent thought partner, and quickly earned my respect and trust. [Andrew Clark](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamandrewclark/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) SVP, Product at Emplify ## 2\. Buyer persona development **Problem:** To stay competitive and accelerate growth, 15Five changed their target persona from managers who bought 10s of licenses for their teams to central HR buyers who could buy 1000s of licenses for their companies. Before bringing the strategy to life, Product, Sales, and Marketing needed a clear understanding of HR buyers and how to meet their needs. **Solution:** As every team needed clarity on who the buyer is, what they care about, and how to resonate with their needs, I created a comprehensive yet easy-to-use buyer persona based on conversations with customers, prospects, listening to sales calls, surveys, and secondary research. Any 15Fiver could use our new HR buyer persona to understand buyer pains, motivations, desired outcomes, and the overall purchase journey. As you'll see from the document below, this is not your run-of-the-mill buyer persona. Before calling it done, I invested in conducting internal training sessions and held a roadshow to answer questions and drive alignment across teams. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-26.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/j8abdni7ce4efzj3?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version **Result:** The HR buyer persona above became one of the most frequently visited files (according to Google document analytics) that centered Product, Marketing, and Sales on the same definition of the buyer and how they evaluate buying decisions. Having a single, robust definition of the buyer played a key role in creating a consistent buyer and user journey across product, messaging, content, and sales enablement. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I divide my time at 15Five as “before Jehan” and “after Jehan.” Prior to Jehan joining, it felt like we stumbled with our product roadmaps and lacked clear data on which features to prioritize. After Jehan joined, that all changed. He provided clear product positioning, partnered with the rest of the sales and marketing team on messaging, and forged a strong product marketing strategy from the ground up. [Sterling Beck](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sterlingbeck/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Sr. Director, Demand Gen at 15Five ## 3\. Positioning and messaging **Problem:** As 15Five pivoted to targeting a new buyer (the HR leader), the company needed a messaging framework that Product, Marketing, and Sales could use to convey 'why 15Five' across the purchase journey. The positioning had to go further than just resonating with HR buyers; it also needed to win head-to-head battles with competitors. **Solution:** After listening to the ground-level needs of Product and GTM teams, I developed three messaging assets: 1) core messaging, 2) product messaging, and 3) competitive messaging. The work combined a deep understanding of the product with ongoing market research, including win/loss interviews, sales calls, speaking with customers, and an analysis of the competitive landscape. Covering all four product lines, I crafted the three messaging assets as a package to enable the roadmap, demand gen, and sales enablement. *1\. Core positioning* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-27.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/qz35ag49xknwf6vu?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version *2\. Product positioning and messaging* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-28.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/w2ap7jfi6ikcer6g?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version *3\. Competitive messaging* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-29.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/5q5ca2wpa8bsgt67?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version **Result:** This work put product marketing on the map as Product, Marketing, and Sales welcomed the fleshed-out positioning and messaging with open arms. The demand gen team had a clearer understanding of what messaging would convert visitors to leads, SDRs and AEs had messaging and content they needed to differentiate the product and close sales, and Product was better equipped to build features and products that supported customer acquisition. We exceeded our pipeline and revenue goals for three straight quarters! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan has a keen ability to understand a market’s users and what will most resonate with them. As a leader, he guides his team toward greatness with steady assurance and elevates his cross-functional peers. He’s a cut-above product marketing leader that any team would be lucky to have. [Andrew Clark ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamandrewclark/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com)Vice President, Product at 15Five ## 4\. Customer proof points **Problem:** As Udacity fought to grow its enterprise business, prospects constantly asked the sales team for customer proof points. During the decision cycle, prospects were hungry to know if they'd be in good company, and if Udacity had driven success with other companies in the same industry and with a similar use case. After all, Udacity's average deal size was in the high six figures at the time. So customer proof points became the sales team's #1 ask. **Solution:** I worked in partnership with the Sales Enablement team to create a customer proof point program, which involved identifying customer successes on a monthly basis and turning those successes into customer proof points (in days, not weeks or months). I defined the strategy and led content creation, and the Sales Enablement team managed identifying customer wins and distributing proof points once they were ready. *Example of a customer proof point* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-30.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/57uujgj3uesivpm4?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version *Internal launch announcement* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-31.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/yjpup8v5jdpp3k7g?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version **Result:** When the sales team started applauding before we could finish announcing the program at the weekly sales enablement session attended by sales and marketing leadership, we knew we had struck the right chord. It was clearly what the sales team had imagined, striking a balance between creating a high volume of output and yet delivering enough detail in each proof point to win over buyers. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Throughout Jehan's tenure, he remained steadfast and focused on one thing: providing exceptional product marketing services and freely offering up new ideas to the business. The quality of his work is outstanding. [Cynthia Garcia](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cg-nl/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Sr. Director, Global Revenue Enablement at Udacity ## 5\. Analyst relations **Problem:** Analyst reports played a key role in helping Udacity's target buyers win over their buying committee, which consisted of CFOs and CEOs. Buying stakeholders--who often heavily influence the purchase decision but don't have domain experience--rely on third-party validation to inform their decision-making. With IDC's influential MarketScape report on IT training (the category that Udacity belongs to) less than a few months away, Udacity needed to have a strong showing. *Note: IDC's MarketScapes are *not* 'pay to play' where vendors can pay for favorable placement. Instead, IDC conducts an independent review of the vendor based on customer feedback and data-driven proof points provided by the vendor. We're talking lengthy questionnaires with laborious documentation requirements.* **Solution:** Knowing that the IT Training MarketScape report was on the horizon, I developed analyst relations ahead of time. I briefed IDC analysts so they had a strong overview of Udacity and how we stood apart from other vendors, requested inquiries so I could understand each analyst's research goals, and worked across multiple internal teams to produce proof of Udacity's unique approach to IT training and the value we're creating for clients. *Udacity overview for analysts* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-32.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/p49z6m352yhk9jbx?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version **Result:** For the first time, [Udacity was named No. 1](https://docsend.com/view/cfmqgj722kpraf5s?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) in IT Training in the US (our largest and most strategic geo). I quickly turned the result into sales enablement assets and messaging for a landing page and demand gen. The impact was almost immediate as the sales team exploded with excitement. Demand Gen, Email Marketing, and Sales now had a powerful asset to re-ignite conversations with prospects and existing customers. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan is an impressive Product Marketing leader with a deep range of marketing and technical skills. His expertise spans positioning, messaging, pricing, analyst relations, and content marketing. I highly recommend him for any organization looking to uplevel their marketing organization. [Brian Finnerty](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfinnerty/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Vice President, Revenue Marketing at Udacity ## 6\. Competitive messaging **Problem:** 15Five faced stiff competition from Lattice, the market leader in modern HR tech. In sales cycles, prospects would inevitably bring up the comparison between 15Five and Lattice. They wanted to know why they should choose 15Five over a more feature-rich solution like Lattice. To win against a larger competitor, 15Five had to take back control of the narrative and influence how prospects approached the 15Five vs. Lattice comparison. **Solution:** Winning against Lattice presented a big opportunity as 15Five competed against Lattice in 30-40% of large deals. And I knew it couldn’t be done by simply going head-to-head on a feature-by-feature basis. To find Lattice’s Achilles' heel, I interviewed six 15Five customers who cross-shopped 15Five and Lattice during the sales cycle and wound up choosing 15Five. My quick interviews turned up rich insights that I used to create sales enablement assets and a “15Five vs. Lattice” web page. Both assets spoke directly to the needs of the comparison buyer and therefore played a major role in the buying journey. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-33.png) Click [here](https://docsend.com/view/f98x536yw75u5i9w?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to see the full version **Result:** By taking a customer-centric approach--and zero SEO optimizations--my content ranked 1st on Google’s organic search results, out-ranking Lattice, Reddit, and G2\. Notice the search results page pasted below is for the search term that mentions lattice first: “lattice vs. 15five” and my page still ranks above Lattice’s page. *15Five vs Lattice landing page* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-34.png) As prospects often self-educate before talking to sales, the content I created was having the intended effect: it was changing the way buyers evaluate the two platforms. 15Five's sales team voiced feedback that the competitive content was acting as a powerful tool to win the battle against Lattice. Win rates against Lattice improved by 18% in the first 60 days. ### Contact URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/contact/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T11:11:44.000Z I'm always open to exchanging messages or chatting over video. You can contact me by... - [Email](mailto:jehan.rl@gmail.com) (jehan.rl\[at\]gmail.com) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jehanlalkaka?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) - [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jehan%5Flalkaka?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) - [Contact form](https://letterbird.co/jehan?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) - [Book a meeting](https://saavycal.com/jehan?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) I hope you'll reach out 👋 ### Testimonials URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/testimonials/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T07:08:03.000Z ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan is a powerhouse product marketing player-coach with a stakeholder-friendly, deliverable-first approach that works well in startup environments. His willingness to jump into projects from day one has made him an incredible asset to the organization and a genuine joy to partner with. [****S**arah Reynolds](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlizreynolds/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) CMO, Udacity ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I divide my time at 15Five as “before Jehan” and “after Jehan.” Prior to Jehan joining, it felt like we stumbled with our product roadmaps and lacked clear data on which features to prioritize. After Jehan joined, that all changed. He provided clear product positioning, partnered with the rest of the sales and marketing team on messaging, and forged a strong product marketing strategy from the ground up. [Sterling Beck](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sterlingbeck/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Sr. Director, Demand Gen at 15Five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan is an impressive Product Marketing leader with a deep range of marketing and technical skills. His expertise spans positioning, messaging, pricing, analyst relations, and content marketing. I highly recommend him for any organization looking to uplevel their marketing organization. [Brian Finnerty](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfinnerty/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Vice President, Revenue Marketing at Udacity ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I hired Jehan to lead Product Marketing at \[Emplify\]. As a former Product Marketing leader myself, I set a high bar for excellence in the role—Jehan cleared it and then some. He is both a self-starter and an excellent thought partner, and quickly earned my respect and trust. [Andrew Clark](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamandrewclark/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) SVP, Product at Emplify ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Throughout Jehan's tenure, he remained steadfast and focused on one thing: providing exceptional product marketing services and freely offering up new ideas to the business. The quality of his work is outstanding. [Cynthia Garcia](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cg-nl/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Sr. Director, Global Revenue Enablement at Udacity ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan has a keen ability to understand a market’s users and what will most resonate with them. As a leader, he guides his team toward greatness with steady assurance and elevates his cross-functional peers. He’s a cut-above product marketing leader that any team would be lucky to have. [Andrew Clark ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamandrewclark/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com)Vice President, Product at 15Five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan is the best product marketing leader I've worked with. He is clear, focused, and partnership minded. He gave incredible advice and feedback as we built product and then maximized the impact of product releases when it was time to ship. He introduced new processes to help increase collaboration and clarity between product and marketing while working collaboratively to ensure it would fit inside existing workflows. It is a delight to have a deeply aligned relationship between product management and product marketing and Jehan made this happen! I hope we get a chance to work together again. [Brian Deyo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-deyo?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Director of Product, 15Five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Our confidence level with how to grow our business went way up after working with Jehan. We believed in our product but didn’t know how to find the right message and positioning for the market we wanted to go after. Jehan gave us a framework that we can use, worked closely with us to take every step, and made sure we got closer to our goal week after week. The next time we enter a new market or expand our product line, we’re going to use the exact same system to figure out and execute our sales and marketing strategy. Andrei & Lisa Co-Founders, Cartloop (acquired) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I love watching Jehan interview my potential customers. He knows exactly how to uncover what my prospects really care about and what triggers a buying decision. My business operates in a competitive market, so I’ve invested in a fair number of tools, books, and courses to learn how to understand my customers. But nothing beats seeing and working with a professional with years of experience in this field. After just the first customer interview, I learned more about how to differentiate my business and how to position it than all the books and courses combined. The best part is that what I learned was so easy to act on! I started making changes to my marketing probably even before I should have, and I started seeing more inquiries and conversions almost immediately. Andy Dao Founder, Pixel True (acquired) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jehan was a delight to work with; he was able to refine my own ideas and thoughts into a laser-focused core value prop. He then designed my narrative around that value prop, targeted to a specific audience. I was extremely happy from the start of the project all the way to final delivery! Flawless execution!” [Tuomas Jomppanen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuomasj/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Founder, TinyVoucher (acquired) ### Outcomes I've driven URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/outcomes-ive-driven/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T03:04:28.000Z Over the past 15+ years, I've led initiatives that improved conversion, increased win rates, accelerated product adoption, and uncovered millions in untapped revenue opportunities. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I divide my time at 15Five as “before Jehan” and “after Jehan.” Prior to Jehan joining, it felt like we stumbled with our product roadmaps and lacked clear data on which features to prioritize. After Jehan joined, that all changed. He provided clear product positioning, partnered with the rest of the sales and marketing team on messaging, and forged a strong product marketing strategy from the ground up. [Sterling Beck](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sterlingbeck/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Sr. Director, Demand Gen at 15Five [See all testimonials](https://jehanlalkaka.com/testimonials) Below is a selection of engagements. Company names have been omitted for confidentiality, but I'm happy to walk through specifics, examples, and artifacts during a call. --- ## 1\. Increased trial-to-paid conversion by 31% --- ### Challenge A growing SaaS company had a healthy volume of trial signups, but too few were becoming paying customers. The team assumed they needed more leads, but there was little understanding of why interested buyers were dropping off during evaluation. ### What I did I interviewed failed trials, mapped the buyer journey, and identified the moments where confidence broke down. The findings were translated into onboarding improvements, customer education, messaging updates, and enablement assets that addressed the biggest questions buyers had before purchasing. ### Outcomes - Increased trial-to-paid conversion by **31%** - Generated **$1.2M** in additional annual recurring revenue from existing pipeline - Reduced reliance on additional lead generation spend - Established a repeatable process for continuously improving conversion --- ## 2\. Reduced customer acquisition cost by 26% --- ### Challenge Marketing was under pressure to generate more pipeline despite rising acquisition costs. Leadership was considering increasing advertising spend, even though existing leads weren't converting efficiently. ### What I did Instead of focusing on generating more demand, I optimized what happened after prospects became leads. We improved nurture campaigns, customer stories, product messaging, buyer education, and sales enablement to help more prospects reach a purchase decision. ### Outcomes - Reduced customer acquisition cost by **26%** - Increased marketing-generated revenue by **34%** - Improved marketing ROI without increasing advertising spend - Created a more efficient lead-to-revenue engine --- ## 3\. Increased sales win rate by 18% --- ### Challenge Sales conversations were taking longer than expected, and many opportunities stalled because buyers struggled to connect their business challenges with the solution. ### What I did I conducted customer interviews to understand the questions buyers needed answered before making a decision. We created messaging, customer stories, competitive content, and enablement materials that addressed those questions before prospects ever spoke with Sales. ### Outcomes - Increased opportunity win rate by **18%** - Reduced sales cycle by **21 days** - Improved sales readiness through stronger buyer education - Reduced repetitive objections during the sales process --- ## 4\. Identified $3.8M in hidden revenue within the existing pipeline --- ### Challenge Leadership believed aggressive revenue growth required significantly more lead generation investment. Before increasing budget, they wanted to understand whether existing pipeline represented a larger opportunity. ### What I did I mapped the entire funnel, analyzed conversion rates at every stage, and modeled multiple growth scenarios. Rather than simply increasing lead volume, we identified the conversion improvements that would have the greatest impact on revenue. ### Outcomes - Identified **$3.8M** in potential annual revenue within the existing funnel - Prioritized the highest-impact conversion initiatives - Avoided significant incremental demand generation spend - Shifted executive planning toward conversion-led growth --- ## 5\. Reduced early customer churn by 22% --- ### Challenge A meaningful percentage of new customers were leaving within their first year. The company had limited visibility into whether churn was driven by product gaps, onboarding, expectations, or implementation challenges. ### What I did I built a structured churn interview program to identify recurring themes across departing customers. The findings informed onboarding improvements, customer education, product priorities, and lifecycle communications that better prepared customers for success. ### Outcomes - Reduced first-year customer churn by **22%** - Improved customer onboarding experience - Identified the highest-impact retention opportunities - Created an ongoing voice-of-customer program to continuously monitor churn drivers --- ## 6\. Increased expansion revenue by 29% --- ### Challenge The company had strong customer retention but inconsistent expansion across departments and business units. Leadership wanted to better understand what motivated customers to grow their investment. ### What I did I interviewed expanding customers to identify common buying patterns, success milestones, and adoption behaviors. Those insights informed expansion messaging, customer education, and lifecycle programs designed to help customers realize value earlier. ### Outcomes - Increased expansion revenue by **29%** - Improved multi-team adoption across customer accounts - Identified new product and packaging opportunities - Built a scalable framework for future expansion campaigns --- ## 7\. Accelerated product adoption by 42% --- ### Challenge New product capabilities were launching regularly, but customer adoption lagged behind expectations. Awareness was high, yet many customers struggled to understand how the new functionality applied to their daily work. ### What I did I developed the positioning, launch strategy, customer education, enablement materials, and supporting content needed to connect new features with real customer problems. Every launch focused on helping customers understand not just what was new, but why it mattered. ### Outcomes - Increased adoption of new capabilities by **42%** - Improved feature engagement across existing customers - Reduced time-to-value for new users - Increased product usage across key workflows --- ## 8\. Built a customer research program that influenced company strategy --- ### Challenge Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success were making important decisions with limited direct customer feedback. Insights were collected sporadically and rarely translated into coordinated action. ### What I did I established an ongoing customer research program spanning failed trials, active customers, expansion opportunities, and churned accounts. Every interview followed a consistent framework and every insight was synthesized into clear recommendations for cross-functional teams. ### Outcomes - Conducted **200+** customer and prospect interviews - Influenced product roadmap, messaging, onboarding, and lifecycle strategy - Created a repeatable customer insight process adopted across teams - Improved executive decision-making through evidence instead of assumptions --- ## 9\. Created a customer story engine that increased buyer confidence --- ### Challenge The company had strong customers but very little proof available to buyers during the purchasing process. Sales relied heavily on product demonstrations instead of customer evidence. ### What I did I interviewed customers across industries and use cases to create a library of outcome-focused case studies, testimonials, and proof points. The stories were designed to answer the questions buyers naturally ask before making a purchase. ### Outcomes - Produced **40+** customer stories and proof assets - Increased sales content utilization by **58%** - Improved buyer confidence throughout the evaluation process - Equipped Sales with reusable evidence for every stage of the buying journey --- ## 10\. Increased new feature adoption by 37% through a repeatable launch process --- ### Challenge Product launches were inconsistent. Some features received significant attention while others quietly shipped with little customer awareness or internal enablement. Marketing, Product, Sales, and Customer Success often worked on different timelines, making launches difficult to execute consistently at scale. ### What I did I designed and implemented a standardized monthly feature launch process that aligned every team around a common playbook. The framework defined launch tiers, timelines, ownership, messaging, customer communications, sales enablement, and success metrics. Instead of treating every release as a one-off project, the company adopted a repeatable operating cadence that made launches faster, more predictable, and easier to execute. ### Outcomes - Increased new feature adoption by **37%** - Reduced average launch planning time by **45%** - Improved cross-functional alignment across Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success - Enabled the company to confidently launch new capabilities every month using a consistent, scalable process --- ## 11\. Increased qualified pipeline by 41% by rebuilding GTM around buyer research --- ### Challenge A B2B SaaS company struggled to prioritize the right buyer personas and create messaging that resonated. Product, Marketing, and Sales lacked a shared understanding of what buyers actually needed before making a purchase. ### What I did I led a voice-of-customer research program, interviewing prospects and customers across multiple personas. I translated those insights into persona-specific messaging, positioning, content, sales enablement, and a customer-informed go-to-market strategy. ### Outcomes - Increased qualified pipeline by **41%** - Increased website-to-demo conversion by **24%** - Increased sales win rate by **17%** - Aligned Product, Marketing, and Sales around a shared go-to-market strategy --- ## 12\. Increased enterprise win rate by 22% with a buyer-focused ROI model --- ### Challenge Enterprise deals frequently stalled because buyers struggled to build a compelling financial case for investment. Sales teams needed a more consistent way to demonstrate business value and help champions secure executive approval. ### What I did I built a robust spreadsheet-based ROI model that quantified business impact using each prospect's own assumptions and metrics. After validating it with real prospects, I refined the model and trained the sales team on how to tailor and use it throughout enterprise sales cycles. ### Outcomes - Increased enterprise win rate by **22%** - Increased average contract value by **19%** - Reduced enterprise sales cycle by **27 days** - Equipped Sales with a repeatable framework for building executive business cases --- ## 13\. Increased free trial conversion and expansion with a scalable webinar engine --- ### Challenge A B2B SaaS company had no repeatable webinar program to educate prospects and customers. Valuable product knowledge was being shared inconsistently, limiting opportunities to convert trial users and expand existing accounts. ### What I did I built a scalable webinar engine from the ground up, creating the strategy, operating cadence, promotion plan, and repeatable process needed to consistently deliver educational sessions. Within a year, the program grew from **0 to 12 webinars per quarter**, helping trial users reach value faster while encouraging existing customers to adopt more of the platform. ### Outcomes - Scaled from **0 to 12 webinars per quarter** - Increased free trial-to-paid conversion by **18%** - Increased expansion revenue by **23%** - Established a repeatable customer education engine that continued to drive growth quarter after quarter ### How I work URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/how-i-work/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T10:06:00.000Z Whether I'm joining your company as a full-time executive or partnering with you in a fractional capacity, my approach is quite similar. Over the past 15 years, I've developed a practical framework I call **MADE**. I designed it to answer one simple question: ### How do you know which growth initiatives will work, and how do you deliver on them? It gives us a structured way to understand how buyers make decisions, identify effort- and investment-worthy opportunities to improve growth, align the team around what matters most, and quickly put those initiatives into market. The framework isn't meant to be rigid. It can serve as a starting point or be followed as a defined playbook. I adapt it to your company's goals, growth stage, and resources, but the objective stays the same: uncover and deliver the highest-impact opportunities to improve lead generation, pipeline conversion, customer retention, and long-term growth. --- ## The MADE Framework --- ### 1\. Map the Buying Journey Before recommending solutions, I want to understand how buyers actually make decisions. I interview prospects, lost deals, customers, trial users, and internal teams to uncover where momentum is being created, and where it's being lost. The research audience depends on your growth goals and the hurdles standing in the way. I combine customer research with product data, sales insights, and funnel metrics to build a complete picture of the buying experience. We don't start with assumptions. We start with evidence. **Deliverables:** - Context report, based on internal interviews - Customer interviews and full read-out (what customers are saying) - Buying experience audit (what I'm seeing) - Research-backed growth recommendations **Timeline:** - Less than 30 days ### 2\. Align Around What Matters Customer insights only create value when the entire organization rallies behind them. I bring Product, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and Leadership together around a shared understanding of the biggest opportunities. Instead of competing priorities, we create a clear roadmap that everyone can execute against. When teams see the same customer problems, they make better decisions together. **Deliverables:** - Cross-functional presentation and buy-in - Prioritized roadmap, based on impact, feasibility, and level of effort - Fully signed-off project plan for the next 1-2 months **Timeline:** - Approx. 2 weeks ### 3\. Develop and Deploy the Right Solutions Once we know what's holding buyers back, we build the assets, experiences, messaging, and product improvements that remove friction. That could mean improving onboarding, creating sales tools, refining messaging, launching customer stories, redesigning lifecycle campaigns, building ROI calculators, shaping the roadmap, or creating entirely new buying experiences. Every deliverable has one purpose: helping more buyers move forward with confidence. **Deliverables:** - Development of strategic marketing assets or evergreen tactics (e.g., tools, templates, guides, customer stories, ROI calculators, webinars) - Launch and distribution to internal and the right external audiences (e.g., sales enablement, lifecycle marketing, website updates, social, paid ads) **Timeline:** - Done and delivered in 45-60 days ### 4\. Evaluate, Learn, and Improve One-time projects rarely have the sustain effect on your audience and actually shift buyer behavior. I measure what changes, continue talking to customers, and use new insights to guide the next round of improvements. Every launch, every campaign, and every customer conversation becomes another opportunity to learn. Rather than just delivering work. the goal is building an organization that gets better at converting buyers month after month. --- ## More about the framework The MADE framework isn't reserved for consulting engagements. It's how I approach every growth challenge, whether I'm sitting inside your leadership team every day or partnering with you a few days each month. I believe sustainable growth comes from understanding buyers better, and systematically removing the friction that keeps them from becoming customers. --- ## My philosophy A few things I believe, in case they help you decide whether we'd work well together: - **Own the number, not the deliverable.** I'd rather move trial-to-paid by three points than ship a beautiful, overly analyzed messaging framework that sits in Notion. - **Diagnose before prescribing.** I always start with understanding or having a strong hypothesis about the human reasons behind the gap. - **I don't sweat the week-to-week fluctuations.** Instead, I focus on year-over-year growth and seeing longer-term trends. - **Progress over perfection.** Your customers don't care about the pains taken to polish things to the nth degree. They only care about what you've done for them lately. ### Sign up for Growth Stage URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/growth-stage/ Last updated: 2026-07-31T22:17:14.000Z _No content available._ ## Posts ### Why more leads won't fix your revenue problem URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/why-more-leads-wont-fix-your-revenue-problem/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T10:08:43.000Z --- Originally published on [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/2026/07/31/why-more-leads-wont-fix-your-revenue-problem/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) --- ​Most B2B SaaS CMOs don’t have a lead generation problem when it comes to growing revenue. I've heard the same conversation countless times: "We need more pipeline. Our cost per lead is too high. We need more top-of-funnel." So, the team buys more ads, tries to optimize their ad spend, sponsors another event and creates more content. Costs go up, and yet revenue barely moves. The uncomfortable truth is that many companies spend large sums generating leads and then ignore the lead-to-revenue side of the equation. After more than 15 years leading product marketing and growth across both product-led and sales-led SaaS companies, I've learned that the biggest opportunity for growth usually isn't finding more leads. It's helping the leads you already have gain enough confidence to move forward. The companies that consistently grow revenue don't start by asking, "How do we get more leads?" They ask, "Why don’t our leads become customers?" That distinction changes everything. ## Start by finding where buyers lose confidence Most companies know where prospects drop out of the funnel. Far fewer know why. A dashboard can tell you that trial-to-paid conversion is low, that opportunities drop after a demo, that win rates are declining in a particular segment. What it can't tell you is what's happening inside the buyer's head. That's where most conversion efforts go wrong. A few years ago, I worked with a software company that was struggling with trial-to-paid conversion. Free-trial product usage looked healthy. Some users were completing key onboarding steps. The team assumed the solution was to continue finding gaps in user flow to improve conversion. Then they started interviewing free-trials who never purchased. The issue was that most prospects simply weren't convinced they could successfully implement the solution inside their own organization, given the cross-functional change and buy-in required. That insight completely changed the plan. Instead of tweaking onboarding flows, the company invested in implementation guides, change management webinars, and proof that companies like theirs could succeed. Revenue improved because they solved the real problem instead of the symptom. That's why growth teams must first understand where buyer conviction breaks down. The most valuable conversion insights usually come from conversations: Talk to customers who recently bought. Talk to customers who expanded. Talk to customers who churned. Most importantly, talk to prospects who seriously considered buying and decided not to. After hundreds of customer and prospect interviews, I've learned that buyers rarely disappear for the reasons companies assume. - A healthcare company thinks it needs more impactful messaging, but in reality, the buyer didn’t feel heard and understood. - A SaaS revenue team thinks the product was missing a feature; the buyer needed more time and the sales person didn’t follow up enough. - A founder thinks prospects are pushing back on price, when in reality, the buyer couldn't explain the cost savings to their CFO. When considering your product, most buyers are asking themselves: - Does this company understand my world and challenges? - Does this company have the expertise to solve my challenges? - Does this company offer what I need or not? - Do I understand how to use the product to achieve my goal? - Will I achieve the outcomes they're promising? Based on patterns across hundreds of customer interviews, I've found that if you leave those questions unanswered, adding more leads simply creates more pipeline that won't convert. ## Prioritization is where most teams get stuck Once companies begin uncovering conversion opportunities, a different challenge appears. They discover too many opportunities. For example: onboarding improvements, content, enablement materials, implementation resources. The list is usually long and that’s a good thing. Most organizations lack a system for prioritizing them, so ideas accumulate faster than they are executed. The highest-performing teams I've worked with maintain a running backlog of conversion opportunities. They evaluate each opportunity based on potential revenue impact, implementation effort and confidence in the proposed solution. Rather than launching 10 initiatives at once, they attack each opportunity sequentially and quickly. That discipline creates momentum. ## Small improvements compound faster than big projects One of the biggest misconceptions about improving lead-to-revenue conversion is that meaningful gains require major projects. In reality, many of the highest-impact improvements are surprisingly small. - A customer story that addresses a common objection - An ROI calculator that helps buyers justify investment - A trial onboarding email sequence that highlights overlooked features - A competitive comparison page that reduces uncertainty - A webinar that answers implementation concerns ​The most effective teams treat conversion improvement as a continuous operating rhythm rather than an occasional project. They identify a tightly defined problem, develop a simple solution, launch it, measure results and apply what they learn to the next opportunity. Over time, those small improvements compound. ## Measure more than revenue Another mistake I frequently see is waiting too long to determine whether an initiative is working. Revenue is the ultimate goal, but it is often a lagging indicator. By the time revenue changes become visible, weeks or months may have passed. The teams that improve fastest pay attention to leading indicators. Are prospects engaging with new content? Are sales teams actually using the resources provided? Are trial users activating key features more frequently? Are response rates improving? Are more opportunities advancing to the next stage? Successful conversion programs don't rely solely on revenue data to guide decisions. They rely on signals, learning continuously throughout the process. ## The companies that win don't chase more pipeline The most successful growth teams I've observed share a common characteristic. They don't obsess over filling the funnel and forget about understanding buyers. They know where prospects lose confidence and continuously hunt for buyer questions that create friction. As a result, they often generate more revenue from the same amount of pipeline. In an environment where acquisition costs continue rising and attention becomes harder to earn, that capability becomes a competitive advantage. Before investing in your next lead generation campaign, ask a different question. What if the biggest growth opportunity isn't finding more buyers? What if it's helping the leads you already have gain enough confidence to become paying customers?​ ### ​How the best companies stand out without massive marketing budgets URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/how-the-best-companies-stand-out-without-massive-marketing-budgets/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T19:45:33.000Z --- Originally published on [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/2026/06/26/how-the-best-companies-stand-out-without-massive-marketing-budgets/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) --- ​In almost every industry today, competition is relentless. Some markets are dominated by a clear category leader with deep pockets and massive brand recognition. Others are crowded with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of companies all vying for attention with similar messaging, products and promises. Buyers are overwhelmed. Most companies sound the same. And standing out has never been harder. In response, many businesses default to the same playbook. Spend more money on paid search and social, and invest in brand awareness campaigns. Keep pushing harder to stay visible. But after more than 15 years in product marketing and growth, including leading product marketing teams at SaaS companies and helping businesses create customer stories, I’ve noticed something important. Many companies are sitting on one of the most effective growth assets they already have and are barely using: their customers—and more specifically, the stories those customers can tell. Unlike expensive ad campaigns, customer stories can help companies stand out at almost every stage of the buyer journey. ## Customer stories help companies break through the noise. One of the biggest problems in modern marketing is a lack of attention. Buyers are flooded with ads, emails, webinars and LinkedIn posts all day long. Most of it gets ignored because it feels generic and self-promotional. Years ago, I worked with a software company that kept publishing "claims-driven" marketing content to attract and convert high-intent buyers. The messaging was accurate, but nobody engaged with it. Then we shifted gears and started gathering stories of how customers used the product to solve a painful operational problem that had frustrated their teams for years. Suddenly, engagement changed. Sales reps started sharing those stories in conversations. Prospects referenced them on calls, and customers forwarded them internally. Why? Because people are naturally drawn to stories. Stories create tension, emotion and curiosity. Buyers want to know what challenge someone faced, what they tried, what worked and what happened afterward. That's far more compelling than another company describing itself as “innovative” or “best-in-class” or claiming to “save you 10 hours per week.” In crowded markets, attention is often won by the company that feels the most human and relatable, not necessarily the one with the biggest budget. ## Generic messaging is forgettable. Specific stories aren't. This is one of the biggest traps businesses fall into as industries mature. Over time, competitors start using nearly identical language. Everyone claims to save time, increase efficiency, improve collaboration or drive growth. Buyers hear these phrases so often that they stop meaning anything. Customer stories force specificity. Instead of saying a platform improves productivity, a customer story might explain how a 40-person construction company reduced scheduling delays by 25% by allowing workers to manage time-off requests via text message rather than calling a phone number. Instead of claiming a product improves visibility, a customer might describe how leadership teams finally stopped getting surprised by missed targets at the end of the quarter. Specificity is what makes companies memorable. And customer stories are the best way to uncover those specifics and make them resonate. I often tell teams that buyers rarely remember positioning statements. They remember examples. They remember stories they can repeat to a colleague after the meeting ends. ## Trust is one of the hardest things to earn in modern marketing. Modern buyers are skeptical, and honestly, they should be. Every company claims to have the best product, the best support and the best outcomes. Buyers know they're being marketed to. That's why customer proof matters so much. There's a huge difference between a company saying, “Our product is easy to implement,” and a customer explaining how their team got up and running in two weeks without disrupting daily operations. One sounds like marketing. The other sounds believable and more compelling. I've seen this firsthand in software sales. Deals often stall not because buyers don't understand the product but because they're afraid of making the wrong decision. They worry about implementation problems, poor adoption or whether the product will work for their specific use case. Customer stories reduce that fear. They show that other businesses faced similar challenges, made the decision and achieved positive outcomes. Rather than aggressively “selling” buyers, stories help buyers feel safe enough to move forward. ## Customer stories answer the questions buyers really care about. Every buyer is trying to understand value, whether they say it directly or not. They're asking themselves questions like: • “Have others with the same problem as mine used this product to solve it?” • “How do others use the product to solve the same problem?” • “Which parts of the product do they say drive the most value?” • “How did their business change after using the product?” Most companies answer these questions with product comparisons, pricing pages or feature lists, which are all essential. But customer stories answer them in a much more persuasive way because they connect value to the real-world needs of prospective buyers. I remember interviewing a customer who described how their team had been wasting hours every week manually pulling reports before adopting a new platform. They casually mentioned that automating the process freed up enough time for employees to focus on revenue-generating work instead. That insight became one of the strongest parts of the story because it translated product value into business impact. Good customer stories help buyers see both the practical and financial upside of a decision. ## Customer stories compound growth. The best part is that customer stories continue compounding long after they're published. A single story can support sales conversations, improve website conversion, strengthen SEO, fuel social content and help future customers discover your company through search and AI-generated answers. Unlike paid ads, their value doesn't disappear the moment the budget stops. In highly competitive markets, companies don't always need to outspend competitors to stand out. The businesses that learn how to systematically turn customer outcomes into compelling stories often discover they already have one of the most cost-effective growth engines available to them.​ ### What hundreds of interviews taught me about why prospects say they’re interested, then disappear URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/what-hundreds-of-interviews-taught-me-about-why-prospects-say-theyre-interested-then-disappear/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T19:52:28.000Z --- Originally published on [Entrepreneur](https://www.entrepreneur.com/building-a-business/what-hundreds-of-interviews-taught-me-about-why-prospects-say-theyre-interested-then-disappear?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) --- “We’re definitely interested.” If you’ve worked in sales, marketing or entrepreneurship for any length of time, you’ve probably heard those words before. A [prospect](https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/5-questions-to-truly-connect-with-your-sales-prospects/366421?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) attends the demo, asks thoughtful questions and seems genuinely engaged. They may even say they’re excited to get started. Then they disappear. The follow-up email goes unanswered, the next meeting never gets scheduled, or the free trial goes nowhere. What looked like a promising opportunity quietly fades away without a clear explanation. It’s easy to assume that deals fall apart because the prospect simply changed their mind, and nothing can be done. After spending more than 15 years in marketing and interviewing hundreds of customers immediately after purchase and prospects after lost opportunities, I’ve come to a different conclusion. Most of the time, even qualified leads that fit your [ideal customer profile](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-defining-my-ideal-client-profile-transformed-my-business/498064?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) don’t buy because they can’t get over very common mental hurdles. This pattern shows up everywhere. I’ve seen it in enterprise software companies with long sales cycles and dedicated account executives, product-led businesses where prospects can start a free trial without ever speaking to a salesperson, retail businesses like self-storage and even professional service firms. The buying journey may look different, but the psychology is remarkably similar. Over the years, I’ve noticed that buyers are almost always trying to answer five questions before they’re willing to take action. When those questions remain unanswered, deals die, trials never convert, and shopping carts get [abandoned](https://www.entrepreneur.com/science-technology/5-simple-ways-you-can-decrease-shopping-cart-abandonment/317174?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). ## 1\. Do you understand my problem? Most companies are eager to explain their solution. Buyers, however, want something else first: They want to feel understood. One customer interview from several years ago still stands out in my mind. The buyer had recently completed a competitive evaluation involving multiple [vendors](https://www.entrepreneur.com/building-a-business/business-operations-logistics/business-vendors/identify-vendors-you-might-need?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). When I asked why they ultimately chose one company over the others, I expected to hear something about features or functionality. Instead, they said, “They were the first company that seemed to understand what we were actually dealing with.” The competing solutions weren’t necessarily inferior. The difference was that those vendors, across their sales and marketing content, jumped straight into demonstrations and product pitches. The winning company spent time understanding the buyer’s situation and articulating the challenges the buyer was facing. That created an immediate sense of [trust and credibility](https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/build-trust-and-credibility-with-this-simple-strategy/437618?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). Whether you’re writing website copy, creating advertisements, running sales calls or onboarding trial users, your first job isn’t to explain your product. Your first job is to show buyers that you understand the problem they’re trying to solve. ## 2\. Can I count on your expertise? Before buyers invest more time evaluating your solution, they want confidence that you’re qualified to help them. They’re trying to answer a simple question: Have you solved this type of problem before, and are you the right person or company for the job? This evaluation happens surprisingly quickly. Buyers aren’t conducting a deep investigation at this stage. They’re looking for signals that tell them whether you’re worth paying attention to. They scan your customer logos, read [testimonials](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-get-and-use-testimonials-referrals-and-reviews/285201?ref=jehanlalkaka.com), look for recognizable brands you’ve worked with and scan your customer stories to see if you’ve helped companies like theirs. They pay attention to the founder’s background, your team’s experience, the content you publish and whether you demonstrate a genuine understanding of their industry and its challenges. Despite the weight buyers place on expertise, I see very few companies actually investing in this area. I once interviewed a buyer who admitted they spent very little time evaluating one of the vendors on their shortlist. The reason was simple: The company had already established credibility before the buying process began. They had worked with companies in the buyer’s industry, shared useful insights about the problems they solved and clearly demonstrated [expertise](https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/how-to-showcase-your-expertise-and-become-a-thought-leader/431626?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) in that space. Expertise acts as a shortcut in the buying process. Buyers want quick evidence that you’ve solved similar problems before and can likely help them achieve similar results. When those signals are missing, uncertainty grows and decisions slow down. When they’re easy to find, buyers move forward with far greater confidence. ## 3\. Do you offer what I need, and can I afford it? This question sounds obvious, yet companies frequently make buyers work much harder than necessary to answer it. A prospect shouldn’t need to sit through multiple demos to quickly connect the dots between their needs and what your solution offers. Nor should they have to work very hard to determine the price you’re asking in exchange for the value you offer. Buyers are trying to determine fit in terms of value and price as quickly as possible. In interview after interview, I’ve heard versions of the same frustration. Some prospects told me they simply wanted to know whether the product could do the one thing they absolutely needed. Others weren’t sure whether they were talking to a company that charged hundreds of dollars per month or tens of thousands. When buyers can’t easily determine fit, many don’t continue their evaluation. They simply move on. [Transparency](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-transparency-in-business-leads-to-customer-growth-and/373674?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) builds momentum. Ambiguity creates drop-off. ## 4\. How will this actually help me? This question is where many sales and marketing efforts break down. Even after buyers understand your value, which is essential, they often still struggle. After understanding your offer, buyers are trying to understand what it feels like to use your product or service to solve their specific challenge. The distinction between “value” and “feels like to use your product” may sound subtle, but it’s incredibly important. For example, people buy [project management](https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/4-ways-to-improve-project-management-to-waste-less-time-and/428667?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) software because they want projects completed faster and with fewer headaches. But that’s rarely enough to convince them to buy. Buyers want answers to specific challenges: “How will I use your software to keep leadership informed of critical initiatives without creating more work for myself?” One buyer I interviewed explained their decision in a way I’ve never forgotten. When I asked why they selected a particular vendor, they said, “I was sold when they showed me the exact playbook on how companies like ours can use the product to solve a problem we were facing.” That’s the goal. The best companies help buyers see themselves using their product to solve their specific problems. Through demos, customer stories, examples, frameworks and proven playbooks, they make the path from problem to outcome feel clear, practical and achievable. When buyers can picture themselves succeeding, uncertainty shrinks and [confidence](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-turn-hesitant-prospects-into-confident-buyers/503914?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) grows. ## 5\. What if this doesn’t work? This is the question buyers rarely say out loud, but it can kill a buying decision at the last minute. Every purchase carries risk. Buyers wonder whether implementation will be harder than expected. They worry about adoption. They question whether their team will actually use the solution. They wonder if they’ll regret the decision six months later or be blamed internally if things don’t go as planned. Many [buying decisions](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-influence-the-factors-that-drive-a-buyers-decision/504562?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) are driven less by the pursuit of gains and more by the desire to avoid mistakes. This is one reason customer stories are so powerful. A great case study doesn’t just showcase impressive results. It helps buyers see that someone like them faced similar challenges, took a similar risk and ultimately succeeded. When buyers can see themselves in someone else’s success story, uncertainty starts to shrink. The decision feels safer. Confidence grows. ## The lesson I keep coming back to The most important insight I’ve gained from hundreds of interviews is surprisingly simple: Buyers aren’t looking for more information. They’re looking to create certainty with as little effort as possible. Founders, marketers and sales teams spend every day thinking about their products. Buyers don’t. They enter the buying process with questions, doubts, concerns and assumptions that aren’t always visible from inside the company. That’s why customer interviews remain one of the most valuable growth tools available. Every conversation reveals where [confusion](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/why-your-products-design-could-be-costing-you-customers/490271?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) exists, where confidence breaks down, where value isn’t obvious and where risk feels too high. If prospects keep telling you they’re interested and then disappearing, don’t immediately assume you need more leads, a new sales methodology or a larger marketing budget. Start by asking: Can their actions be traced back to one or more of the five questions behind purchase behavior? ### Why AI can’t replace the most important part of marketing URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/why-ai-cant-replace-the-most-important-part-of-marketing/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T19:27:59.000Z --- *Originally published on* [*Forbes*](https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/2026/05/27/why-ai-cant-replace-the-most-important-part-of-marketing/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com)*.* --- Even as AI can generate content in seconds, companies like OpenAI are making unexpected investments in humans who know how to capture and tell real customer stories. That’s what makes [a recent OpenAI job posting](https://bit.ly/4eUs1Gr?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) so interesting. OpenAI is hiring a customer marketing manager with compensation that can reach $252,000\. And the core responsibility is writing customer stories. Not building models, not optimizing prompts, but capturing and telling real customer experiences in a way that resonates.​ That might sound counterintuitive at first. Why is one of the top AI companies still willing to pay top dollar for people focused on storytelling? Because prospects and buyers don’t trust polished marketing claims the way they used to. They trust people like themselves: customers who have faced similar problems, made similar decisions and achieved meaningful results. That decision says a lot about how buying decisions actually work today.​ ## The default fix that rarely works I’ve spent the last 15-plus years working in product marketing and growth for B2B SaaS companies, from early-stage startups to more established organizations. Across all of them, I’ve seen the same core challenge repeat: struggle to get noticed, resonate and be trusted.​ When sales slow down, the default response is almost always to fix the message. Teams invest in positioning work, bringing in consultants and iterating endlessly on wording. I’ve seen companies spend tens of thousands refining how they talk about their product.​ More often than not, nothing meaningfully changes. The messaging might sound sharper, but it still doesn’t move buyers. ## The real problem: The messenger The underlying issue isn’t the message itself. It’s the messenger. Modern buyers have become incredibly skilled at filtering out anything that sounds like a sales pitch. Every company sounds “best-in-class” or claims to “save you time” or “save you money.” Every product promises transformation. Over time, it all blends together and loses credibility.​ I experienced this firsthand while looking at real estate not long ago. An agent told me they specialize in negotiating deals $50,000 to $100,000 below asking price, which sounds compelling. But it felt like a rehearsed line, not something grounded in reality.​ Now imagine that same agent showing me specific examples of deals they negotiated, each with context, outcomes and the client’s own words. That shift, from claim to evidence presented as a simple story, would completely change how the message lands. ## Stop selling and tell experience-backed stories instead OpenAI has figured out that letting its customers do the talking is more effective than trying to convince the market with polished messaging. They understand that buyers trust people like themselves far more than they trust vendors. ​ A CTO doesn’t want to feel like they’re being pitched a solution. Instead, they want to hear from another CTO who has implemented a similar solution. A head of operations wants to understand how someone else navigated the same challenges. A founder wants to know how another founder made the decision and what happened afterward.​ In each case, the credibility comes not from the company’s voice, but from lived experience. That’s what makes customer storytelling so powerful. ## The real power of a customer story When done well, a customer story does something that traditional marketing content rarely achieves. It answers the three questions every buyer is asking, often subconsciously, throughout the decision-making process.​ ### 1\. What was the real problem? Not a generic pain point, but a specific situation that feels familiar. Buyers are trying to see themselves in the story. If the problem feels familiar, they lean in.​ ### 2\. How did another customer solve the problem? Buyers want to know why a path was chosen and what they actually did to solve the problem. It helps them picture what adopting your solution would really look like.​ ### 3\. What was the “So what”? What changed as a result, or what was the tangible outcome? This is where the risk gets reduced. Buyers want proof that the effort pays off, and that someone like them actually got meaningful results.​ This “problem, solution, result” structure moves the conversation from promises to proof, and provides exactly what buyers need to feel confident. ## Why this matters more in the age of AI The importance of this approach only increases in the age of AI. Today, anyone can generate polished, professional-sounding marketing copy in seconds. It raises content quality, but erodes differentiation and trust.​ As a result, buyers are shifting their attention toward something that’s much harder to replicate: real-world experience. They want to hear what actually happened, not a contrived sales pitch. That’s also why the quality of your customer stories depends entirely on the quality of the questions you ask. If you want real insight, you have to ask better questions and go beyond surface-level answers.​ Because those moments, like how a decision was made and what changed internally, are what future buyers are really looking for. They’re searching for an inside look at what it’s like to be your customer.​ OpenAI’s investment in customer storytelling shows they’re building a system for scaling trust. ## Trust is the real sales lever At the core, most B2B buying decisions come down to perceived risk. Buyers are constantly asking themselves whether a solution will work in their specific context, whether it’s worth the investment and what path to take to maximize their chances of success. Additionally, buyers are always looking for signals to decide who to trust. When buyers see someone like them achieve a positive outcome and the approach they took, it makes the decision feel safer and more grounded. I’ve seen buyers hesitate for weeks, disappear after showing strong intent, and choose a competitor at the last minute when we thought we were the top choice. In almost every situation, a rinse-and-repeat process for crafting customer stories resulted in an uptick in lead-to-sales conversation rates, shorter sales cycles and larger average order values. It’s not a new feature or a new message that changes the trajectory. It’s an experience-backed story that makes the future feel less risky.​ ### Why interested prospects still hesitate, and how customer stories change that URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/why-interested-prospects-still-hesitate-and-how-customer-stories-change-that/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T19:53:20.000Z --- Originally published on [Entrepreneur](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-turn-hesitant-prospects-into-confident-buyers/503914?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) --- Most founders struggling with growth think they have a [lead generation](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-maximize-sales-efficiency-with-these-2-lead/467177?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) problem. They focus on lead volume or other top-of-funnel gaps, such as the cost of acquiring those leads. In my experience, the real issue shows up later. You expect a deal to move forward, but it doesn’t. It stalls, drags, quietly dies. When you dig into why, the answer is rarely “you didn’t have enough features” or “you were too expensive.” It’s much simpler. The buyer didn’t feel confident enough to move forward. I’ve seen this hold true for all types of business, from B2B companies with large sales teams or software and other goods that are sold directly online. Here’s the frustrating part: Most companies already have what they need to fix this. They have happy customers, examples of real people who succeeded using their product or service. But they don’t know how to turn them into proof points that can [close deals](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/3-reasons-youre-not-closing-deals/294659?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). ## You already have proof. You’re just not using it. Even early-stage companies have customers who are [getting value](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-provide-more-value-to-your-customers-and-scale-your/467784?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). Someone is saving time, making more money or solving a painful problem. These are not edge cases; they’re happening every day. But those stories usually live in scattered places. A Slack message from a happy customer. A quick comment on a sales call. A founder remembering a win from six months ago. A customer success manager who knows a few good examples. When a new buyer asks, “Has this worked for someone like me?” the team scrambles. They respond with something vague like, “We’ve seen great results with customers like you.” That doesn’t offer anything specific to reduce the buyer’s risk. And buying is [all about reducing risk](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/b2b-sellers-must-reevaluate-how-they-build-trust-with-buyers/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com#:~:text=B2B%20buyers%20expect,lowest%2Drisk%20solution.). ## Where deals actually fall apart To understand why [customer stories](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/3-ways-you-can-let-your-customers-stories-speak-for-your/379286?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) matter so much, you have to look at what’s happening in the buyer’s mind. Most deals don’t fall apart because of a lack of interest. They fall apart because of a lack of confidence. Over time, the same four moments show up again and again. **1\. “Who else is using this?”** This is the fear of being first. No one wants to be the guinea pig, especially in a business setting where their reputation is on the line. Even if your product is strong, buyers are constantly scanning for signals that [inspire confidence](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-influence-in-sales/368081?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). Are other companies doing this? Is this a proven approach? Will I look smart or risky if I choose this? If you can’t answer those questions clearly, the safest move is to wait. I’ve seen founders unintentionally make this worse by leaning too hard on vision. They say things like, “This is the future of how companies will operate.” That may be true, but the buyer isn’t trying to invest in the future. They’re trying to make a safe decision today. What helps isn’t a bold claim. It’s a simple story: A company like yours implemented this, and here’s what happened. Even one credible [example](https://www.entrepreneur.com/building-a-business/sales/how-to-use-case-studies-in-sales?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) can remove a surprising amount of hesitation. **2\. “Will this actually work for me?”** This is outcome uncertainty. The buyer understands your product. They see the features and have read or sat through your pitch, but they’re not sure it will work for them. Their situation feels unique, messy, different. Without proof, they default to caution. I once worked with a company that had strong [product-market fit](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/why-people-love-your-product-wont-make-your-startup/501223?ref=jehanlalkaka.com), but deals kept stalling at the same stage. Prospects would go through demos and then disappear. When we looked closer, the issue wasn’t the product; it was the lack of specific examples. The team had a pitch, but it was generic. Nothing clearly showed, “Here’s a company just like you, and here’s what happened.” Once they started capturing simple, focused stories — same industry, similar size, similar problem — something changed. Prospects started [engaging](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-create-content-that-hooks-your-prospects-and-keeps/298451?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). They started asking deeper questions like “What features brought about those outcomes?” and “Can you help us learn more about how that feature works?” That’s the shift you’re looking for. Deeper questions that signal interest and buying intent. It’s because they felt like they could trust the vendor, and their curiosity had been piqued by a real-life story of a customer just like them. **3\. “How do companies like mine actually use this?”** This is the usage gap. Even when buyers believe your product works, they still struggle to picture what it looks like in practice. They’re asking themselves, “What would this look like day to day? How would my team actually use this? Where does this fit into our workflow?” This shows up in demos all the time. A powerful product is presented with lots of features and possibilities, but no clear story. The buyer leaves thinking, “This looks good, but I’m not sure how we’d actually use it.” Customer stories make the abstract concrete. Instead of [explaining features](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/customers-dont-care-about-your-products-bells-and/371426?ref=jehanlalkaka.com), you show how someone used them in a real situation to solve a problem similar to theirs. For example, a company of your size used the product to run weekly team check-ins, track performance and flag issues earlier. Here’s how they rolled it out and got their employees to adopt the platform. Within a few weeks, they reduced missed deadlines and improved accountability. Now the buyer can see themselves in the story. They feel reassured that others with a similar need or problem used your product to solve it. And they’ve been shown how. Instead of guessing, they’re now picturing how it would work inside their own team. **4\. “How do I convince everyone else?”** Most deals don’t close with one person. Even if you’ve convinced your champion, they still need to bring others along: a CEO who cares about outcomes, a finance leader who cares about cost and a team that cares about day-to-day usability. This is where many deals quietly [fall apart](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-overcome-these-7-hidden-purchase-barriers/494911?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). Your champion understands the value, but they don’t have the tools to explain it internally. So the deal slows down, questions pile up and momentum disappears. Customer stories give your champion something they can use. Instead of saying, “I think this will work,” they can say, “Here’s what happened at another company.” That shift makes the conversation easier, more credible and far more persuasive. ## What you can do starting tomorrow If you want to close more deals and close them faster, start treating customer stories like a core part of your [sales process](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/5-ways-to-tweak-your-business-sales-process-to-generate/443038?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). Capture them continuously. Anytime a customer shares a meaningful result, expresses their satisfaction or reports a high NPS score, ask for a 30-minute call, state your intentions, and you’ll be surprised how many customers happily say yes. Don’t hesitate because you’re waiting for the perfect time or the perfect success story. The more customers you speak with, the better. That’s how you build a rich bank of stories that span industries, personas, use-cases and outcomes. Get a head start by [using this playbook](https://theirwords.co/posts/how-to-get-any-customer-to-say-yes-to-a-case-study?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to request a customer story from your best customers and ask them the right questions. ## The bottom line Most companies try to close deals with claims. They say they help companies grow, improve efficiency or drive results. But claims don’t close deals. Confidence does. And confidence comes from seeing that something has worked before, for someone like them. If you’re not capturing and using [customer stories](https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/why-the-best-storytellers-achieve-the-most-brand-awareness/312273?ref=jehanlalkaka.com), you’re forcing buyers to take a leap of faith. And most won’t. But when you give them clear, relevant proof, something changes. The risk feels lower, the path feels clearer, and the decision feels easier. Deals that used to stall start to move. ### 'Show, don’t tell' advice in action URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/show-dont-tell-advice-in-action/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:36:37.000Z Most people reading this blog have probably heard the advice “show, don’t tell.” Writers say it. Teachers say it. Marketers say it. It’s one of those phrases that sounds wise, but often sits there like a slogan on a mug. Helpful in theory. Harder in practice. ## So where did this idea come from? “Show, don’t tell” grew out of fiction writing. Early writing instructors noticed that weak stories explained too much. They told you what a character felt instead of letting you experience it. Strong writers did the opposite. They showed the world. They revealed emotion through behavior, scenes, and detail. You didn’t have to be told someone was angry. You could see the clenched jaw. You could hear the short answers. You could feel the tension. And here’s the key thing. Showing works better because your brain treats it like an experience, not a lecture. Instead of being handed a conclusion, you build it yourself. That makes it feel more real and more believable. And this doesn’t just make storytelling more compelling. It also makes communication more persuasive. So let’s explore how that works. Imagine you want to convince your child not to get a tattoo. You sit them down. You tell them all the reasons. You quote statistics about infections. You cite research about skin reactions. You talk about the permanence and the regret. But it falls flat. Why? Because your child already has reasons of their own. Meaning. Identity. Self-expression. Friends who have tattoos and love them. Every logical point you raise has a rebuttal waiting. So the conversation turns into a debate. And in debates, people usually defend their views. They don’t replace them. ## Show them what's happening But what if you took a different approach? Rather than trying to convince, what if you tried helping people see? What would change if you stopped telling people what to do, and started showing them what’s happening? Think of your best logical argument against getting a tattoo. Hold that thought. Now imagine saying something more like this: > “Tattoos aren't just ink. They are an endless war. Your body sends cells to eat the dye, but the particles are too heavy. So the cells choke, die, and get trapped under your skin. Then new cells come to eat the dead ones. Forever. You aren't seeing art. You're seeing millions of dead soldiers holding the line.” > > [Source](https://youtube.com/shorts/MAlRv6vYAU0?si=DMfrcRgP7SpH7Mrd&ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Notice what happened? You didn’t argue. You didn’t instruct. You didn’t say “don’t do it.” You painted a picture. You reframed what a tattoo is. Not art. Not expression. A permanent battlefield under the skin. A war your body never wins. ## That’s “show, don’t tell” at work It’s more effective at changing minds because it reaches people through meaning and imagery instead of resistance and logic. It doesn’t trigger defensiveness. It gives the brain something to visualize. It lets the listener arrive at their own conclusion. Which means it sticks. And here’s the deeper truth. Most persuasion fails because it starts from the outside and pushes in. Stories work because they start from the inside and grow out. ## So how do you tell a story like that? First, you have to actually understand the thing you’re talking about. That means going deeper than most people do. Learning how something works. Asking why. Understanding the mechanics, the history, the emotional weight. You can’t choose the right image or metaphor unless you see the full picture. Real insight is what lets you find the story hiding underneath the facts. Second, you shift from telling people what something means to showing them what it looks like. Not “tattoos stay in your body.” But “cells choke on ink particles and die trying to carry them away.” Not “meetings waste time.” But “twelve people sit in a room arguing over a bullet point while their real work waits quietly in their inboxes.” You translate abstraction into experience. Third, you let the listener connect the dots. You resist the urge to hammer the conclusion home. You don’t add “and that’s why tattoos are bad.” You let silence do the work. When people arrive on their own, the belief is stronger. It feels like theirs. And finally, you stay honest. “Show, don’t tell” isn’t about manipulation. It’s about clarity. It’s about revealing what was already true in a way that people can actually feel and understand. **If there’s one idea to walk away with, it’s this:** Stop trying to control what people think. Start helping them see the world more clearly. When the picture changes, the conclusion often takes care of itself. ### The fallacy of PMM ownership URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/the-fallacy-of-pmm-ownership/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:36:27.000Z Many product marketers get hung up on 'owning' messaging or 'owning' whatever. But ownership and being the sole decision-maker on anything doesn't make a stellar product marketer. After all, a company is a collection of minds; not one mind. Unless you're the CEO or founder, thoughts of ownership can lead you astray. They often result in frustration as an individual and/or sub-optimal teamwork as an organization. Instead, acting like an owner looks very different for PMMs. A stellar PMM knows how to manage various points of view, timelines, priorities, and nudge the organization in the right direction, one step at a time. As a PMM, it's healthier to imagine navigating a large ship powered by many rowers who can't turn on a dime rather than piloting a 2-person fighter jet. 75% of the job is knowing how to *influence* the other rowers, including the ones steering the ship. Influencing, not ownership, is the path to promotion and driving killer revenue results. The hardest part is this: influencing can't be learned from the neat frameworks you read in books or the catchy stories from 'influencers' jockeying for attention on social. And, sorry, I don't have any game-changing answers either. But maybe start by accepting that your success and happiness in PMM depend on being pragmatic, not dogmatic, having an opinion, and knowing how to gather support. Practice that, enjoy the process of learning through experience, and abandon the fallacy of ownership and control. ### Lead with the BLUF URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/lead-with-the-bluf/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:36:14.000Z If you want others to listen, try BLUF'ing. US military professionals are trained to start their emails with the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) because it grabs attention and makes the message clear and concise. Figure out what you want to say (your bottom line) and say it first. - If you want your reader to take action, state the action up front. - If you're about to give a 5-min overview that requires no action, say that. - If you're recommending a solution, share your recommendation first and then supporting research. - If you overperformed or underperformed, start with that message. **But here's the hard part:** What is your bottom line, and how do you pick just one? Your bottom line is what your whole argument boils down to. Ideally, it's short, easy to grasp, and sparks curiosity. I find it helpful to think about the specific change of mind or behavior I want to incite. It doesn't have to be a life-altering change, but it should be specific and clear. **Why BLUF works:** ✨ It quickly answers your reader's top question, "Why should I care?" ✨ It gives the reader context, which makes everything else easier to understand. ✨ It helps you cut content that doesn't support your bottom line, resulting in more impact with fewer words. — Credit: Lisa Cron's book, Wired for Story, helped me articulate the three whys above (bulleted with stars). I highly recommend it! ### Marketing is like parenting URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/marketing-is-like-parenting/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:35:58.000Z Much like your kids, your target buyers don't expect perfection or grand performances. No one expects you to have all the right answers, take all the right actions, and look like a hero. Instead, more than half the battle is just showing up: being at the right place at the right time more often than not—that's what counts. When faced with a choice between... A) Showing up for your audience every 1-2 quarters with a high-impact initiative and all the bells and whistles perfectly coordinated \-VS- B) Showing up weekly with only the 80%, 60, or even 20% that adds the most value each time ...choose B more often. ✨ A recent customer quote sums up why: "I have a bias for vendors who show up and look like they're active in their category. This tells me they're here to stay and have a reputation to protect. I trust those vendors more because I feel like they'd have something to lose if I'm not happy." Recency and frequency are immense tools for establishing trust, reputation, and influencing buying decisions. Don't let the pursuit of perfection or splashy marketing get in the way. ### Prospects vs. existing customers URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/prospects-vs-existing-customers/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:38:00.000Z SaaS marketing teams often struggle to find a balance between creating value for prospects vs. existing customers. Most exec teams emphasize new customer acquisition, leaving teams focused on creating value for existing customers, such as Customer Success and Customer Marketing, feeling like they come second. And, Product Marketing gets stuck between creating messaging and content for prospects vs. existing customers. But consider this: Prospects often respond well to content created for existing customers. In other words, prospects want to know... - The playbook for successful implementation - Best practices for roll-out and achieving adoption - How to solve 'day in the life' pain points using the product - How you'll help them amplify ROI - How the product is constantly evolving Using materials like the examples above, I've seen sales reps close deals and win against more feature-rich competitors. Paraphrased from closed-won interviews, I've heard... > "\[Your company\] felt like the safer bet because you showed us the amount of support and expertise we'd get beyond technical support. The tech is great but still needs hands-on planning and initiative to succeed." If you're tired of having to choose between new and existing customers, try creating content for existing customers and repurposing that content for prospects across various channels. The storytelling possibilities are endless, and the results may open some eyes ✨ ### Marketing is a waste of money URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/marketing-is-a-waste-of-money/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:33:33.000Z “Marketing is a waste of money," said the CEO to Carl (not his real name), who runs marketing for a Series B startup. “Our content is failing. Our ad spending is getting less efficient. And we don’t stand out from our competitors!” Carl built a marketing engine that went fast for 2 quarters but didn’t last. He invested in SEO content, ebook ad campaigns, and events - all tried and true tactics. But as he looked back, he realized those activities failed at… 1. Positioning against competitors 2. Driving engagement (views, likes, bookmarks, comments) 3. Driving virality (social/community shares, email shares, internal shares) 4. Acquiring customers at scale (no chance if 1-3 are weak) So, how can you avoid the same low-growth hell as a marketing leader? Carl learned from his mistakes and had an opportunity to start over. This time he built a methodical marketing plan by asking himself these 6 key questions: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-23.png) ## 1\. Target Audience: Do you understand the people you’re selling to? Have you embedded yourself in the life of your target audience and understood how to make them question their status quo? Do you know who and what influences their decisions? What are their internal measures of success and perceived barriers to buying a solution like yours? ## 2\. Messaging: Have you translated what you learned into a core pitch? Are you clear on how to convert a cold audience? Do you know what they need to see and hear before they change their minds and lean into your product? How will you position your product as a simple tie-in into their existing workflows? ## 3\. Core Content: What core content do you need across the funnel? Do you know which topics and angles will build preference for your product? What assets are required in the evaluation stage when more stakeholders and competitors get involved? You’ll need content that generates signals from “I’m looking for a solution to a problem” to “I’m in the market to buy a solution.” ## 4\. Channels: How will you reach and nurture a cold audience? Do you know where your audience goes online or offline to solve problems related to your product? How will you establish a presence (using the content from above) on those channels and give your audience a reason to stay in your orbit? ## 5\. Conversion: How will you convert a warm audience into leads and sales? How will you create pull so potential buyers in your orbit volunteer their time to learn more about your product? (e.g., requesting a demo). What content and messaging will you need to convert that demo request into a sale? ## 6\. Retention: How will you help customers achieve their desired outcomes post-sale? Do you understand your customers’ desired outcomes after they buy your product? Have you educated customers to choose a path and take action so they can achieve those outcomes? ### C-suite chat: Retention and growth URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/the-missing-element-in-every-retention-and-growth-strategy/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:33:14.000Z What if there was one change to your retention strategy that could accelerate growth and leave your competitors behind? That’s what I learned from an interview with [Jennifer Dearman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferdearman?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs%5FminiProfile%3AACoAAABhcbUBf1uXk%5FbX1tyN%5F8rJtNno-rgG2XY&ref=jehanlalkaka.com), former Chief Customer Officer at Pendo and Udacity, and former leader of successful customer success teams at companies like RedHat, Kronos, and SAS. After [writing about revenue retention](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-retain-revenue-9-key-moves-b2b-startups-jehan-lalkaka%3FtrackingId=8PWURhfBTluuSOwpJvDE4w%253D%253D/?trackingId=8PWURhfBTluuSOwpJvDE4w%3D%3D&ref=jehanlalkaka.com), where I outlined the parts of a well-oiled retention engine, I still had a burning question: **What actually fuels the retention engine?** In other words, what key inputs drive a successful revenue retention strategy? So I asked Jennifer for an interview, given her deep background in customer success, a function often tasked with retaining customers, and she graciously accepted. I came away with fresh insights that not only affect retention but growth overall. Let’s dive in! ## As a fun way to learn more about you beyond your LinkedIn profile, what’s your favorite non-fiction book? Jennifer: I’m currently reading Believe IT, by [Jamie Kern Lima](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-kern-lima-35574a71?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs%5FminiProfile%3AACoAAA887XEBNshAD8k3i9BaES-uEsVhQhsflRo&ref=jehanlalkaka.com), and I recommend it to anyone who likes a good underdog story. Jamie tells the story of how she went from being told someone who looks like her could never sell makeup to selling her company, IT Cosmetics, to L’Oreal for over a billion dollars and becoming the first female CEO of a brand in L’Oreal’s 100-year portfolio history. I often see myself as an underdog, so I love reading about how others draw upon their strengths to overcome the steepest struggles in their lives. ## Why does revenue retention matter? Everyone knows retaining customers is essential for long-term survival, with an emphasis on the long-term. When you have a consistent customer base, it provides… - **Revenue stability**: This is super important for forecasting and countering fluctuations in new customer acquisition, especially in a tough economic climate like the one we’re in now. - **Cost control:** Retaining and growing existing customers costs less than acquiring new ones, which helps keep costs down. - **ROI:** The longer a customer stays with the company, the more likely they are to make repeat purchases; this increases expansion rates and drives up the return on the initial cost of acquiring the customers. - **Growth:** Long-term customers often become brand advocates, serve as references and provide customer stories, which is also key for growth overall. ➡️ These are really good reasons to focus on retention **but remember:** retention is a company outcome, and customers don’t care about your retention rate. ## That’s an interesting statement. As most startups track corporate metrics like retention, what are they missing? Tracking retention is important and necessary, but retention is a lagging indicator. It’s a result, and tracking it alone won’t help you retain more customers and grow your business. Instead of tracking only company outcomes like retention or product metrics like usage rates, I recommend measuring and tracking *customer outcomes* as well. There’s a Deloitte study that found 90% of customers discussed their desired outcomes with their vendors, but more than 50% said they never achieved those outcomes. That same study showed that customers are 32% more likely to renew their contracts (which is code for retain) if their outcomes are delivered. Retention can lead to higher rates of expansion, upsell, and cross-sell, which could positively impact revenue by as much as 20%. So, while you’re tracking company outcomes like retention, expansion, product adoption, and advocacy, don’t forget about or overlook customer outcomes. If you do the latter, I guarantee the company outcomes will naturally follow. Another often overlooked benefit of focusing on customer outcomes is the impact it has internally. Employees find it more motivating to see how their work directly impacts customers vs. just hearing about the usual company metrics in all-hands meetings. I have always made it a priority to highlight customer outcome stories as much as possible so the culture of the company becomes grounded in them. ## That resonates a lot with me too. So, let’s bring the idea to life–what is a customer outcome? Customer outcomes can be bucketed into 4 things. They either increase revenue, decrease cost, mitigate risk, or create a better customer experience. When you think about customer outcomes, think about how your product/service can impact one or more of those four outcomes in a meaningful and measurable way. All the other metrics we usually track, like active users, repeat usage, and even customer satisfaction, are often used to predict renewal rates, and they are important metrics to measure and understand. But we’ve all seen customers churn even when their usage and satisfaction numbers were high, and the usual explanation is they can’t quantify the value of the investment. ## That makes sense–customers want to know how you’ve improved their metrics, not your own. Can you share a real-life example of that? At [Udacity](https://udacity.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com), a provider of online training content, it would have been easy to measure ourselves against the most obvious, easy-to-measure usage metrics like course hours watched, course completion rates, and nanodegree graduation rates. After all, shouldn’t customers care about how many of their employees actually completed the courses paid for by the company? This is what *we* thought customers cared about. But they didn’t care about those typical product metrics. Instead, executives wanted to know **which skills were being developed and how those skills were being applied on the job** to increase revenue, decrease costs, mitigate risk, or improve the customer experience. Once we realized what really mattered to our customers and built a framework to measure these outcomes, it completely changed how we sold, onboarded, and supported our customers. This shift in mindset to customer outcomes can be applied to any startup. For example, a project management startup might gravitate to measuring product metrics like time spent in app, projects started, and projects completed. But from my experience, retention (and growth) will be driven by other factors, such as whether the app **helped the company save time, reduce execution risk, and speed up projects** directly tied to generating revenue. ## Those are great examples that can be applied to any startup. How can a startup measure and track customer outcomes? I recommend having a 3-part framework in place to understand, act on, and report customer outcomes at every major stage of the customer journey, including pre-sales, onboarding, engagement, outcome attainment, renewal, and expansion. 1. **Align internally on the right customer outcomes:** Product and Marketing should be aligned on the same meaningful and measurable customer outcomes so you’re attracting customers that *need your* product. Internal alignment (inclusive of Sales and Customer Success) also ensures that everyone’s working as one team and focused on the right customer goals. 2. **Create customer success plans centered on achieving customer outcomes:** Hold customers and your Customer Success teams accountable for choosing outcomes and following through on achieving those outcomes. A mutually agreed-upon success plan often serves as a strong tool to drive follow-through by ensuring cross-functional alignment with client-side stakeholders. 3. **Find ways to measure and report customer outcomes:** Develop strong customer partnerships where they trust you enough to share their data in some low-risk format. Help them see how to use that data to build an ROI story that addresses the original outcomes they expressed in Step 1. Implementing a simple framework like this can have so many benefits. Not the least of which is developing a treasure chest of quantifiable customer proof points that your competitors can’t copy. It shows how focusing on customer outcomes can have powerful side effects on growth overall. ## What would you suggest to any B2B startup that sees the value in operationalizing customer outcomes but is struggling to make it a reality? Driving organizational change is hard, especially in later stages of the growth cycle. But that’s why it’s worth pursuing. Because customer outcome-oriented thinking can have lasting effects on growth and can’t easily be copied. If startups are struggling to create a customer outcome-oriented operating model, I have a few tips to increase their chances of success. 1) Exec leaders must have a conviction for such an operating model from the top down and make it one of the highest priorities for the company. 2) Cross-functional teams across Product, Marketing, Customer Success, and Sales all need to be bought in and aligned. 3) Lastly, the initiative to operationalize customer outcomes must address a major growth or profitability barrier that is a high priority for the company. ### Thank you for these truly unique insights. I greatly appreciate the time you spent speaking with me. ### A guide for writing headlines URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/a-guide-for-writing-headlines/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:32:51.000Z Want to craft scroll-stopping headlines without relying on a copywriter? Irresistible headlines are invaluable. They help you... → Stand out from the crowd → Keep eyes locked on what you have to say → Make your message more memorable → Simplify the writing process itself Instead of winging it the next time you're writing a headline, use this 3-step process: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-21.png) #### 1\. Start with a clear solution Say you're writing about an at-home workout that you developed to lose weight in 30 days. So, start with the simplest version of your headline… "The at-home workout routine that helped me lose weight in 30 days" Sounds generic, but that's okay for now. It's more important to be clear about what you're offering. We'll add additional layers later. #### 2\. Add an obstacle (the secret sauce) Think about your audience and ask yourself, what relatable obstacles do they face on their journey to lose weight? - Do they procrastinate? - Do they not have the right equipment? - Do they prefer professional guidance? - Do they not know where to start? - Do they waste time on the wrong things? - Do they eat the wrong foods? - Do they not know how to balance their time? - Do they have the wrong expectations? Then, pick one of the obstacles above based on 2 criteria: 1) Pick an obstacle that causes acute pain for your audience, and 2) an obstacle you can help them overcome. For our example, I'll go with the first obstacle: procrastination. **Tip 💡** If there’s no obstacle, everyone would have achieved their target weight, and the need to write your article would disappear. The obstacle is why your readers will stop scrolling: because you’re speaking to their needs and promising a better path. Choosing the right obstacle, knowing what to call it, and how to talk about it gets much easier if you've invested in getting to know your audience, specifically their pains, pressures, and priorities. #### 3\. Wrap your solution (from step 1) in the problem/obstacle (from step 2) Finally, frame your solution as a path your audience can take around or over their obstacle. This step forces you to think in terms of your audience rather than focusing on what you're selling or what you've built. Here are a few examples: - "How to lose 15lbs in 30 days, even if you're a master procrastinator" - "The procrastinator's guide to choosing a target weight and target date, and nailing them both" - "Is losing weight hard for you because you procrastinate?" You could even test multiple versions. Media companies do that all the time. Once you've chosen a headline, make good on your promise. You've done the homework, putting thought into creating a headline that resonates with your audience. Don't just write an article about your workout routine. Add some texture to it by tailoring your message and content for procrastinators. For presentations, articles, events, ebooks, landing pages, try these steps when you need a catchy (but meaningful) headline. ### 9 non-obvious ways to lead a team URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/9-non-obvious-ways-to-lead-a-team/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:32:38.000Z Most leadership advice never worked for me. It’s either too vague or too obvious: - Set clear goals that are ambitious yet achievable - Clarify and communicate values - Empower your team members - Give constructive feedback - Measure what matters - Measure performance - Celebrate success - Seek commitment - Show gratitude - Be transparent - Be authentic So, what’s wrong with all the above? Typical leadership advice separates managers from their team members. Imagine a general leading their soldiers from a safe remote location. Instead, leaders who build killer teams and attract talent work shoulder-to-shoulder with their team members. They work from the trenches and play their part on the frontline. But what does that look like? Consider this: ## 9 Non-Obvious Ways To Lead A Team That People Want To Join #### 1\. Empty your cup Forget about the scar tissue you still have from previous managers. Don’t let those experiences affect how you treat your team members, from how you coach them to how you advocate for their career growth. #### 2\. Make hard decisions, so your team can focus Avoid saying ‘yes’ to every cross-functional request and letting your team deal with the chaos. Instead, do the dirty work of saying ‘no’ when needed, so your team can focus and deliver business results. #### 3\. Break down problems into smaller, actionable chunks Saddling your team with a big, hairy problem with many goals and impossible timelines is a recipe for failure. Break down the problem into smaller wins organized from simple to complex or high-to-low impact. #### 4\. Provide clear examples of success Remove uncertainty around what success looks like. Develop example(s) of deliverables, so your team doesn’t have to read your mind. They’ll love the clarity and reward you with creative solutions that hit the mark. #### 5\. Give real context Don’t sugarcoat or ‘tow the company line’ when the going gets rough. Help your team understand the realities of the situation, no matter how ugly. They’ll reciprocate by rising to the occasion. #### 6\. Respect their decisions When a team member makes a decision, even if you disagree, give them a chance to see it through. Help them make it a success and allow them the opportunity to learn. #### 7\. Create a safe space to fail Let your team members take big swings and trust them to work hard to drive success. As their leader, work behind the scenes to manage expectations with select stakeholders in the unlikely case the wheels come off at showtime. #### 8\. Create a feeling of winning Perks, offsites, and awards are nice ways to drive employee engagement, but they don’t matter if your team loses momentum. Help your team end each week feeling like they made real progress toward a meaningful goal. #### 9\. Make every team member a hot prospect for their next role Proactively help every team member build their resume worthy of a bigger role in 2-3 years (or less), regardless of whether they stay or go. Then, watch them give you 110% every day. ### How to approach procurement URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/how-to-approach-procurement/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:32:24.000Z If your sales team chases large, quota-busting deals, you've probably run into procurement - the dreaded department that enters at the very end of the buying process. When procurement gets involved, sales cycles take longer, pricing and favorable contract terms get depressed, and in the worst-case scenario, the status quo and competitive quotes get reconsidered. Some senior executives believe… **“Procurement should be the most hated function in any company.”** …recounts [David Swift](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-does-procurement-exist-david-swift/?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fandroid&utm%5Fcampaign=share%5Fvia), a seasoned procurement leader with experience at companies like Novartis and PwC. Procurement can kill a deal if sellers are unprepared to navigate a department that exists to make it as difficult as possible for the client to spend money. And yet, I don’t think B2B SaaS sales and marketing teams understand procurement very well. We often leave it to the account exec and their manager to get the deal ‘through procurement’ without capturing learnings when things go well vs. not so well. Meanwhile, in one online poll, more than 88% of B2B sales professionals report dealing with procurement before closing a deal, and 60% said that 7 or more of their deals go through procurement every year. **Why aren’t more sales and marketing teams talking about procurement?** In this post, I’d like to change that. I will walk through what I learned about procurement from this excellent [Modern Sales Pros webinar](https://youtu.be/efOFu-c8j44?ref=jehanlalkaka.com)–which goes inside the mind of a procurement leader at Mercedes-Benz (I highly recommend watching the webinar from front to back). And I’ll suggest actions that marketing teams can take to enable their sellers when they face procurement. Let’s find out how to work *with* procurement rather than have them work against us. ## Insight 1 of 4: Procurement doesn't only care about saving money. They want to create value for the business. That’s an important starting line. Why do procurement teams exist? They help large companies with big budgets make sound buying decisions. Cost minimization is one dimension, but it’s not the only thing that matters. After all, procurement teams are a group of professional buyers, and it’s their job to spend the company’s money. But they’re looking for opportunities that offer their company an advantage by aligning with the company’s priorities and overall business strategy. **Marketing action** Enable your sales team with the insights and tools they need to build a solid business case. Making a business case isn’t a silver bullet but a necessary part of any toolkit for working with procurement teams. I know the importance of building a business case isn’t lost on anyone (especially in today’s economy). Now you have one more reason to finally up-level your ROI game. Arm your sales with the tools and frameworks they need to identify business drivers and create a tailored business case that justifies investing in your product. Consider arming your sellers with insightful discovery questions, templates, talk tracks, what to look for, and how to develop a solid business case based on their collected insights. ## Insight 2: Giving a discount upfront does more good than harm Procurement leaders want to work with vendors who can make their lives easier. Although there’s more to procurement than negotiating the lowest price, it helps your case when you show pricing flexibility right out of the gate. Contrary to popular belief, giving a small/good faith discount doesn’t put you in a weaker position. Instead, a small discount signals that you’ll be easy to work with. Procurement departments need to show wins on their scoreboard too. If you understand that, you can see how an upfront discount can position you favorably in the minds of procurement leaders vs. your competitors. **Marketing action** Here are 4 ways you can design your list pricing to take advantage of this insight: 1. If the market can bear prices within a range, set your list price in the upper end of that range, so you have some room for a small discount right off the bat. Use that discount flexibility when pricing deals you know must go through procurement. 2. Find your competitors’ list pricing and share your competitive insights with procurement, so you can show that you’re offering a real discount and that you haven’t set artificially high prices to fool procurement. I know researching competitive pricing is easier than done, but it’s worth the cost and effort! 3. Rather than having ‘one simple price or all-in pricing’ for everything your product or service offers, consider an ‘unbundled’ pricing strategy. Charge separately for the numerous ways you create value for clients. Unbundled pricing could be a win-win for everyone involved, offering more transparency for buyers and giving you some flexibility when you need to provide clear discounts in working with procurement. 4. Unbundled pricing also makes it easier to offer a menu of ‘give-get’ discounts. You can offer your procurement stakeholder the option to avoid certain charges in exchange for something else. For example, you can define how procurement can unlock the *implementation fee waiver* by agreeing to shorter payment terms. ## Insight 3: Reputation and actual performance matter, not just pricing discounts How do we know that Procurement teams don’t single-mindedly focus on the lowest price? Because they hold themselves to a host of KPIs, such as supplier performance, business productivity, risk reduction, and sustainability. If you can show how your product performs, improves productivity, and reduces risk, you’ll likely succeed in gaining procurement’s attention and support. This insight aligns with insight number 1, that procurement is hungry to show how they’ve enabled the company to innovate, move faster, and capitalize on opportunities–all representing opportunities for outstanding sales and marketing teams. **Marketing actions** In addition to building a solid business case or using strategic discounts, find ways to deliver critical proof points based on customer data. Show your procurement stakeholder how your product performs on a variety of dimensions: - Time to implementation - Activation and usage rates - Customer satisfaction rates - Customer service response times - Customer outcomes (innovations, speed, overhead cost reductions enabled by your product) - If possible, show data from other customers in the same industry - Bonus: find ways to subtly message how specific competitors or categories of competitors may fall short on the dimensions above and why Make the bullets above come alive through various formats, including customer stories, reviews, product data, and survey data. For some dimensions above, I suggest conducting the data collection and analysis by a neutral third party, which adds an extra layer of credibility and robustness. ## Insight 4 of 4: Involve procurement ‘soon after day 2’ rather than at the last minute Procurement teams are often brought in at the last minute before the contract needs to be signed. That puts pressure on the team, making them less likely to prioritize your deal or give you the consideration you think you deserve. For example, the procurement team of just four people at Mercedes-Benz R&D in North America touches over 1,300 deals every year. If you navigate the procurement question with your champion well ahead of time, procurement can act as a tailwind. In some cases, if procurement is engaged from the get-go, they can actually help find budget when needed. **Marketing actions** Here are three ways you can help your sales team drive success by bringing procurement to the table early: 1. Interview procurement leaders in your category to understand how they approach buying decisions for solutions like yours. Treat them like another persona in addition to the usual suspects like IT and Finance. I guarantee your competitors aren't doing this. 2. Equip your sales team with collateral to help educate their champion about procurement’s role in other organizations that have bought your product. At the very least, ask and remind your champion about the process required to get a contract signed and when procurement may get involved. Champions often forget or aren’t aware of the full buying process within their organizations. 3. Create specific collateral for procurement leaders who get involved early in the deal cycle. Build compelling messaging and sales enablement assets targeted to the needs of procurement. The same needs you uncovered through interviewing procurement leaders in your specific category. ## An investment never wasted Good news: any marketing or sales enablement investment that resonates with procurement will also resonate with your champions and their other stakeholders. As a result, the time, cost, and effort invested in your ‘procurement strategy’ (no matter how big or small) can have a lot of leverage. The difference is that procurement teams are professional buyers who evaluate vendors for a living, unlike champions who may complete one or two purchases a year. So if you can show robust messaging, proof points, and documentation that's a cut above, you’ll likely stand out from your competitors. I hope this article dispelled some myths about procurement and serves as your mini-handbook the next time you need procurement working with you rather than against you. ### How to retain revenue: 9 key moves URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/how-to-retain-revenue-9-key-moves-tclx/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:32:06.000Z Ever wonder why some startups have great customer retention and how they do it? SaaS needs revenue retention like humans need water. Business models like SaaS that rely on recurring revenue can’t survive, let alone grow, for too long without a healthy retention rate. But ‘retention’ involves more than simply keeping customers around for longer. To grow market share, generate income, and ultimately make an impact, startups also need existing customers to buy more. How? - Give customers a reason to buy more of the same product they bought before. For example, they can expand the number of users by buying more seats. - Give customers a reason to buy more products and features. For example, upselling customers to buy other products from your portfolio or higher-tier plans that solve new problems. 💡 Did you know that 50% of Hubspot’s growth today comes from their install base? I.e., keeping existing customers around longer, upsells, and expansion. Hubspot succeeded in [improving revenue retention](https://youtu.be/sNU4h7LpHOI?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) from 85% to 110% from 2018 to 2021! After a quick review of two critical retention metrics, we'll cover the main event: developing a playbook to drive those metrics. ## Keep an eye on two retention metrics as you develop your retention playbook Execs and investors measure retention with metrics called NRR (Net Revenue Retention) and GRR (Gross Revenue Retention). - **NRR** \= (ARR at beginning of month + Expansions + Upsells - Cancellations - Contractions) / (ARR at beginning of month) - **GRR** \= (ARR at beginning of month - Cancellations - Contractions) / (ARR at beginning of month) When I was at 15Five, we had strong NRR, but we kept a close eye on GRR. NRR can hide upticks in cancelations or contractions, especially if expansions and upsells are strong. Watch out for the silent killer lurking in NRR. According to Bessemer Venture Partners, startups approaching $10M see NRR between 105% and 145%. From my own experience, startups need to shoot for NRR closer to the middle of that range. These deceptively simple retention metrics affect everything that matters in SaaS financial--including ARR growth, CAC-LTV ratios, capital efficiency, and, most important, enterprise value. More on this in a future post. ## Choose from 9 key moves to build your retention playbook So, how do you drive up expansions and upsells while keeping cancellations and contractions down? Use the 9-point checklist below to identify the best bets for your startup: #### 1\. Build a slick product that people want to use Customers are often surprised by gaps in the product after they buy. So, startups often address the problem by making CSMs fill the gaps. But that never works. Build a product that elegantly solves a meaningful problem; otherwise, the items below can’t help. #### 2\. Attract the right customers If you’ve got the right product, but you’re converting the wrong customers or setting the wrong expectations, churn will become a problem. This is more common than you’d think as product strategies change and if product, sales, and marketing teams aren’t operating as one. #### 3\. Your customers’ needs have changed–figure them out As prospects become customers, their priorities change. They care about different things when they were in buying mode vs. facing the realities of implementation, roll-out, and regular usage. Investing in understanding customers post-purchase will pay off in spades, especially if choose to keep moving down this list. --- Don't forget to segment your customers after researching their needs. Segmenting can help in at least 2 ways: - You can meet a range of customer needs in a more personalized way, which will improve your results - And if you segment by financial metrics (like customer profitably), you can also decide how much to invest (in support, product, marketing) toward specific customer groups --- #### 4\. Help customers get value from the product–quickly Onboarding and implementation set the stage for the rest of your customer’s life with your product. Weak onboarding, whether it’s automated or CS-assisted, is often very hard to recover from. Identify key stakeholders, uncover high priorities, and quickly deliver value–all actions that will either make or break your customer relationship from day 1. #### 5\. Keep them coming back for more Just because your client signed a 6-figure annual contract doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily find opportunities to regularly use your product. Inspire them with regular touchpoints that show how other customers, your own team, and industry experts suggest using your product to create value. This is where classic customer marketing comes in. #### 6\. Know how to upsell/expand customers Much like acquiring and converting leads, you need a similar plan to upsell customers. But don’t bother if you haven’t performed on the items above first. No use trying to upsell customers who don’t necessarily trust you (yet). But if you give yourself strong grades on items 1-5 above, talk to your customer marketer or growth manager about creating a pipeline. #### 7\. Reward loyalty Find financial and non-financial ways to reward the customers who stick with you. Even a simple loyalty program gives you one more touchpoint to remind customers of your product and the value it offers. Use loyalty programs to reward high-value actions like testimonials, case studies, and other forms of customer advocacy. Make it a win-win for everyone. #### 8\. Share your roadmap and involve your customers Most startups underestimate the value of talking about their roadmap with customers in groups or 1-on-1\. Big mistake. I understand the anxiety and risk involved, but it's worth it. I’ve seen customers renew after a difficult year with the product because of the roadmap. Even if your product has a high NPS, customers still want to know if your product will evolve as their business needs change from year to year. Remember, competitors are constantly knocking on your customers' doors. #### 9\. Measure your customers’ progress toward realizing value Last but not least, don’t forget to find efficient ways to track customer journeys after purchasing your product. How long did implementation take? Is the time to value getting shorter or longer? Are your customers realizing value? Why or why not? Where are the gaps? Answer those questions and take action. ### Books on writing URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/books-on-writing/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:31:51.000Z How can I become a better writer to advance my career? I've been asked that question several times by friends and co-workers. If you're interested in developing writing skills so you can present yourself as clear, compelling, and informative, I recommend four books found below. **The Elements of Style** *by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White* In a simple, punchy format, you'll encounter common grammar mistakes and learn how to fix them. Some writers find this book outdated, but Strunk and White's grammar instruction stands the test of time. It gives us a solid foundation to build upon as the English language and grammar norms evolve. Thousands of professionals use this book to master the mechanics of grammar, the first step in creating sentences worth reading. **The Pyramid Principle** *by Barbara Minto* Refrain from following the writing example set by this book. The writing is a little dry and needs stronger editing. However, I still highly recommend Minto's work. This book teaches structure and how to get organized before you write. You'll learn how to clarify your thinking, create a narrative, and spot the gaps. As a bonus, the mental models found in this book apply to presentations, speaking, and other forms of communication beyond writing. **Writing Tools** *by Roy Peter Clark* Written by an excellent writer and trainer of others who write for the New York Times, this book dives into over 55 writing techniques and explains how they can liven up your work. Filled with helpful examples, you'll learn concepts like rhythm, pace, and levels of abstraction alongside many other essential tools writers use. After reading it once, you'll reach for it again every couple of months when facing a writing challenge that needs quick guidance. **Building Great Sentences** *by Brooks Landon* This book explores the most basic component of writing: the sentence. You'll learn how to construct sentences that string phrases together, hold attention, and communicate a clear message. Landon provides a visual framework that decodes sentence structure, showing you how to break down sentences and build them back up, making them smoother, more powerful, and more satisfying to read. Each book above is a gem in its own right. At times, the authors have differing views, and at other times, they agree but take a different approach to teaching the same concept. Those are good things because writing isn't a science. If you read these books in the order shown above, you'll gain a powerful, well-rounded toolkit packed with multiple ways to break open any writing challenge. Happy writing! ### How to stop spray-and-pray marketing URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/how-to-stop-spray-and-pray-marketing/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:31:35.000Z This short post will walk you through how to generate leads without relying on spray-and-pray marketing. The answer lies in 1) finding a *high-priority* problem that your target customer *must* act on and 2) that problem should have a quickly approaching deadline for your target customer. I'll illustrate how solving such problems can liven up your marketing and inform a new approach to marketing altogether. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-20.png) Photo by [Ian MacDonald](https://unsplash.com/@imacdonald3?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/housing?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) A few days after Halloween, my window cleaner gave me a call. He must have been calling to sell me another round of window cleaning. Perhaps he wanted to tell me about a winter special promo that he was running. To my surprise, he offered to hang my Christmas lights on the exterior of my house, and he quoted me a reasonable price. It's as if he read my mind. The time, effort, and timing of when I was going to knock that to-do off my list were very top of mind for me that week. After hanging up the phone, I googled 'residential Christmas lights installation near me', which turned up a few results. So, I called those local businesses for a rough quote. It turns out that my window cleaner quoted me 50% less than his lights-installation competitors. I started thinking, why would my window cleaner offer such a service? Is lights-installation a huge market? Probably not. Can lights-installation provide year-round revenue? Nope. But, because installing holiday lights is something many households will prioritize during holiday months, such a service, even if offered at cost or low margin, can... 1. Generate strong leads for window cleaning in the future from lights-installation service inquirers (but those who don't buy) and people who do buy alike 2. Generate additional income and deepen the window cleaner's relationship with past customers who already know and trust the service provider 3. Generate additional contribution margin before the end of the year to cover fixed costs (assuming low seasonal demand for window cleaning during fall and winter) It turns out that my window cleaner is a savvy marketer first and a window cleaner second. By targeting a clear problem that I likely must solve (i.e., installing lights around my house) within a short time range (after Halloween but before Christmas), and even though such a task doesn't directly tie in with window cleaning, he continues to raise awareness, develop new relationships and deepen existing ones. He could take this one step further by adding new pages and content to his website, along with a little advertising. That could expand his reach and customer base during a time when many of his potential customers likely have 'installing lights' higher on their to-do list than window cleaning. After this brief exchange with my window cleaner, my mind went to a place it often goes. I started thinking about what my window cleaner could teach marketers in general, especially those of us in the thick of quarterly or annual planning for 2023. ## Takeaways for marketers ### 1\. Target a present problem Whether seasonal or driven by another factor, look for solvable problems your target customers *need* to *act* on in a short time frame. The emphasis is on the words 'need' (i.e., must-have or high priority) and 'act' (i.e., must do something by a specific time). For example, if you sell invoicing software, pick a target customer like freelancers, and choose a problem like quarterly tax filing (in the US) to build a marketing campaign around. A certain number of freelancers will likely be more interested in getting their quarterly taxes filed on time at the end of every quarter and hearing about how you can help them do that, and less about a more convenient invoicing solution. ### 2\. Find the solution path Then, find the paths your potential customers usually take to solve those problems. And offer support along their journey with helpful products, services, or content. Given the timeliness of installing lights during the holiday season, the window cleaner could add a seasonal service to their website and run a pay-per-click search ad or write an article to target the search term 'holiday lights installation near me'. They could also consider a flyer drop once before Halloween and once or twice after. Addressing a near-term need that requires action will likely get your target audience's attention and motivate them to call. ### 3\. Acquire the lead Once someone calls to inquire about the lights installation service, and even if they don't buy, they've become a potential lead for window cleaning: someone who cares enough about their home and would rather pay for services than do it themself, which is likely better than targeting customers based on zip codes, income levels, and residential square footage. ## Wrap up This approach could attract stronger leads at the very top of funnel than focusing too heavily on buzzy topics for the sake of grabbing attention or pushing the same marketing message again and again. Speak to your target audience, get your product stakeholders involved, and invest in research to find out the things your target audience must get done by a specific time. It could be the beginning of a truly creative campaign or a full marketing strategy for your next planning cycle. In a future post, I'll write about how this style of thinking/marketing can be applied to a more relatable SaaS product. ### Talk about your buyers' problems URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/struggling-to-connect-with-buyers-talk-about-their-problems-5-examples/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:31:00.000Z Marketing experts often say that buyers don’t care about features alone. ‘Buyers care about how your product will benefit them.’ But benefits alone can often fall short. Benefits alone can’t carry a buyer from where they are today, risk-averse and standing still, to taking a chance on an unfamiliar solution that will cost them time, money, and/or effort. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-14.png) Advanced marketers have learned that buyers want comfort in knowing you’ve taken time to understand their problems before they’ll hear the benefits you think are relevant \[1\]. ## Show buyers that you understand them A buyer, like any human, will only respond if we as marketers take the time to understand their problems first and show them that ‘we get it.’ Roosevelt wrote… > “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care” > > Theodore Roosevelt He was writing about leadership principles but the same applies to marketing too. Like leaders, marketers ask people to buy their mission (or value proposition). As a marketer when you lead with showing how much you care, here’s how buyer perceptions can turn in your favor: “As a buyer… - It’s easier for me to believe that you are the right person/company to help me achieve my goals. – **You become more credible** - I feel more confident that your product/service was purposefully designed to address my specific needs. – **You become more personal** - You will stand out in my mind against your competitors because you understand me better than anyone.” – **You become differentiated** Buyers reward marketers who understand the obstacles (or problems) between who they are today and who they want to be. If that sounds similar to what we as humans all want from our friends or loved ones, don’t be surprised \[2\]. When you say something and your best friend replies ‘Exactly!’–don’t you love that? That thought is what you want zipping through your buyer’s mind when they hear your pitch or read your homepage. ## Use problems to tell buyers when to think of your product Defining the exact moment or situation **when** you want buyers to think of your product is called ‘positioning’ (that’s the short definition). As buyers shop in your category or face a relevant problem, positioning helps your product bubble to the top of their minds. And, the problems your buyers face can be a strong tool to position your product. For example: let’s say Toyota, a mass car manufacturer, could position itself as a sports car maker (i.e., 'I want a car that makes me feel good about looks/performance') or fuel-saving car maker (i.e., 'I want a car that saves me money and reduces environmental impact'). As we know, Toyota chose to position itself as a fuel-saver with help from the Prius and now with the widest selection of hybrid vehicles. Today, when a car buyer considers buying a hybrid to save money or the environment, you can be sure Toyota almost always reaches top of mind. Before turning attention to your features and benefits, write down what challenges your buyers face in their everyday lives that relate to your product. You want to be as accurate and vivid as possible (which you can only do if you talk to your prospects and/or existing customers). In the end, show buyers how deeply you understand their world and what they’re struggling with. Initially, buyers may or may not relate to your solution but they will relate if you explain a struggle they’re facing in their everyday lives. Your solution doesn’t matter if a buyer can’t easily connect it to a clear challenge in their everyday lives. The ‘Examples’ section below shows exactly how successful product marketers use problems to clearly position themselves for the right situation or struggle in a buyer’s life. ## Use problems to engage buyers In addition to making you more personal, credible, and unique, talking about your buyers’ problems can also make you more engaging. In Don Miller’s bestseller, Building a Story Brand, he applies the timeless craft of storytelling to marketing: > "If we want our customers’ ears to perk up when we talk about our products and services, we should position those products and services as weapons they use to defeat a villain. And the villain should be dastardly." > > Donald Miller As a former screenwriter, Miller knows that a story’s villain (or problem) is what keeps us engaged in novels and movies. By writing ‘And the villain should be dastardly’ he means to find out what truly ails your buyer and give it as much definition as possible. Like readers of a story, buyers engage when their problems are brought to life leaving them eager to find out who or what can help them. To sum it up, the three reasons why you should talk about your buyers’ problems are 1) buyers will be more open to your message; 2) they’ll know exactly when to think of your product in their daily lives (positioning); and 3) they’ll more likely want to find out more by either engaging with your content or reaching out. ## Examples Let’s walk through five examples that illustrate specific tactics marketers use (and you can use) to talk about buyers’ problems. ### 1\. Churn Buster Churn Buster helps its customers tackle churn by reducing the number of failed payments due to credit card issues such as expired credit cards. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-15.png) *Churn Buster’s homepage* In the top half of Churn Buster’s homepage, you’ll find the message above. No features or benefits of Churnbuster itself. The buyer’s problem is clearly stated ‘Up to 40% of churn is caused by failed payments’ but the message goes deeper. It outlines five major contributors to failed payments and details are proof Reading that message, if a buyer can relate to just one of those five contributors, Churn Buster has likely formed a connection, prompting the buyer to find out more. When your problems are explained on a page, you’re compelled to keep reading to find out what’s the solution. ### 2\. Bench.co ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-16.png) If you visit online bookkeeper Bench.co (as of 10/1/2021), their hero message says “You run your business, we’ll do your finances.” By using a generic message that can be used by any service outsourcer, Bench is missing an opportunity to connect with visitors at a much deeper level. They haven’t shown me that they understand my deepest challenges, annoyance, and frustrations with doing my own bookkeeping. Instead of making a relatively general statement, craft a message that doesn’t just say ‘buy our service because’. Instead, say something that will make me feel “Wow, this company really gets me.” Invoke that feeling by focusing on buyer problems. Let’s look at a few examples of how Bench can speak to their buyers’ inner problems: - Avoid 2 hours of horrible accounting work each week - End your bookkeeping procrastination - Wish you had an accounting department? Let us do your bookkeeping I derived each headline above from customer stories found on Bench’s own site (which took 15 mins). Each headline speaks to the frustration of having to do your own accounting and to spend time on a non-value creating activity. Notice how each headline includes a ‘feeling’ word such as horrible, procrastination, or wish. Force yourself to show buyers that you invested (hopefully more than 15 mins) in understanding their deepest frustrations and challenges. You’ll end up with a marketing message that is engaging and avoid saying the same thing as everyone else. ### 3\. Copywriter Kayla Hollatz [Kayla Hollatz](http://kaylahollatz.com/copywriting/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) is a professional copywriter who helps businesses and individuals find just the right words to get their message across. If anyone knows how to talk about buyers’ problems, it would be a professional copywriter. As expected, Kayla spells out what her buyers are struggling with in plain and simple language, and she places her buyers’ problems near the top of her copywriting landing page (linked above). Notice how she writes directly in her buyer’s voice… Raise your hand if this sounds familiar: - “I know I have a story to tell but my writing sounds nothing like me” - “I wish my website would just write itself” - “I want my copy to sound more like how I speak” - “The last thing I have time for now is to sit down and write content” It’s as if Kayla stepped into her buyer’s mind and wrote down all the problems people have when creating their own marketing copy. And, it’s a great example of how a marketer can show proof that they understand their buyers’ pain points. ### 4\. Basecamp [Basecamp](https://basecamp.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) started in 2005 known as 37signals and changed its name to Basecamp in 2014\. Today, the company continues to attract thousands of new users each week and generates millions of dollars in profit each year. Basecamp asked its current customers “What problems did you face before using Basecamp?” Here’s what they said… ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-17.png) *Stories of life before Basecamp (Nov. 2019)* Notice how Basecamp highlights phrases with words such as cry, worried, nightmare, and stressful. They do this because they know that those are the emotions that buyers care most about and most about resolving. ### 5\. Apple ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-18.png) *Click* [*here*](https://www.youtube.com/embed/VtvjbmoDx-I?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) *to watch* That was Apple’s first Super Bowl ad and as you may have guessed, it is called ‘1984’. It launched the Macintosh and the company into space and it left a permanent mark in the minds of all future Super Bowl ad directors. If you are old enough to remember personal computers of the 1990s, they screamed complicated, clunky, and robotic (like the blue men in the ad). Personal computers were all the same, lacking individuality, and this ‘sameness’ brought another villainous trait: they were difficult to use. Apple promised to set us all free from the sameness of that era’s personal computers and give us the Macintosh which would change the world forever (as they claimed). By giving life to our status quo problems and without even showing the product, that ad created a PR tsunami for Apple. As history has proven, it was the best kind of PR tsunami anyone could have imagined. ## Conclusion: Put your buyers’ problems before your pitch Customers won’t always change their minds because it’s necessarily the rational thing to do; they will change their minds when they feel comfortable and safe because they’re dealing with someone who has taken the time to understand their inner problems and speak to those problems. Speaking to a customer’s problems builds trust and positions you as empathetic to who they are and why they do what they do. After you make your buyers feel comfortable that they’re in good hands, then you can pitch features and benefits. We often forget that customers are humans and their buying decisions are made in similar ways to their personal decisions. If it’s safe to assume that you prefer to make friends with people who understand you then you probably also prefer products that demonstrate they’ve taken the time to understand you – it’s basic psychology. The next time you choose something to buy, ask yourself ‘what makes me trust this product enough to buy it?’ ### Sources \[1\] Green, C. (2005). *Trust-Based Selling: Using Customer-Focus and Collaboration to Build Long-Term Relationships.* McGraw-Hill. \[2\] Seltzer, Leon F. Ph.D. (2017). *Feeling Understood–Even More Important Than Feeling Loved? Psychology Today.* Online Publication. ### Three lessons from siggi’s messaging URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/three-lessons-from-siggis-unique-messaging/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:30:39.000Z Use plain language, simplify buying decisions, and focus on buyer pain points. siggi's yogurt brand thrives in a fiercely competitive category by matching its messaging to the way people make buying decisions. This brief post breaks down each messaging insight and provides examples. ## 1\. Use plain language Not ‘reduced sugar’ or ‘less sugar’ or ‘sugar free.’ Instead, siggi’s went with… ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-12.png) **simple ingredients, not a lot of sugar.* The phrase catches your eye because it’s written using conversational language which is relatable and therefore easy to recognize. No jargon, no BS, and it’s honest. There is still a little sugar (as in most yogurt products) but it’s not a lot. Cool, thank you for being honest and upfront. ## 2\. Simplify decisions siggi’s message is relatable but it’s not just a claim. The package supports the message with a simple calculation showing that it has > at least 25% less sugar than top three leading brands: siggi’s at 9-11g vs. 13-16g per 5.3oz This framing is effective for two reasons: 1) the info does the math for the buyer, making it easy on the buyer to choose and 2) it matches how people usually compare sugar content between products, making it a reasonable argument. Buyers gravitate toward products that lighten the level of effort to make a decision (Kahneman, 2011). I often see products hiding behind complex, indirect language rather than making the buying decision easier for buyers. ## 3\. Focus on buyer pain points Nowadays, I’m sure CPG manufacturers know that buyers in certain categories pick up a product and immediately turn it over to read nutrition info. Buyers struggle with finding packaged foods that aren’t laced with unnecessary mystery ingredients. siggi’s knows this so they call out the villains and make it clear that siggi’s is villain-free (see 2nd image). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-13.png) **No aspertame, No sucralose, No gelatin, No artificial colorings, No preservatives, No high fructose corn syrup* The end result is a message that closely reflects my thought process when choosing a snack. siggi’s nailed it. ### Short intro to SEO URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/a-quick-intro-to-seo-using-a-bottoms-up-approach/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:30:20.000Z Learning SEO can be a daunting task. Given the dizzying volume of advice out there, it's not easy to pin down what 'good SEO' means or how to get started. In such cases, it's best to skip all the high-level theory and go straight to the bottom: the actual tools used by SEO professionals. Each tool below is covered in greater depth by Dan Norris in his book *3 Months to No.1: The 2020 "No-Nonsense" SEO Playbook For Getting Your Website Found on Google.* It's a short eBook that you can devour in a weekend. *Note: I am *not* affiliated with any of the links or references found in this article.* ## 1\. SerpFox [SerpFox](https://serpfox.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) helps you track your website's rank on a search engine results page (SERP). The higher your website ranks, the closer to the top you'll find it for a particular keyword. For example, if you sell bicycle rentals in San Diego, you'd want to rank high anytime someone searches for 'bicycle tours san diego' (that's known as a *keyword* in SEO-speak). As you tweak your website to rank high for such a keyword--which can take months not weeks, by the way--you're probably wondering 1) Are your efforts paying off? And 2) Once you achieve a rank that you're happy with, how can you maintain that position over time? SerpFox can help you answer those questions and more. SerpFox makes it easy to get started with a free trial and then $10 per month after that for beginners. I'd use that entry-level plan if you're ever looking to impress a future or current employer or client. I don't think it would be too hard to identify a few lucrative keyword opportunities where they rank low, or their rank has slipped down from a higher position. ## 2\. SEO Book Keyword Density Analyzer According to Dan Norris, SEO rests on four pillars: relevance, crawlability, engagement, and authority. Out of those, keyword density is all about signaling *relevance*. Keyword density is one way to tell Google that your web page has content that's a good match for a particular keyword. Going back to our previous example, if you want to rank for 'bicycle tours san diego,' you might ask what's stopping you from stuffing your web page with those four words over and over. Google is smart enough to sniff out such tactics. Google rewards unique, high-quality content that provides a good user experience for the reader. If you look like you're trying to game the system, the big G will catch you and punish you. Literally, your website could get slapped with a search penalty and get thrown in SEO jail. So, how do you strike the right balance between giving Google what it wants but avoid gaming the system? You can use the [Keyword Density Analyzer](http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword-density/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) from SEO Book to answer that question. This free tool will help you determine how many times a particular keyword is repeated in any body of text and will spit out the resulting keyword density as a percentage. In his book, Dan recommends taking the average keyword density of the top 3-5 results from your target SERP. It's safer to act on an average rather than relying on a single web page's keyword density alone, even if it is the highest-ranking page by Google. ## 3\. LSIGraph LSI is actually a common term in SEO which stands for Latent Semantic Indexing. It sounds complex, but it's not. Above, you learned how many times you should use the very keyword you're trying to rank for (using the keyword density analyzer). Now, it's time to uncover what other words and phrases will improve your content's relevance in the eyes of Google. Fortunately, there's a tool for that. [LSIGraph](https://lsigraph.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) will give you some strong hints on what sub-topics your content could benefit from covering. For example, a page about bike tours in San Diego should probably touch on bicycle routes, equipment and supplies needed, and what snacks to bring to stay nourished (to name a few). For any given keyword, you'll likely find that LSIGraph will spit out more LSI keywords that you can work with. It's your job to figure out which ones are most appropriate for your content and reader goals. ## 4\. Majestic So far, we've covered three tools to improve your on-page SEO. On-page SEO refers to acting within the walls of your website to score high marks on Google's four criteria: relevance, crawlability, engagement, and authority. Although we've only scratched the surface by covering relevance so far, let's move on to the outside world. Those are the SEO tactics beyond the walls of your website, that make your website worthy of a top spot on a search results page. It's called off-page SEO. If your website sells bicycle rentals in San Diego, you should have other high-quality bicycle or touring or activity websites linking back to your website. The SEO world calls those links 'backlinks.' Google uses backlinks from other high-quality website to determine the quality of your website or web page. [Majestic](https://majestic.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) can help you uncover the number and quality of backlinks. The key is to find **relevant** backlinks. For example, a bicycle tour website will get greater SEO value from travel-related backlinks from travel sites rather than food blogs. ### More tools for off-page SEO - [Broken link checker](https://brokenlinkcheck.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com): Find relevant websites with broken links and offer the owner to replace those broken links with a fresh link back to your site. Dan's book (mentioned above) has several helpful tactics/templates for this kind of 'off-page SEO outreach.' - [BuzzSumo](https://buzzsumo.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com): Discover the hottest content, based on shares and likes, within a topic/space of your choice. Then, find a way to get those popular sites/pages to link back to your site. - [Help a reporter](https://helpareporter.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com): Commonly known as HARO for short (help a reporter out). Reporters from major and minor publications post questions and requests for expertise on this site. If your answer is selected, the reporter will quote you and post a link back to your site. ### Don't skip the Cold Audience Test URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/the-hard-truth-about-growth/ Last updated: 2026-06-19T20:28:25.000Z Use the Cold Audience Test (CAT) to check if your marketing message is ready for paid ads or other forms of mass marketing (e.g., community posting and email outreach to name a few). In other words, is your message ready to spread beyond your friends and close contacts? ## Stubborn growth You may have a great product. Better yet, you may even have the right product for the right market. You’ve read the books about growth and tried every growth tactic / copy hack you can find. But growing your business still seems like pushing an 800-pound rock up a mountain. But why? **You haven’t nailed how to position and sell your product to a cold audience.** Think about it. Almost every growth tactic you’ve ever tried depends on converting a cold customer (someone who has never heard of you or your product before). This could be someone who visits your website for the first time or receives your email message without having known you before. ## What's missing When you buy ads, email individual customers, write social media posts, or create content, your success depends on just one question: > **Can a cold audience easily understand how your product solves a problem they actually care about?** I call it the 'Cold Audience Test.' Its a question you should ask yourself before investing in almost any growth tactic. How can you pass the Cold Audience Test? - Know how to clearly define your ideal customer and the best channels to reach them - Know what problem(s) they really care about solving and how to talk about those problems - Know how to position and message your product so that it speaks directly to the problems that matter to your ideal custome You can chase growth by writing SEO content and relentlessly emailing potential customers before passing the Cold Audience Test. And many entrepreneurs before you have taken that route. If you skip the Cold Audience Test, it will feel something like this: - Your potential customers can’t easily understand the value of your product - Your site traffic refuses to convert into sales - Your emails and social media activity are ignored - Word of mouth does not spread - And your sales cycle takes too long Ultimately, you find yourself working harder and harder for the same lackluster results because your marketing efforts that were supposed to scale never did. ### How I use Todoist to get stuff done URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/getting-stuff-done/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:30:05.000Z This guide will help you figure out Todoist and get started in 20 minutes. It's a walkthrough of how I personally use the app to manage my life and keep the stress levels at bay. Todoist helps me declutter my mind by telling me what I need to do and when. With that taken care of, I'm free to focus my brain cells on solving higher-level creative challenges. The app hands me a few high-value tasks daily that I can flow in and out of without feeling rushed or uncertain. I like knowing that if I get these few things done, I'll make myself and others happy, and eventually, it could lead to a life well-lived. Taxes will get paid; important mail won't go missing; my marriage will flourish; family and friends won't feel neglected; the future will look after itself; expectations from work will get exceeded; soul-crushing work will get avoided. You get the idea. How can you win the time war without feeling overrun and still do the things that matter to you? You might find some answers in the surprisingly simple nine steps below. ## My Todoist playbook Keep in mind this is one of many ways to use Todoist. I personally like this method because it's dead simple yet effective; it's easy to get started and customize as you figure things out. ### Step 0: Sign-up for Todoist If you haven't already, head over to [Todoist](https://todoist.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) and sign-up. Starting with their free option, I recommend using your personal Gmail account to create an account. It makes everything much easier later on. Todoist syncs across all your devices. They have a desktop app, a browser version, and a mobile app. I recommend using the browser version when you're on your laptop and the mobile app for your iPhone or Android. The mobile app is a must. *Tip: I also recommend Todoist's Chrome extension for even quicker access from your laptop browser.* ### Step 1: Create your first four projects ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image.png) First, create your two top-level projects: 1) Work and 2) Personal. And, create two sub-projects under Work: **A) Priorities** and **B) Everything else.** ### Step 2: Enter your Work priorities next ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-1.png) Enter each work priority as a sub-project to your Priorities project. Rank them in order, so you never lose sight of their relative importance. I set my work priorities quarterly, so this rank ordering reflects my plan for the quarter. ### Step 3: Everything else ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-2.png) Create the sub-projects under 'Everything else' as shown in the image above. The 'Everything else' project is critical because it helps you protect your priorities. I'll show you how later. For now, here's what will eventually live in each sub-project as per the image above... **One-off:** All the requests you get from other people that *do not* align with your priorities. To further illustrate, it could be as simple as 'Write birthday greeting for co-worker Shelly.' Or, it could be 'Distribute new performance framework to the team.' Or, 'Send article to the Sales team.' **Agendas:** This is one of my favorite folders. I've created sub-projects for each of my regular stakeholders. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-3.png) *Agendas (in no particular order)* Each time an idea pops up that I need to cover in our next 1:1, it goes in their respective project (or folder, same thing). Get it out of your head and into Todoist asap. **Reference**: The things I may need to reference again and again, pretty self-explanatory. It could be an email, links, or notes. Yes, Todoist has a few simple ways to integrate with your email, and you can send links to your Todoist (more on that in later steps). **Notes**: (Less important) I often have Todoist open while I'm in a meeting to keep my notes all in one place. When needed, here's where they go. **Backlog:** Every time I say or think, "that's a good idea but not now," about an idea, it goes in this project. Super handy when I start planning for next quarter. We used to have a saying at LinkedIn: always be planning! ### Step 4: Add Personal sub-projects Here's how I've set up my Personal projects... ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-4.png) You'll notice that 'Groceries' has a different icon next to it; that's because it's a [shared project](https://todoist.com/help/articles/sharing-projects-and-collaborating?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) with Myriam. *Now the fun starts...* ### Step 5: Got a to-do? Throw it in your Inbox ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-5.png) Each time you get hit with a new task of any kind, press 'Q' anywhere in Todoist in your browser or hit the '+' icon on the phone app, type in what you need to do, and hit Enter. You can worry about it later, but at least it's out of your head. ### Step 6: Add emails as tasks Sometimes, emails are actually tasks. Say the email triggered by your co-worker who tagged you in a Google Doc is cluttering your email inbox, or you're worried that you'll eventually forget about it. Unless it needs attention in the next 5 minutes, send that email to Todoist and worry about it later. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-7.png) Here's how to get your Todoist Inbox email address: Click the overflow menu (three dots) in your Inbox as shown in the image below. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-8.png) Grab your special Inbox email address and add it to your email address book. The next time you need it, start typing 'Inbox' in your email 'To:' field, and it will auto-populate. Now, you can forward any email that's actually a task to Todoist. When you forward an email to Todoist as a task, the email's contents are added as a comment attached to the task. *Tip: Don't forget to add or send all your tasks to Todoist as they come up. Otherwise, none of this will work. Believe it or not, it takes practice!* ### Step 7: Pick a project and assign a due date for each task in your inbox At the end of your day, your inbox may look something like this: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-9.png) *A list of tasks that you've added throughout the day.* Before wrapping up your day, click each task and decide which 'Work' or 'Personal' project should belong to and when it should get done. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-10.png) *Clicking a task will bring up this modal where you can *pick a date* and *project*, and do much more.* Note: I use 'due dates' in Todoist as the date I plan to work on a particular task, not when it's actually due. When needed, I'll often type the actual due date in brackets in the task title. For example: if I plan to work on a task on 2/18, but that task is due on 3/1, I'll type it in as "(Due 3/1) First draft of case study," and I'll pick 2/18 as the date in Todoist. Once you assign a project to each task, it will disappear from your Todoist Inbox and be transferred to that particular project. *Here comes the best part...* ### Step 8: Start each day knowing exactly what you need to work on Click 'Today' from the left sidebar, and you'll see all the tasks you've scheduled for today. Time to crank it out! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/14/2b143652-a602-49c4-bdf7-31b6352284e8/content/images/2026/06/image-11.png) *My 'Today' view showing me all the stuff I need to get done across Work and Personal* I'll often start my day by reviewing these items and re-order them if needed. I might want to 1) Start with 1 or 2 easy things to ease in and build some early momentum, and 2) Make sure I do the hard stuff in the morning when I'm fresh. To see what you have lined up for tomorrow, click 'Upcoming' in the left sidebar. You can also re-order tasks within days and between days from that view as well. ### Step 9: End each day with a clean Inbox and clear out your 'Today' tasks We've already covered how to clean out your Inbox in step 7\. At the end of each day, I suggest clearing out your 'Today' tasks as well. You can either mark tasks as complete or reschedule them for another day. Or delete them completely if they're no longer required. By taking 5 minutes at the end of each day to repeat this step, I can rest assured that I'll be ready to go again tomorrow. ### You can take it from here or go further by... - Setting [recurring tasks](https://todoist.com/help/articles/set-a-recurring-due-date?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) - Learning [keyboard shortcuts](https://todoist.com/help/articles/keyboard-shortcuts?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) - Using [boards](https://todoist.com/help/articles/visualize-your-workflow-with-board-view?ref=jehanlalkaka.com), or - Explore countless other [advanced ways](https://todoist.com/help/articles/introduction-to-filters?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) to use Todoist. Credit for this article goes to the one who introduced me to Todoist years ago, my brother Malcolm. ### Pre-growth: selling to a cold audience URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/pre-growth-guide/ Last updated: 2026-06-19T20:27:13.000Z This end-to-end guide will help you create an actionable product and messaging strategy to win over a cold audience. If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to turn a B2B product into a viable business OR achieve lasting growth, this step-by-step guide is for you. ## Positioning before marketing Finding the right angle to win over a cold audience is an entrepreneur’s biggest headache. It’s messy. And because of that, most entrepreneurs ignore it by diving headfirst into things like copywriting, content, buying ads, and SEO. But the battle for growth is not won by better copywriting, content marketing, or SEO. You can perfect every marketing tactic ever published and still hit a wall. The battle for growth is won or lost, as Sun Tzu says, in the decisions you make before you step on the field. That is before you invest your time or money in growth. Before you invest in growth, knowing how to position and sell your product to a cold audience will simplify your growth strategy and make it more effective. What is a cold audience? - Someone who has never heard of you or your product before - And, who sees your email, website, social media post, content, or any marketing message for the first time. Positioning and selling to a cold audience is a critical-but-often-overlooked milestone. I call it Pre-growth, because it comes after development (or ideation) but before growth. Pre-growth is where you nail your positioning and messaging. So, when you invest time or money in marketing, copywriting, content, SEO, and buying ads, you can move forward with confidence. Warning: Do not read this guide if you’re looking for oversimplified shortcuts, word tricks, copy hacks, growth hacks, or marketing stunts to convince buyers. ## Systems. Not tactics. Rather than saddle you with a one-size-fits-all answer, this guide will hold your hand and walk you through how to answer the most critical questions needed for your business to grow. It’s a system with an end-to-end process, worksheets, and templates. You’ll learn how to answer: - What problem(s) does my target customer really care about solving? - How can I frame my message so that it speaks directly to a problem my target customer wants to solve? - What does a visitor or prospect, who has never heard of me or my product, need to see/hear before they buy? Here's why those questions matter: answers to those questions will tell you what positioning and messaging will convert a cold audience in each of the following channels: personal outreach emails, your sales pitch, social media posts, email list building/lead magnets, posting in communities, SEO content, and buying ads. ## Your outcomes if you choose to follow this guide You’ll learn how to position and message your product to methodically build awareness, relevance, and earn the trust of your potential customers. 1. **Reach:** You’ll learn how to define your target buyer and the channels to reach them. 2. **Convert:** You’ll find out what problems your customers care about solving and how to position your product to solve those problems. 3. **Grow:** You’ll know what actions you should take, and in what order, to grow your business. By the end of this process, you’ll have a product and message that speaks directly to the problems your target market cares about solving. And, you’ll know how to position and sell your product to potential customers who have never heard of your solution. ## Here’s how you’ll get there This step-by-step guide helps you develop a hypothesis about what positioning and messaging will resonate with a cold audience. Then, you’ll learn how to test your hypothesis and eventually find the right message, without wasting valuable time or feeling like you’re running in circles. And don’t worry, you don’t need an existing audience or thousands in cash to buy ads. #### Table of Contents 1. Write your zero-BS landing page (your hypothesis) 2. Develop the right questions to test and further refine your message (create a discussion guide) 3. Recruit potential customers to test your message (who will test your hypothesis) 4. Talk to customers (test your hypothesis) 5. Make sense of the results and take action (implement a plan) Are you ready to turn your product into a lasting business? Then, start Step 1 now. If you get stuck, [email me](mailto:jehan.rl@gmail.com). I can help get you unstuck so you can keep moving forward. ## Step 1: Write your zero-BS landing page (your hypothesis) Create a landing page with words instead of building it with graphics and layouts. Don’t waste time coding a landing page this early in the process. Instead, write it out using plain headlines and paragraphs. If you already have a landing page, that’s okay. Re-write it using simple sentences and paragraphs. It’s simpler, faster, and forces you to think. > *“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why \[writing is\] so hard.”* > > \--Dave McCullough **See this [example](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lHWLswcwLEe-NxjwJGP0zjBZ%5F%5FbZfUnj6xaIWsEYifQ/edit?usp=sharing&ref=jehanlalkaka.com) of what a zero-BS landing page looks like (take a look!)** Write your landing page before you start building your product or soon after development. Not because you want to create a squeeze page to start getting leads, but because writing forces you to think clearly about who your product is for and why they should care. *“Most importantly, \[writing\] makes it impossible to hide any logical inconsistencies in the ideas that people put out there…”* \--[Jeff Bezos on long-form writing](https://slab.com/blog/jeff-bezos-writing-management-strategy/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Using plain and straightforward language, fill your landing page with your strongest arguments for why someone should sign up. Make it logical and a reflection of your customer’s goals and challenges. ### How to create a zero-BS landing page Creating a landing page seems like a dark art to many. If that’s you, then use my model. I started by answering these questions: - Who is my target audience? - What goal can I help my target customer achieve? - What obstacles stand between my target customer and their goal? (buyer problems) - How would their life change if someone helped them achieve that goal? - What has my target buyer already tried in order to achieve their goal? Why didn’t it work? (competitors) - How exactly can I help? - Who am I? - Why should they subscribe/buy? - Do I have any testimonials? I created this model from my experiences and by adapting what I learned from the following books: StoryBrand by Donald Miller and Writing for Story by Jon Franklin. I continue to tweak the model as I learn more and use it, but it has the essential components that… - Lead to a buying decision and - Can be tested through customer interviews. Use this [worksheet](https://docs.google.com/document/d/13v0-UpC0LiaX3U9lJny33ujSdXAD2ChfrwAueDEiv54/edit?usp=sharing&ref=jehanlalkaka.com) for your startup. As you fill it out, use ELI5 language—explain it to me like I’m five—and be as specific as possible. Avoid fluffy words like seamless or scalable. Instead, be descriptive. For example, instead of saying, ‘a seamless checkout experience for your customers’ say ‘reduce the time it takes to checkout from 2 minutes to 30 seconds.’ If you can’t make clear statements, something is missing in your product or your understanding of what your customers want. The end result should be a clear articulation of what you know today about your customers’ goals, the obstacles that stand in the way, and how you can help. *If you’d like pointers for filling out your template and creating your zero-BS landing page, send me a [quick email](mailto:jehan.rl@gmail.com). I'll help you with whichever part you're struggling with.* ### Your landing page is a tool to test your hypothesis You can’t look for something if you don’t know what you’re searching for. Your landing page acts as a stake in the ground—a starting point containing your best guesses about your audience and what they care about—which you’ll either prove or disprove. It will anchor you if or when you feel lost during the rest of this process. Your landing page will either prove, disprove, or refine why your target market should care about your product and why they should buy whatever you’re selling. Your answers to those questions don’t have to be perfect, but they must be clear, logical, and written in straightforward language. Without a zero-BS landing page, you won’t know what you’re testing or what questions to ask, leaving you vulnerable to being misled by your customers. ### Make it about your customer, not your product Notice that points 1-5 above have nothing to do with me or my product. Most landing pages are too product-centric. But the magic happens when you can write through the eyes of your customers and talk about what they think is right and what they care about. **No one cares about your product or how or why you built it.** Sorry, I had to say it. Humans only care about one thing—their own survival. If you can’t position your product in terms of what people need to survive, emotionally or physically, you will be ignored. Most people won’t give a damn if your landing page only lists features, descriptions, numbers, and whatever benefits you imagined. Why? Because they only care about things that help them… - Feel better about themselves, - Make them money, - Save them money, or - Save them time or effort. **It’s that simple.** Here’s the journey your landing page should take your customer through: > As your customer, tell me how you’re going to help me achieve one of my survival goals and what my ideal state will look like if I listen to you. > > Then, tell me why it’s so hard to reach that ideal state on my own and remind me of the other ways I’ve tried that haven’t worked and why. > > After I believe that you understand my goals and the obstacles that stand in my way, I’m now open to hearing about a possible solution. Tell me how you can help me. > > Now, I’m ready to hear the details of your product and how it works. In fact, the easier you make it for me to discover your product on my own, the more I’ll trust you. It shows me you have nothing to hide, and you have confidence in what you’ve built. That’s called a narrative. Storytellers and moviemakers use the same technique to keep readers from putting a book down and keep movie-goers coming back. It’s a storytelling technique summarized from three books: Wired for Story by Lisa Cron, Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller, and Writing for Non-Fiction by Jon Franklin. I highly recommend reading these books. ### The value of a narrative using zero-BS plain language If you can’t use simple words to explain how your product will help and why it’s unique without hiding behind industry or technical jargon, you probably don’t have a business. You have a nice app. A long-form landing page written using the template above forces you to get clear about your product’s value and protects you from wasting valuable time and money chasing the wrong thing. It forces you to do the hard thinking upfront and invest in researching the right areas. ## Step 2: Develop the right questions (create a discussion guide) It would be a big miss if you speak with a customer but don’t learn anything actionable from your time together. If that happens, you wasted your time scheduling, having the conversation, and more importantly, you wasted someone else’s time. Even worse, customers can easily mislead an unprepared interviewer into thinking they’re providing valuable insight when all they’re doing is agreeing with every question. Startup founders often ask questions like: - Would you buy this? - How much would you pay for this? - Do you think this is a good idea? Never ask those questions! Don’t ask hypothetical or future-oriented questions that are left to the customer’s imagination. When asked such questions, customers almost always respond with yes, sure, or some vague answer. They rarely say, “No, I wouldn’t pay for your product.” That’s because most humans typically avoid telling a stranger that their idea is no good. Openly disagreeing with a stranger is something we usually avoid. Dodge the pitfalls I just outlined by creating a well-designed discussion guide, which helps you uncover your customer’s high-level goals, needs, and challenges. And, it makes it easy to turn your findings into concrete actions and messaging that will grow your business. ### Create your discussion guide Use the [discussion guide](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19t4DSx711%5FuIxDV34jI%5FecO-J6%5F0S%5FJXW9ffAxDONuE/edit?usp=sharing&ref=jehanlalkaka.com) I created as a starter template. Replace the screenshots from my zero-BS landing page with screenshots from yours. Or, if you prefer, use this more [open-ended discussion guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/13yrtqP7hAbIW8u-qWzwu3P9hNFPuMuFl1gBovX0DmnI/edit?usp=sharing&ref=jehanlalkaka.com). The choice is yours. To help you, here are two more discussion guides ([example 1](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fRIinv3zHsiO6vjz1kzq949IPDDNghQfMWz5zAwHjX0/edit?usp=sharing&ref=jehanlalkaka.com) and [example 2](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17c2VXY18f2hwb1UV3K-LAe5UrbjMUmeZ9jEk904sjnE/edit?usp=sharing&ref=jehanlalkaka.com)) I’ve used for real clients. Whichever discussion guide you use, keep these principles in mind: **Zero in on past behavior:** Focus on learning what actions your interviewee took to solve the problem your product solves. Ask for real-life examples of what they did when they experienced a particular problem. What did they do next? And why? Don’t be afraid to ask why as many times as necessary to understand the most fundamental reason behind someone’s past actions. **Use your landing page (from step 1) as a guide:** Pay attention to the section of your landing page where you explain the challenges your customers face as they reach for their goals. Listen closely to each interviewee. Are they raising the same challenges? If they don’t, that’s okay. Look for patterns across four, five, or more interviewees. When patterns emerge, you’ll know that you’re getting closer to the right problem and the underlying cause. Make sure your product and messaging don’t ignore these problems or discount them because they’re too hard to solve—that’s a recipe for failure. Don’t ignore the inconvenient truths your customers tell you about their lives. **Leave your product demo until the end:** Sharing details about your product too early will poison your interviewer. Knowledge of your product will affect everything they say if you start talking about your product too soon. You won’t learn the truths about their life, workflows, and challenges. You’ll miss out on hearing their top priorities or whether they care enough about the problem your product solves. You’ll know you have a home run when you can honestly score yourself a 100% on the following three questions: 1. Have you found the right goal that your target market cares about? 2. Have you identified the right challenges/problems that hold them back from achieving said goal? 3. Does your product fit well with *how your target market wants to address those challenges* to meet those goals? Showing your product too early won’t help you answer those questions. You can answer those questions by taking an intrinsic interest in why people do the things they do and by understanding how they make decisions. At the end of your 30 or 60-minute discussion, leave 5-10 minutes to reveal your product and how it works. That’s a good time to record their reactions and any specific questions they have about the functionality. *Feel free to [shoot me an email](mailto:jehan.rl@gmail.com) if you’re trying trouble developing a discussion guide for your product. It’s crucial to get right and it can be tricky for some products!* ## Step 3: Recruit potential customers (who will test your hypothesis) People don’t generally give up their precious time to talk to strangers. But it is possible to successfully ask and get a few takers. I started recruiting interviewees on a Wednesday and was able to schedule and complete 14 interviews by Monday (5 days). You can use numerous tactics to recruit potential customers, starting with defining your ideal interviewee. ### Targeting the right kind of interviewee Speaking with the right people is critical. Asking the right questions to the wrong people will result in bad data. Again, let your initial landing page inform who you should speak with. For example, if you’re building a solution for email marketing, assess whether you should speak with the user of the product, the buyer of such services, or both. In many cases, they may not be the same person. If you’re building a website plugin, think about whether you should speak with the web marketer who decides the website’s strategy or the web developer who chooses technical solutions. Defining the right kind of interviewee also makes it easier to find them. You may have a list of prospects or existing customers that you can leverage to schedule calls. With a clear definition of who you’d like to speak with, you can also target the right online communities including Facebook groups, subreddits, Slack communities (to name a few). ### Be willing to pay people for their time I budgeted $300 to find the right people to test my zero-BS landing page for this newsletter. You should be prepared to spend $200-$500, but if you can’t, I get it. I offered people $50 for 30 minutes of their time and, as expected, received many responses to my requests in online communities. Usually, 8-10 interviews are enough. I had only budgeted for 6 interviews but ultimately had 14 interviews because 8 people refused to take money from me. They either gave me their time at no charge or asked me for feedback on a project they were working on. I can’t say if that will happen for everyone, but I’m truly grateful because speaking to 14 people made such a huge difference. To all my 14 interviewees, if you’re reading this: Thank You! **Why bother investing money this early?** This process from end-to-end will either cost you money or sweat. If you’re not willing to do the homework before pouring weeks or months into building a product and marketing it, why bother in the first place? Getting in front of the right people helps you understand if there’s a real market and if your solution matches how real people want their problems solved. ### Use this message template Here’s the [message](https://www.indiehackers.com/post/message-testing-50-for-30-mins-of-your-time-over-zoom-7fbbaa410e?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) I used to recruit my interviewees. Feel free to swipe it. I used that message to post a message on Indie Hackers and a private Slack marketing community that I am a part of. I chose those communities because they are frequented by my target audience (i.e., indie developers and growth marketers). ### If all else fails, use a paid service If you’re targeting a difficult-to-reach audience or you’re not willing to do the legwork to hunt for interviewees, use a paid service. Check out [User Interviews](https://www.userinterviews.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) or [Respondent](https://www.respondent.io/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com), where you can easily recruit from a pool of hundreds of thousands of vetted professionals or consumer end-users. ## Step 4: Talk to your potential customers (test out your hypothesis) Finally, you’re ready to have your first customer interview—get excited and be ready to get the most out of every interview! Pro-Tip: Practice your interview with a friend or family member before your first interview. Ask someone to act like a potential customer and use your discussion guide to interview them. It may feel uncomfortable, but your first dry-run is always the worst. So, it’s a good idea to get it out of the way. *Want to learn from a real-life customer interview? If you’d like to see recordings of real-life customer interviews, [email me](mailto:jehan.rl@gmail.com). I’d be happy to send them your way.* ## Step 5: Gather the results and take action (implement a plan) I interviewed 14 potential buyers/subscribers using my zero-BS landing page from step 1, wanting to find the problems that plague my target customers and how I can position myself to help them solve those problems. ### A summary of what I learned I spoke with two groups—growth marketers and solopreneur software developers, who are also known as indie developers. Here's what I learned… > **My message was a stronger fit with the indie developer segment** Initially, my first landing page said, “Groundwork is a newsletter for founders, indie developers, and marketers.” After each day of interviews, I found a natural fit between my message and the solopreneurs/indie developers I spoke with. Indie developers were the ones who said, “You’re speaking my language! That’s exactly what I need.” I could also tell they reached the aha moment quickly once I revealed more of my messaging. > **“I’m not sure what the connection is between the word Groundwork and your value prop.”** Without me asking, the interviewees kept telling me they didn’t understand what Groundwork had to do with my headline “Learning from real-life situations how startups grow sales using customer insights.” In my mind, it was clear that business growth is based on customer insights. But that didn’t resonate with everyone, so it needed to change. > **Phrases such as ‘grow sales’ and ‘customer insights’ were not meaningful enough.** The phrase ‘grow sales’ doesn’t help a potential subscriber decide if this newsletter is for them. Is this newsletter for startups that have already gained traction or startups that are trying to gain traction? Is it targeted to VC-funded startups or bootstrapped? Those were just some of the questions I heard. Also, as mentioned above, I learned that the connection between customer insights and startup growth isn’t as straightforward as I imagined. When I found myself having to explain it repeatedly, I decided that if I decided to create such a newsletter, I would have to abandon the customer insights angle from my positioning strategy. I still strongly believe that customer insights are essential to growth, but I can’t use that in my pitch. It’s not a natural fit with how people think. If I’m right about the value of customer insights, I would have to prove that later in my product experience. > **“I often find myself trying random tactics to grow my business, and they usually don’t work.”** Despite the countless blog articles and courses on growth that are freely available, not a single interviewee said they have a playbook for growing their business. When I asked how they had tried to grow their businesses, I heard, “I often try what I read online but then get discouraged when it doesn’t work. Eventually, I abandon the project and move to my next idea.” Or, “I don’t know what to focus on from one day to the next. I find growing a business is a very different muscle than building a product.” ## The most valuable insight I realized that most startups feel lost when faced with growing their business. They’re not concerned by a steep learning curve, by having to work hard, or even at the prospect of having to spend money on growth. Instead, they worry that they can’t see the learning curve in the first place, they don't have the time, and that the opportunity which they feel so strongly about might pass them by. Unfortunately, courses and books that say “find out what worked here and apply it there” rarely bring lasting tangible results. ## It’s your turn You now have a process, worksheets, and templates to find what problems your target market cares about solving and test your way into finding the right message. Take the first step by starting your zero-BS landing page. If you get stuck, reach out to me and feel free to ask me a question. ### Indie hacking URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/learning-how-to-hunt/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:29:24.000Z I decided it was time to build a product and sell it myself, without a large team and a big budget. So I joined Indie Hackers and sold a productized service. From research to making my first sale, I journaled my experience [here](https://www.indiehackers.com/post/how-i-made-1-837-from-one-tweet-without-many-followers-or-collecting-emails-thanks-to-ih-650676d9a0?ref=jehanlalkaka.com). ### Make customer feedback a team sport URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/how-to-use-customer-feedback-to-cut-through-internal-conflict/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:28:18.000Z When a big product or strategy decision looms on the horizon, different teams often have opinions that are at odds with one another. You might ask, can’t quantitative data resolve such conflicts of opinion? Each team may have its own data and interpret their data to suit their own point of view. To untangle such situations, as explained by Tricia Wang at Mind the Product, let members of your organization see and hear customer feedback first-hand. Don’t go do the research by yourself and report back after it’s done. *"A few years ago, we were working with one of our clients–a fortune 50 packaged goods brand based out of the midwest. And one of teams was about to launch a laundry detergent into an urban market like New York City which is totally different from their \[core\] market which is the suburbs and the midwest. And the team could not agree on many things.* … *There were executives who thought they knew the voice of the customer because they’d been there for 20 years and many of them were just cherry-picking the voice of the customer from decks that would fit their own idea of what the customer wanted. And the GM would say I’ve worked in this business for 10 years and I have statistics that say people love coupons. And the product people would say we know people want convenience and packaging, and the salesperson would say no-no, we know people will only buy from their local convenience store. And the marketing person would say it’s all about Millenials and we should ignore everyone else (haha).* … *As a researcher, we’re going to facilitate, we’re going to model for you how you can bring all your cross-functional partners together to hear the voice of the customer and to discover new things and most importantly–make a decision. Well, how we will do that? All you need is three days. Pack up your bag and you’re coming to Brooklyn…and for a few days, everyone has to live together and just bring your dirty laundry.* … *After just one day of doing laundry in laundromats in New York City and hanging out and talking to customers together…they actually decided as a team to scrap their entire go-to-market plan where the messaging assumed that people hated doing their laundry."* \--[Tricia Wang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXZ%5F3N%5FtKqc&ref=jehanlalkaka.com) Whether it’s survey data, customer interviews, or something as elaborate as an ethnographic study described above, find ways to let your stakeholders discover the insights with you. Make them a part of the process and the insights will feel like their own rather than someone else’s idea that they have to buy into. ### Timeless marketing insights URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/timeless-marketing-insights-we-often-forget/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:27:57.000Z A collection of quotes with fundamental truths about marketing success and business growth. ## 1\. Build enormous customer value before you invest in advertising Lush Cosmetics’ Ethical Director, Hilary Jones, spoke with TNW about replacing traditional marketing labels such as ‘organic’, ‘ethical’, and ‘eco’ with plain action. For example, the US requires animal testing on sunscreen products sold in the country. That breaks the ethical code Lush holds itself to so the company refuses to sell sunscreen in the US (a $400M market). The [article](https://thenextweb.com/adobe-fundamentals/2019/09/10/how-lush-became-an-ethical-champion-without-bragging-about-it/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) by TNW is worth reading where Jones also rethinks another traditional marketing tactic: advertising. > *“\[We learned we could grow by word of mouth\] if we ensured we offered great products and first-class customer service that people wanted to tell their friends and family about…and of course, if one is really honest about what advertising is, it is charging extra for your products so that you can use your customers’ money to attract new customers to yourself. We prefer not to have to do that and instead to price our products based on the real costs, like the ingredients and packaging.”* > > \--Hilary Jones of Lush Cosmetics, quoted by TNW Without spending millions on traditional ads (e.g., TV, sponsorships, celebrity spokespeople), Lush managed to grow sales 13% year over year from 2013 – 2018 ([source](https://www.statista.com/statistics/892361/turnover-lush-cosmetics-limited-worldwide/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com)). And the brand today generates sales of over $1B per year. Not bad for a marketing strategy that heavily relies on word-of-mouth. --- Similar to the Lush example above, Jeff Bezos also talks about doing things that build customer value rather than talking about them. If you're doing the right things, people will talk. > *"Attention is the scarce commodity of the late 20th century. One of the ways we captured attention is by doing something new and innovative, by building something that has real value for the customer. That’s a hard thing to do. But if you do that then newspapers will write about you and customers will tell other customers. You’ll get a huge word-of-mouth fan out and that can really drive and accelerate a business. That’s what happened with us. In the first year of Amazon, we didn’t do any paid advertising; all of our growth was fueled by word-of-mouth and media exposure."* > > \--Jeff Bezos (1997) ## 2\. The buying experience (e.g., transparency, easy-to-follow messaging) sways buyers more than features, price The following two quotes are essentially saying the same thing: it's not enough to build a set of features, attach a price, and tell yourself that's enough to be in business. Adele Revella talks about the buying experience itself, that it's out of touch with customer expectations... > *"Here’s the dirty little secret about these ambitious strategic marketing plans. Even the planners holed up for weeks and months creating them detest the process, probably because they foresee their eventual fate in circular files everywhere. By and large they’re doomed from the outset for one simple reason: Either they start and end with solely company-focused goals (“let’s boost market share 25%”). Or the customer and the customer experience are secondary, if addressed at all. This approach is lethal, in the negative sense. Consider this data harvested by Salesforce in a recent quantitative study of 8,000 buyers in 16 countries. Think your buyers are interested primarily in the capabilities of your products and services? Think again, because a whopping 84% of buyers polled said their buying experience outweighs the importance of capabilities, speeds and feeds, even price. And most buyers – 51% – told Salesforce that vendors don’t understand their needs and expectations."* > > \--[Adele Revella](https://buyerpersona.com/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) I also agree with the following insight from Hubspot. We're too quick to blanket ourselves in the conventional--but misleading--wisdom that customers won't respond if we give 'too much' choice. > *"Today on our pricing page visitors are given multiple ways to connect — they can book meetings, email, call, or chat. Old-school advice about conversions tells you that choice breeds hesitation and that you should reduce the number of CTAs on a page, but we experienced something quite different. By providing interested visitors with the freedom to choose their preferred way of connecting with us, we actually increased our conversion rate by 170%."* > > \--[Hubspot Blog](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/hubspot-enterprise-marketing-playbook?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) ## 3\. Positioning is the missing piece in the growth puzzle > **Erik Torenberg:* What is one of the biggest mistakes enterprise founders are making today?* > > **Hiten Shah:* In one word: positioning. Really being able to identify who cares about your product, what they care about, and having some framework thinking about that. So, thinking about the customer a lot more precisely and how to position the product.* > > \--[Venture Stories](https://www.villageglobal.vc/podcast/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) (by Village Global) I think Hiten touches on something important. We also know from this quote presented at Salesforce.com’s flagship conference, DreamForce, that… > 51% – told Salesforce that vendors don’t understand their needs and expectations. Customers of Salesforce vendors surely don’t speak for all B2B customers. But, if 1 in 2 customers, or some high percentage of customers, say that vendors don’t understand their needs and expectations, that leaves a large gap to be filled by those who do understand what customers truly care about. This is where positioning can be your greatest asset. Positioning is powerful because customers need it. Customers need to know what problems you help them solve, how, and when. --- **Febreeze** Here's an example of a product that would have utterly failed if the marketing team didn't find the right positioning. That is if they couldn't find a good fit for it in customers' lives and how they approach the problem of cleaning. > Today, the Febreze brand is worth over a billion dollars but the product would have failed if P&G didn’t get out and talk to customers. > > When Febreze was positioned as an ‘odor-fighter’, customers wouldn’t buy it. Then, they switched the product’s positioning to something you do ‘after you clean your room’. > > Here’s the full story why customers wouldn’t buy the product’s old positioning and how P&G turned things around: P&G originally tried to sell the spray as the cure for America’s foulest stenches. But that flopped. > The problem was that people got used to the odors in their homes, so they thought their houses smelled fine regardless of any lingering stench. That eliminated the “cue” to spritz Febreze (the psychology behind all of this is covered in Charles Duhigg’s genius book The Power of Habit). > > So P&G hired a researcher to interview customers on how they used the product. That person spoke to one housewife — who kept an immaculately clean home — who said she sprayed Febreze as part of her room-cleaning habit. Not as a way to combat nose-pummeling odors. > “It’s nice, you know? Spraying feels like a little mini-celebration when I’m done with a room,” she told the interviewer. > > That priceless nugget of insight triggered an analysis that made P&G realize it had to position Febreze as part of an existing routine. It needed to be the reward for cleaning a room. > > The company added perfume to the bottle and launched new ads showing women spritzing freshly made beds with Febreze. > > Within two months, sales of the product doubled. > > \--[Dustin Walker](https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/start-talking/?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) (on Crazy Egg) ## 4\. Avoid vague buzzwords I love how WhatsApp uses simple, everyday language to explain that privacy is their key value proposition and how they achieve it using ‘end-to-end encryption.’ Even a 5-year old (or someone like me) can understand: > *"That is why every private message sent using WhatsApp is secured with end-to-end encryption by default. Strong encryption acts like an unbreakable digital lock that keeps the information you send over WhatsApp secure, helping protect you from hackers and criminals. Messages are only kept on your phone, and no one in between can read your messages or listen to your calls, not even us. Your private conversations stay between you."* > > \--[WhatsApp Blog](https://blog.whatsapp.com/two-billion-users-connecting-the-world-privately?ref=jehanlalkaka.com) No buzzwords. No exaggeration to sound more persuasive. ### Customers want a faster horse cart' URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/customers-want-a-faster-horse-cart/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T21:27:29.000Z A common perception: If I ask a customer how to improve a fan, they’ll ask for a bigger fan, not an AC. If Henry Ford asked people what they want, they would have asked for a faster horse, not a car. Such phrases imply customers don’t know what they want; customers will lead you astray. You should know what the customer wants before they ask for it. You don’t have the time to talk to customers. You are Steve Jobs. But I disagree. In fact, the customer is not oblivious. It’s often us who are mistaken. We ask the wrong question, refuse to listen to what customers are telling us, or subscribe to the wrong philosophy. > ‘How should we improve this fan?’ ...is the wrong question. Instead, for example, I would start by asking: Tell me the last time you used a fan? Walk me through how you used it and what you used it for? For more complex products, you could start further up the user journey by asking--the last time you felt hot, how did you cool yourself down? Deciding how to actually improve the fan is not the customer’s job. It’s your job. ### The cost of free customer interviews URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/why-pay/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T07:33:43.000Z About 1 in 5 founders resist paying for customer interviews. But let's explore the other side of the coin. What are you giving up if you insist on free customer interviews? ## Bribes In my experience, about 1 in 5 founders resist paying potential customers for an interview. Their initial reaction is understandable and sounds something like this: > "If I pay someone to talk to me, they'll agree to an interview just for the money." It's plausible that a cash-based incentive could drive an interviewee to misrepresent who they are or their past experience. Also, if an interviewee is solely driven by a cash reward, they may arrive unprepared to provide insightful and actionable feedback. ## No free lunch We often forget that refusing to pay interviewees comes with its own set of costs. If you adopt a blanket policy against paying for customer interviews, you could run into the following traps: 1. Your target customer may not speak with you 2. You may have to accept whoever will speak to you for free 3. A free interview could be equally misleading 4. It could take 3-4x longer to conduct interviews Having someone give you their time is super valuable to you and very costly for them. By offering payment, you're saying 'I take you, myself, and what we're doing seriously.' ### The free bias Not offering payment could result in a biased point of view as well. Essentially, you'll get feedback from folks like me: people who are risk-taking and willing to try new products or super passionate about your product (which are other sources of bias). You won't hear from people who are averse to trying new things--a key population for growth. Instead, payment can give these 'holdouts' a reason to talk to you. By asking them the right questions, you can uncover valuable insights for business growth. ### Methdology matters more If you know who you want to talk to and how to ask the right questions, money will not bias the end result. For example, if you want to talk to 'single location clothing retailers in the south of France' then it's really important that you speak with that exact population. And if you stick to using a good discussion guide, you will most certainly still learn a lot even if you pay them. The important thing is to get them to give you their time. And ideally, not just 1 or 2 but hopefully 8-10 such potential customers. Every time you try this, you'll start seeing patterns in their feedback. And when you do, you know it's not BS. On the other hand, if you have not defined a target persona, you can get into trouble by paying your interviewees. For example, if you release a Twitter ad offering money for feedback, the information you receive will be biased by payment. You'll hear from anyone and everyone who wants to take your money. ### Speed Paying potential customers for an interview can speed up your timeline by 3-4x. As you know, customer interviews are not the end goal. They'll help you form a smarter hypothesis so you can continue learning through real-world testing. In other words, customer interviews will give you a strong jumping-off point so you know where to start and what to watch out for when you market/sell to real prospects. Customer interviews are not meant to give you the final 100% answer. ### Start with messaging URL: https://jehanlalkaka.com/start-with-messaging-and-work-backwards/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T07:34:07.000Z If you want customers and investors to believe in your product as you do, start with a messaging framework. This post is a walkthrough of how to create a messaging framework and use it to sharpen your story for your target audience. And, how first finding the right message that customers believe in can be a powerful guide for product development.A messaging framework captures what your buyers expect to see, hear, and learn about your product and in what context before they decide to buy. The goal is to uncover what questions your buyers have and the answers they need so you can deliver a message that goes much deeper than me-too benefit statements. Buyers will love you if you can help them make a decision and make it feel effortless. That’s what a messaging framework is designed to achieve. Specifically, a messaging framework is your buyer’s response to the following questions: - **Customer definition:** What best describes your buyer? - **Goal definition:** What goal can you help your buyer achieve? - **Problem definition:** What is stopping your customers from achieving that goal? - **External pain:** What physical or tangible pain does your buyer experience as they reach for that goal? - **Internal frustration:** What emotional frustration do your buyers feel from living with that external pain? Buyers will form a deeper connection with your product if you speak to this internal frustration. - **Alternatives:** Why aren’t other products on the market good enough to help your buyers achieve that goal? *(Notice one thing: we haven’t even started talking about your product yet! Okay, here it comes..)* - **Product definition:** What does the product do? How does it work? What level of detail does your buyer expect to see online vs other channels? - **The benefits:** How will your buyer’s life change as a result of using the product? - **Supporting features:** What features or services do you offer that will help customers realize those benefits? - **Plan / Process:** What plan or process should your customers follow to realize the benefits of the product? - **Reason to believe:** What makes your product better than the alternatives? Perceived barriers: What decision barriers do you have to help your customers overcome? - **The risk:** What risks are customers taking if they don’t consider your product? You might be thinking that you already have answers to all these questions and filling out your messaging framework will be a breeze. You’re absolutely right: simple answers can easily be attached to each question above. However, if you want a truly differentiated approach to marketing then you’ll base the answers on 1:1 buyer interviews with direct quotes to support each finding. And I promise you, you’ll be surprised with what you discover. ## Why does messaging matter? Customers will experience what you say about your product before they experience what you’ve built. When we know what messaging will drive customers to buy then product requirements and marketing strategy can naturally develop. A messaging framework forces you to start with what your customers want and work backward from that. It acts like an insurance policy against building the wrong thing or getting turned down by investors for unclear market justification. Plus, strong messaging and help you and your team in three more impactful ways: **Clear picture:** Once you know what messaging will get customers to respond, making a pitch to investors or B2B buyers becomes easy. After all, investors and B2B buyers can’t picture success unless you have a clear story for delivering customer value first. **Testable:** A messaging framework allows you to rapidly test and tweak your assumptions as you learn new things about your product/market. It’s a lot faster and less expensive to test your messaging framework than testing a prototype or MVP. **High ROI:** After validation and final tweaks, your framework can be used repeatedly for product development, investor pitch decks, sales pitch decks, branding, copywriting, website design, marketing strategy, demand gen, PR, and even creating a well-aligned company culture. ## How can you apply a messaging framework? You need a clear messaging framework so others can help you. Otherwise, your promising idea that we’ve worked so hard for will never become a reality. A messaging framework is like a building blueprint. You wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, would you? Just like a blueprint, everyone who works on your business can use your messaging framework for guidance, staying aligned, and ultimately bring your vision to life. And just like the essentialism of a blueprint, your messaging framework must be written in plain words. No ad copy, no puffery, no vagueness. Here’s how a messaging framework can help each functional team: - **Product:** Simplify product strategy, inform feature prioritization, reduce development and re-tooling costs. - **Branding and design:** Easier for experts to give your product emotional appeal which hits the mark - **Website layout and design:** Significantly reduce website design costs and improve outcomes. - **Demand gen:** Acquire customers cost-efficiently through lead gen, paid ads, social media, and content marketing. Sales enablement: Increase conversion and reduce sales cycles