Customer lifecycle approach to growth
The three fundamental SaaS growth levers: customer acquisition rate, customer lifetime value and viral customer network effects arise naturally and sequentially as a SaaS business matures.
You have to acquire a few customers before lifetime value becomes important, and you have to acquire and nurture many loyal customers before network effects kick it. As your SaaS business evolves, you may find yourself cycling through each lever as your highest potential source of SaaS growth.
The three levers of SaaS growth also map nicely to the individual SaaS customer lifecycle as it evolves from initial purchase to deeper use of your product to advocacy within your customer community. Each stage of the SaaS customer lifecycle offers unique opportunities to drive SaaS Growth.
Most relevant during:
PMF phase
GTM Fit phase
Scale phase
Most relevant for:
ACVs < $15K
ACVs $15K-$50K
ACVs > $50K
