Lars Helgeson, Founder & CEO of GreenRope, presents at the Small Business Web Summit in San Francisco. In his presentation he talks SaaS marketing and growing your business through resellers.

1. Amplify Your Growth
Through Resellers
Lars Helgeson
CEO/Founder, GreenRope
1

2. 2
A Little Backstory
2000 - 2011 2011 - 2017+

3. 3
Helping to Define a New Market

4. 4
Other Players
$125M
$74M
$65M $22.7M
$20M
$52.9M$0

5. 5
Advantages of Being A Small Business
Not constrained by investment payback
Product flexibility / responsiveness
Quality of customer service
Family atmosphere

6. 6
Direct vs Reseller
Direct Reseller
Demo
Trial
Account
PPC
SEO
3rd Party Lead Gen
Social
Referral
VAR
Account
Affiliates

7. 7
Does it work?
Medical / Dental
195 in 3 years
Logistics
9 in 18 months
GreenRope Direct
490 in 6 years
Religious / NPO
23 in 3 years
Legal
32 in 3 years

8. 8
35%
65%
Direct
VAR
69%
31%
Direct
VAR
Number of Active Accounts Revenue Generated

9. 9
94%
6%
Direct
VAR
Support Man-Hours
VAR: 20 man-hours to support 900 accounts
Direct: 320 man-hours to support 500 accounts
Efficiency increase of 600%

10. 10
Challenge
Difficult to identify good VAR prospects
Strategy
Focus on Agencies and Consultancies

11. 11
Challenge
Case for product agnosticism
Strategy
Create brand loyalty & recurring revenue
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12. 12
Challenge
Long lead sale
Strategy
Encourage use of the software directly
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13. 13
Challenge
Difficult to find qualified business development staff
Strategy
Patience
131313

14. 14
Challenge
Educating VAR staff
Strategy
Certification program
14141414

15. 15
The VAR Cheat Sheet
1. The product must be designed to VAR from the beginning
2. You must know your VARs and be prepared to insulate their brand
3. Get the VAR to use your product
4. Prepare to spend 10x the time training and supporting your VARs
5. Use automation to streamline sales, marketing, and on-boarding
6. Treat your VARs with abundant support
7. Share your usage and marketing data with your VARs
8. Be careful with exclusives
9. Be prepared to provide a parachute in case of total failure
10. Listen to your VARs and let them help you drive product development

16. 16
Amplify Your Growth
Through Resellers
Lars Helgeson
CEO/Founder, GreenRope
16
Thank You