Kristen Durham, VP of Startups at Zendesk, will dive into how she built the startup program at Zendesk. She’ll discuss how to create a compelling offer, how to work with partners to get your business in front of high-potential startups, and support this with data from the Zendesk for Startups program. You’ll walk away with actionable insights on how to grow revenue by selling to startups.

1. Lessons from Selling to
10,000 Startups
Kristen Durham
VP, Startups
Zendesk
1

2. 2

3. LESSON 1
Articulate a clear strategy

4. Lesson 1: Articulate a clear strategy
4
Target: find channels to reach
high-growth startups
🎯
Acquire: create a compelling
offer
🤩
Serve: avoid startup customers
getting lumped into the overall
base
🤩
Nurture: provide startup-specific
resources to help them scale
📈
5x conversion rate of SMB
3-4x ADS of SMB

5. LESSON 2
Create a compelling offer

6. Lesson 2: Create a compelling offer
6
2018-2019 2020-2022 2023 & beyond
Anchored on Suite
Professional
Median Deal Size
+63%
$218 or $436 off/mo,
1yr offer
We’ve been on a journey...
Exploring new referral
channels with PE, late-
stage VC.
Expanded terms
for later stage
Plus, additional benefits
via referral partners
Median Deal Size
+26%
100% off, 6 months
Pre-2018
$134 off/mo, 1yr
offer
Anchored on 2
seats of Support
Team & Chat Team
Better product
anchoring
Emphasis on more,
better usage

7. LESSON 3
Qualify to drive an outcome

8. Lesson 3: Qualify to drive an outcome
8
High friction evaluation
(e.g., SDR review, approval req’d)
High qualifying bar
(e.g. venture funding, market traction)
Program launch;
High volume result
Grow partner
channel;
Quality + Quantity
Grow gated offering
for Series A/B;
High quality result
Low qualifying bar
(e.g. limited funding, <2yrs olds)
Low friction evaluation
(e.g., automatic qual based on
response)

9. LESSON 4
Build partnerships to build your funnel

10. Lesson 4: Build partnerships to build your funnel
10
Activations by Tier:
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Top Partners:

11. LESSON 5
Invest in customer success

12. Lesson 5: Invest in customer success
12
Office Hours Training
1:1 Customer Success Community Slack
⅔
of highest ARR deals
complete 3 or more
training courses
Success-managed accounts
convert significantly better
than overall
Conversion rate: +12pts
Average Deal Size: +75%
Startups join office hours
within a month of entering
our program or sooner
3x reach of 1:1 engagement

13. LESSON 6
Get over how to get started

14. Lesson 6: Get over how to get started
14

15. What we’ve learned
15
#1 Articulate a
clear strategy
#6 Get over how
to get started
#5 Invest in
customer success
#4 Build
partnerships to
build your funnel
#3 Qualify to
drive an outcome
#2 Create a
compelling offer

16. THANK YOU
Kristen Durham
VP, Startups
Zendesk
Apply at: zendesk.com/startups