The 4 things to consider before expanding into the USA

So you’re ready to take on the US Market. Before you push go on your sales efforts into the US here’s a few things for you to take into consideration.

Target Company to SQL Ratio will be lower

What we mean by this is if you’re generating qualified opportunities with say every 1 in 10 companies you’re approaching in New Zealand you’re not going to be able to convert at the same ratio in the US. It’s much harder to cut through the noise in the US regardless of what you’re selling. People are sold to more often and so it’s much more difficult to illicit a response.

Case in point we ran a campaign for an NZ based SaaS company and achieved a 1:7 ratio in Australia and NZ. When we pushed into the US Market this became 1:32

The market size is your friend

The good thing about the US is that the market is large enough to still achieve fantastic return on the dollars you spend on prospecting because there are so may more companies. If you’re used to generating 10 SQLs per month per rep in Aussie and NZ this will still be possible in the US even if your Company:SQL ratio increases.

But only if you increase activity levels

Because you need to push through more of the market, you’ll need to find ways for your reps to become more productive. Sales engagement platforms such as outreach and calling tools like Orum have allowed our US focused teams to push through massive amounts of activity. Our US focused reps are currently making in excess of 300 dials per day leveraging these platforms.

And get comfortable closing through Zoom

It’s too expensive for most early stage companies to hire reps on the ground in the US. For a good rep you’re looking at $150,000USD per annum. Instead focusing on validating your product by closing deals via zoom or hangouts initially. This will allow you to understand if the sales process or the pain points are any different before you invest in hiring locally.