The rise of the marketing rainmaker

When it comes to subscriptions, we all want the same thing – the holy grail of predictable, growing recurring revenue. There are different agendas, from investors, to boards, to leadership to teams, but it’s essentially the same. And on your quest to find the holy grail, you’ve likely invested heavily in brilliant sales talent, innovative product development, and dedicated customer success teams, technology and more. There’s bound to be a strategy plan in the mix too.

But here’s the elephant in the room: If recurring revenue is so vital to our success, why do our teams still shy away from being measured against it?

When Good Intentions Go Astray

Here’s a truth that might sting a bit: the traditional sales-led growth model isn’t just falling short – it’s morphing into something we call ‘opinion-led growth’. It’s what happens when sales teams are left to navigate by gut feel rather than use real insight into what makes customers successful.

The scary part? If you’re running annual subscriptions, you might not spot the problems for 9-18 months. By then, you’re dealing with:

• A customer base that’s become a nightmare to serve
• Renewal reforecasts to make your stomach drop
• A product roadmap that’s lost its way

The longer you wait to fix this, the messier it gets. Every month of opinion-led growth piles on more debt, more customer misalignment, and more revenue risk.

The warning signs are there if you know where to look:

• Marketing teams chasing lead volumes instead of lasting value
• Your best sales people with their heads down and one eye on the exit
• Product teams building features they know deep down nobody wants
• Customer success teams struggling to help customers succeed

There’s a Better Way

Let’s be clear – throwing another marketing automation tool at this won’t solve it. Neither will tweaking your sales incentives. Or a one pager for sales, who will never look at it again after requesting it so many times.

What we need is a fundamental shift in how marketing drives subscription success. We need Marketing Rainmakers – a subscription growth catalyst. They:

• Live and breathe the complete revenue story across multiple dimensions
• Get inside your customers’ heads and hearts like they mind-melded
• Guide teams toward ideal customer fit most likely to succeed with your solution
• Build programmes that make customers stick around and share the love with other people
• Move the needle on revenue across each element of the ARR waterfall

This isn’t about generating more leads. It’s about creating a customer and talent magnet for your brand.

Making it Happen

Ready to transform your marketing function? Here’s your roadmap:

1. Reimagine Marketing’s Role
   • Stop counting leads, start driving revenue
   • Get skin in the game on revenue and customer value
   • Obsess with understanding your customers
2. Bring Your Teams Together
   • Share the real revenue story with everyone
   • Get marketing, sales, and product talking the same language
   • Make customer success everyone’s job
3. Focus on What Works
   • Build programmes to protect and grow the installed base
   • Track the impact on customer results and growth
   • Turn customer stories into tractor-beams for your brand

Your Turn to Lead

The subscription world is changing, because it has to change. The Marketing Rainmaker doesn’t just fill pipelines – they create the conditions for lasting growth. Will you lead, or watch from the sidelines?

Ready to Take Action?

Start here:

1. Take a hard look at your recurring revenue performance
2. Map out how your customers actually succeed and what else they need (and why)
3. Get your teams aligned on using your solution to drive measurable customer results

Substribe guides cross functional teams through this change, by looking at solutions through the eyes of their customers. Contact andy@substribe.co to discuss.