SaaS ARR Growth · Case Study

GTM SaaS Transformation

Group Product Manager · VMware

I led product strategy for VMware's global Lead-to-Quote platform, driving SaaS ARR growth by streamlining renewal processes, automating operational workflows, and enabling partners with real-time pipeline visibility. My data-driven prioritization focused investment where it had the greatest business impact.

37%
SaaS ARR Growth
60%
Faster Quotes
30%
Less Manual Work
81%
Renewals Automated

SaaS Transformation at Scale

VMware needed to grow SaaS ARR and accelerate deal velocity. Process inefficiencies slowed deal cycles, and partners had no visibility into renewal pipeline and quotes.

Stakeholders Aligned

Sales Reps, Sales Operations, Customer Success, Partners, Engineering, UX Design, User Research

Core Objective

Accelerate SaaS ARR growth by streamlining renewals and enabling partner pipeline visibility

Finding the Highest-Impact Opportunities

95% of SaaS renewal deals were partner-led deals.

70% of total deal volume was renewals.

Manual deal prep ate 2+ hours weekly for Sales, and high-conversion opportunities still got missed.

What I Prioritized

1

Partner Acceleration

Enabled partners to self-serve quotes via portal and APIs, with real-time visibility into renewal pipeline and quotes.

2

Renewal Automation

Automated renewal workflows to address pain points for Sales and Partners to accelerate SaaS conversions and renewals.

3

Deal Intelligence Tools

Created tools that surfaced high-conversion deals and armed reps with the insights they needed for effective customer conversations.

Results Delivered

Key Outcomes: Partner Forecasting Accuracy SaaS Conversion Velocity Pipeline Data Accuracy Sales Rep Productivity
Before
SaaS Renewal Revenue $55M/quarter
Partner Quote Turnaround 2-3 days
Partner Pipeline Visibility None
Renewal Ops Tasks Manual
Manual Prep Time Saved 0
After
SaaS Renewal Revenue $75M/quarter
Partner Quote Turnaround <1 day
Partner Pipeline Visibility Real-time
Renewal Ops Tasks Automated
Manual Prep Time Saved 8-10 hrs/rep/quarter

Key Learnings

1

Segment to Scale

Targeting top 4-5 partners first created proof points that unlocked executive buy-in for broader rollout.

2

Design for Failure

Exception monitoring became a product feature, not a bug. Building manual fallbacks into the architecture let us ship faster and iterate safely.

3

Observe Before You Solve

We almost built more features. Shadowing reps revealed the real blocker: 2+ hours of manual prep, not missing tools.