The SaaS Go-To-Market Report

Executive summary

Acquiring new customers is one of the toughest challenges in SaaS. A strong product alone won’t cut it. What sets the fastest-growing companies apart is laser-sharp go-to-market execution.

In this first edition of the ChartMogul Go-To-Market Report, we analyze how 2,500 SaaS companies acquire and convert customers. We used AI to enrich our dataset and uncover insights on trial-to-paid conversion, sales cycles, time to reach 1,000 customers and how different GTM motions impact new business.

The five key insights that stood out:

1. Top-performing B2B companies reach 1,000 subscribers in just 11 months, while the median B2B company takes 2 years.
2. Embracing full PLG at lower price points can grow new business faster. At low price points, adding sales creates friction. Companies that stay self-serve grow faster.
3. Starting at a $100 ASP, most B2B PLG companies begin layering sales on top of PLG. Adding sales helps buyers make decisions as products and purchase processes become more complex.
4. Trial-to-paid conversions spike around day 7 for both PLG and SLG companies. No matter the GTM strategy, success comes from getting users to reach the 'Aha' moment fast.
5. Discounted subscriptions often follow similar timelines to full-price ones. At lower ASPs, they can even take a bit longer.

This report would not have been possible without the contribution of my colleagues. A special thanks to Bianca, Koen, Sara and Thomas for making this report happen.

Sincerely,
Sofia Faustino

Customer growth milestones

Time to 1,000 subscribers

Top-performing B2B companies reach 1,000 subscribers in just 11 months. The median B2B company takes an extra year to hit the same milestone. Reaching your first 100 customers proves you're solving a real problem for a specific group, but hitting 1,000 reflects strong product market fit.

Can every B2B SaaS company reach 1,000 customers in 11 months? It’s a challenge. Customer growth speed depends on many factors, but pricing plays a major role. Companies with a lower average sale price (ASP) tend to grow their customer base faster, while higher prices slow things down because of longer sales cycles. SaaS founders need to design their GTM motion around the realities of their price point.

As our research shows, time is one of the biggest threats to building a lasting SaaS business. After 10 years in existence, only 13% of companies ever reach $10M in ARR. That’s why speed matters: it drives faster learnings, sharper optimizations, and gets you closer to that 13%.

In B2C, speed beats pricing as a growth lever. ASP varies little between faster and slower growers. In fact, top-performing B2C companies often charge slightly more, suggesting a stronger perceived value or better product-market fit. In B2C early growth comes from strong demand, seamless onboarding and viral loops, not just low prices.

It makes perfect sense that the lower the price, the faster the customer acquisition. The trap I've seen for companies that don't internalize this reality is going after a segment of the market where the sales cycle doesn't support the price point. If you're targeting the Enterprise segment, you can't be selling $20K deals. And if you're going after SMB, you can't be selling $250K deals. Often this is a problem of stakeholder - pursuing a buyer that doesn't have the budget to support the sales motion. Whichever path you choose, it's always critical to truly internalize market realities when deciding on your pricing and packaging.

Best-in-class time to 1,000 subscribers

The top decile of B2B SaaS companies hit 1,000 subscribers in less than 3 months. That’s lightning fast. They likely have lower price points, which makes acquisition faster. But the reality is that many B2B companies still spend years trying to reach the same milestone.

New business ARR growth rates

Is new business growth slowing down?

New business growth is under pressure, especially for early-stage SaaS. Since early 2022 new business ARR growth rates have dropped 34 percentage points (pp) for companies below $1M ARR. These younger SaaS companies are now seeing a median decline of 24% in new business ARR year over year. Top performers under $1M ARR have seen the steepest slowdown. Though their growth rates are still positive, they’ve dropped 57 pp, from 116% in Q1 2022 to 59% in Q1 2025.

Larger SaaS companies have stabilized with a median new business growth rate of 2%, avoiding the sharp declines seen in early-stage businesses.

To be successful SaaS companies have to experiment with new GTM strategies like pricing, personalized customer journeys or creative demand generation tactics. And now, with AI reshaping how teams work, the speed of learning is just as important as execution. That’s why companies like Shopify now expect AI fluency across every role. That’s the kind of mindset needed to stay ahead.

Today’s market is hyper-competitive, with stronger buyer power, fatigue and uncertainty. Three areas are now critical for us at Salesflow: personal branding, intent-led multi-channel outbound and building a partner ecosystem. Together, they form the foundation for high ROI and efficient CAC.

Does adding sales to PLG accelerate growth?

Companies embracing full PLG at lower price points grow new business faster. Using ChartMogul’s AI enrichment to detect if websites have a ‘Contact Sales' form, we found that many adopt a hybrid GTM strategy as pricing increases.

Below $25 ASP, median new business ARR growth is 20% for B2B companies, compared to 0% for those layering sales too early. At low price points, adding sales can cause some friction. The fastest path to growth is doubling down on seamless onboarding, activation and product nudges.

Starting at a $100 ASP, most B2B PLG companies begin layering sales on top of PLG. At higher price points, many also include a 'Contact Sales' form to support the buying process. As products become more complex, buyers need help evaluating and implementing them. Adding sales will help buyers with purchasing decisions. Loom and Notion are good examples: both started PLG-first, then added sales to move upmarket. Their enterprise plans now route through a 'Contact Sales' form. As companies scale, keeping GTM flexible to support conversion at higher deal sizes becomes critical.

One misconception is the idea that the product is so good, it’ll sell itself. So maybe they don’t even need to layer on sales. But the truth is, most products are complex enough that buyers need help evaluating and making a purchase decision. Another common misconception is that sales is expensive, especially if you have a low average contract value or sale price. That can lead to hesitation about investing in sales to improve conversion. But it’s almost always worth experimenting. You’re not married to your go-to-market strategy forever. You can test things, like calling every trial lead or trying outbound. The way you acquire and retain customers will evolve over time. You just need to give yourself the flexibility and time to figure out what works.

Trial-to-paid conversions

When do users typically convert to paid? (B2B and B2C)

Trial-to-paid conversions in SaaS peak in week 1 and drop off quickly afterward for both B2B and B2C. Most conversions happen around day 7, likely when free trials end. When we looked at daily conversion rates during the first week, the median was close to zero until the final day, suggesting most users convert only after the trial expires.

B2C companies see much higher 7-day conversion rates (for example 16% vs. 2.5% for B2B). This is likely driven by lower commitment, discounts and heavier paid marketing. Our takeaway: activation and onboarding in week one are critical. This is your highest-leverage window to deliver value and trigger the ‘Aha’ moment. If the user did not convert in the first week, the chances drop off fast.

B2C trials convert at roughly 15–18 percent in the first 7 days, while B2B sits near 2.5 percent. Yet by day 14, both drop to ~1 percent—meaning if you don’t hook someone in the first week, it’s almost over. And within that week, the real cliff happens in just 7 minutes: if a user doesn’t hit value then, they rarely upgrade.

When do users typically convert to paid? (PLG and SLG)

Most conversions happen within 7 days for both SLG and PLG companies. This isn’t about which motion is better, because PLG and SLG can complement each other. SLG companies tend to have fewer trials than PLG. They lift conversions sharply in week one, but then the rate flattens. PLG has a steadier conversion rate beyond day 7.

No matter the sales motion, SaaS companies have a small window to convert users. Success depends on how quickly customers reach their ‘Aha’ moment. To get there, your product needs to deliver a remarkable, intuitive experience, and/or you need to apply pressure at the moment of interest.

Discounting and sales cycles

How long is a typical sales cycle?

Sales cycles stretch beyond 30 days for nearly half of high-ASP SaaS companies. Price point heavily shapes your sales cycle. While trial-to-paid conversions often happen in the first 7 days, it takes longer to convert leads to subscribers as ASP increases. Nearly half of companies with <$25 ASP close within 7 days. But by the time pricing reaches $250–500, the sales cycle length stretches to 30 days and beyond. Higher price points bring more stakeholders, friction and due diligence. For founders moving upmarket, it’s essential to adjust expectations, invest in nurturing and build a GTM motion that supports longer buying journeys.

Can discounts speed up sales cycles?

Sales cycles for discounted subscriptions aren’t shorter, they can even take longer. Companies with ASPs below $100 tend to have longer sales cycles for their discounted subscriptions, visible across all quartiles. This suggests discounts are often given when a user isn’t converting as expected.

For ASPs between $100 and $1,000, sales cycles look similar at the median and top quartile (fastest conversions), with or without discounts, meaning that most companies don’t see faster conversions when they discount. But in the bottom quartile (the slowest conversions) discounted subscriptions take longer, implying that the process is more complex or that the prospect wasn’t a great fit to begin with.

When I work with early-stage SaaS founders, one of the first things I tell them is that a huge discount doesn't close deals faster. You need to convince the stakeholders that your product solves their problem and is the best solution for a very specific use case. Pricing can be a game stopper, but not a reason to win deals. P.S. Always try to give discounts for something in return (case study, referral, quote).

When do discounts speed up sales cycles?

At lower price points (< $100 ASP), only 17% of companies see faster sales cycles with discounts, while 34% see slower ones. As ASP rises, the impact becomes more polarized. In the $500–1,000 range, 56% of companies report slower sales cycles with discounts, while 23% see acceleration. This split suggests discounts can drive urgency if used intentionally and with the right ICP. But when introduced late, they often signal that the buyer was already dragging out the process.

Methodology and glossary

To create this report, we analyzed anonymized and aggregated data from ChartMogul.

• Benchmarks data ranges from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025.
• All segmentations by ASP exclude companies less than $300K in ARR.
• We used our AI enrichment feature to segment data (PLG and SLG, B2B and B2C and identify the ones with a “Contact Sales” form).
• The proportions shown in the cohorts (B2B and B2C, PLG and SLG) are the median values.
• We calculated each company’s sales cycle length using the median number of days from the time a lead was created at until the time that same lead became a paying subscriber.
• For the calculations of the “Sales cycle by ASP and discounted status” graph we took, for each company, the median sales cycle (time from lead to subscription) for discounted and non-discounted subscriptions.
• For the “Share of companies where discounts speed up, slow down, or have no impact on sales cycle length” graph we compared each company’s median sales cycle with and without discounts.

Glossary

Average Sale Price = New business MRR / # new customer customers

Sales Cycle = Number of days from lead creation to first customer payment

Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate = Percentage of trial users who convert to paying customers

Annual Run Rate (ARR) = MRR x 12

New business ARR = New business MRR x 12

YOY: Year-over-Year

New biz = New business