How Did G2 Grow in APAC in the Early Days? Chris's Insights as Managing Director

Welcome to our latest edition of the Maven Club interview series! This time, we're diving into the remarkable journey of Chris Perrine, a tech industry leader with nearly three decades of experience across Asia Pacific. From co-founding Springboard Research to spearheading G2’s expansion in the region, Chris brings unparalleled insight into what it takes to build and scale a successful business in APAC. In this newsletter, we’ll explore the key principles that have guided his go-to-market strategies, the challenges he faced during G2’s APAC expansion, and how he successfully drove 33% of G2’s traffic from APAC. Whether you’re looking to expand your business or sharpen your sales approach, Chris’s experience offers invaluable lessons.

Who is Chris? 

Chris Perrine is a seasoned tech industry leader with 28 years of experience in Asia Pacific, having lived and worked in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Australia. He began his career in tech during the dot-com boom, with a strong focus on analytics. Chris co-founded Springboard Research, which was later acquired by Forrester, and has extensive experience helping tech vendors expand globally, particularly between the US and Asia Pacific. For the past five years, he has been leading G2's Asia Pacific operations, where he was the first hire to be tasked with APAC expansion, successfully scaling the company’s revenue and go-to-market teams as VP & MD for APAC.

What Does G2 Do? 

G2 is the world’s largest B2B tech review platform, functioning as a marketplace where over 90 million buyers annually, including 33% from Asia Pacific, research software through user reviews. G2 helps buyers shortlist, evaluate, and choose software, while vendors leverage the platform to enhance visibility and engage potential customers based on peer recommendations and rankings.

Core Principles That Guides Chris’s Early GTM Strategies

“We got limited working capital at first and we had to basically eat what we killed.”

G2’s APAC expansions were initially started with very limited resources, Chris had to maximize impact with limited capital, focusing on high-propensity targets. Here are the principles that he upheld. 

• Data-Driven Targeting:

  • Target the Right Accounts: Chris focused on identifying accounts with the highest potential for conversion, not necessarily the largest. For instance, they targeted companies leading in specific categories on G2 or those rapidly gaining reviews. 

    • An example provided is a 20-person startup that went from zero to 30 reviews in four weeks. Despite its small size, this company was prioritized because its behavior indicated a strong belief in the power of reviews, making it more likely to convert.

  • Leverage G2’s Data: By utilizing G2's extensive data, Chris and his team could pinpoint accounts with strong traffic, review velocity, or category leadership. This data-driven approach ensured that their efforts were focused where the likelihood of success was highest.

• Value-Added Outreach:

  • Educational Engagement: Every interaction with potential customers was designed to add value through education. Chris emphasized sending data-centric, value-added emails that provided market insights and intelligence. 

  • For example, persistent outreach with insightful data led to prospects acknowledging the value of the emails, even if they didn’t initially respond. One prospect mentioned that they had been using the data internally, which highlighted the effectiveness of this approach.

• Building Brand Credibility: By consistently providing actionable insights, the outreach not only captured the attention of the primary contacts, typically CMOs or marketing leaders, but also built G2's reputation within organizations. This approach helped G2 stand out among the numerous vendors vying for attention in APAC.

Three Most Effective Channels for G2’s Growth

"We can really congratulate and celebrate our customers when they achieve a review milestone or they're number one in their category... social validation promotion has worked really well for us."

• Email Outreach

  • Initial Challenges:

    • Low Engagement: Initially, many of G2’s email outreach efforts were ignored or dismissed as just another sales pitch because the junior sales reps were not trained to have high-level conversations with executives and therefore didn’t know how to create email content that resonated with prospects.

  • Improvements:

    • Non-selling & Value-added Content: To overcome these issues, G2 revamped their emails to be rich in personalized, data-driven insights and educational contents, making the content immediately valuable to recipients.

• Social Validation Promotion

  • Unique to G2:

    • Authentic Validation: G2 can authentically promote customer success by highlighting real user feedback, such as review milestones or category leadership on its platform. Because G2 is a trusted marketplace where these achievements are validated by users, the promotions carry more weight and credibility.

  • Why Software Vendors Love It:

    • Credibility: Vendors value this form of promotion because it provides third-party validation, showing potential buyers that their products are well-regarded and widely used.

    • Brand Presence: These social promotions help vendors build a stronger brand presence, as they are shared across platforms, increasing visibility and trust.

    • Impact on Vendor Relations: The effectiveness of this strategy is so strong that vendors now request specific social posts from G2 as part of their contracts, recognizing the significant influence these promotions have on their market perception.

• G2-Run Events

  • Engaging Value Propositions:

    • Smaller, Focused Groups: G2 events are designed to be intimate, bringing together professionals with similar roles and challenges, which fosters deeper and more meaningful discussions.

    • Peer-Led Insights: Attendees benefit from peer-led sessions where they can hear detailed, candid accounts of what strategies have worked—or failed—in similar businesses.

    • Shared Learning Environment: These events are highly interactive, offering attendees the chance to engage directly with speakers and peers, which enhances the learning experience and creates lasting connections.

Community Building as the Flywheel for G2's Growth

"Some vendors will look and say, hey, I want to be a first mover... and I'll be number one."

• Picking the Right Category to Start With

  • Category Strategy:

    • Focus on High-Opportunity Categories: G2 strategically selects categories that have a strong vendor presence but lack significant traffic or reviews. This approach ensures that resources are concentrated where they can have the most impact.

    • Tiered Approach: Categories are tiered based on their potential, with mid-market vendors often targeted first, as they are more flexible and likely to engage with G2.

    • Example: G2 initially targeted categories like CRM and marketing automation, which had a large number of vendors but uneven distribution of reviews and traffic. By focusing on these areas, G2 could build momentum in categories with strong growth potential.

  • Cold Start Problem:

    • Overcoming the Cold Start Issue: G2 addresses the challenge of launching new categories with little to no initial traffic by actively seeking out reviews. This involves identifying existing customers and encouraging them to share their experiences.

    • Detective Work: G2 uses "detective work" to identify potential reviewers, such as checking LinkedIn profiles of users who may have experience with the software in a given category.

• Attracting Software Vendors

  • First-Mover Advantage:

    • Encouraging Early Adoption: G2 persuades vendors to be the first to build a strong presence in a new or underdeveloped category. Vendors are informed that by gathering reviews early, they can dominate traffic and visibility in the category.

    • Competitive Advantage: G2 highlights how early movers can secure a significant portion of the category’s traffic (e.g., 45-50%) by accumulating reviews quickly, which pressures competitors to follow.

  • Vendor Engagement:

    • Multi-Pronged Process: G2 engages with vendors by presenting the opportunity to lead in a category where buyers are already searching for solutions, even if the category is not yet fully developed.

    • Emerging Vendors: G2 also targets emerging vendors, offering them a chance to leapfrog established competitors by capitalizing on the lack of reviews in a category.

• Customer Engagement

  • Ongoing User Engagement:

    • Continuous Interaction: G2 keeps users engaged by regularly asking for new reviews, updating existing reviews, and involving them in community activities beyond their initial purchase.

    • Example: Users receive reminders on the anniversary of their review, asking if they still use the tool and if it still meets their needs, helping to keep the content fresh.

  • Building a Community:

    • User-Generated Content (UGC): G2 fosters a sense of community by offering discussion forums where users can ask questions and share insights, turning G2 into more than just a review site but a resource for ongoing learning.

    • Badges and Recognition: G2 uses gamification elements like badges to reward active contributors, encouraging them to return to the platform and engage more deeply.

Main Challenges He Faced as the Lead for APAC Expansion at Early Stage

"We bootstrapped out here. I was the salesperson for the first quarter to four months before we had even hired anybody."

• Tailoring G2 for the APAC Market

  • Challenge: Unlike the US or Europe, the APAC market is dominated by smaller vendors, typically with 20 to 200 employees, who are more price-sensitive and less familiar with using reviews to drive business growth. These vendors often lacked the resources and understanding to effectively leverage G2’s platform, making it difficult to generate interest and adoption.

  • Solution: Chris restructured G2’s revenue engine to cater specifically to these smaller vendors. He introduced an educational strategy, creating more content than in the US and Europe combined, to teach vendors how to maximize the benefits of reviews. For example, he conducted events in Australia focused on tactical strategies, like using a G2 badge to increase lead conversion up to 84%, which resonated well with APAC vendors.

• Content Creation and Self-Service

  • Challenge: APAC customers preferred a self-service approach to learning, in contrast to the US market, where direct calls are more common. G2’s existing resources were heavily geared towards hands-on support, with limited self-service content available, making it harder for APAC customers to engage effectively.

  • Solution: Chris spearheaded the development of comprehensive self-service content, allowing customers to access detailed information on their own terms.

Characteristics Chris Looks For When Hiring Early Salespeople

"The best reps are the ones that follow the process. But again, you don't want them to be robots. You want their personalities to shine through."

• Hybrid Roles:

  • Chris prefers hiring people who are capable of multitasking and can handle end-to-end sales cycles, especially in the early stages of the team.

• Curiosity-Driven Sales:

  • Chris values curiosity in sales reps, as it leads to deeper questioning and a better understanding of customer needs. Curious reps can uncover critical insights, such as anticipating market changes (e.g., Google’s plans to remove cookies) and positioning G2’s solutions effectively.

• Adherence to Process with Personalization:

  • While following a consistent sales process is crucial, Chris also encourages reps to bring their unique personalities into customer interactions. For instance, by using structured playbooks, reps can deliver consistent value propositions while tailoring their approach to individual clients.

• Deep Product and Market Knowledge:

  • Chris emphasizes the importance of reps not only knowing the product inside out but also staying informed about market trends. This comprehensive understanding enables them to provide relevant insights to clients, further establishing their credibility as trusted advisors.

We hope Chris’s strategies for navigating the complexities of the APAC market and his approach to building effective early-stage teams have provided you with valuable takeaways. His journey with G2 is a powerful reminder of how strategic thinking and a keen understanding of market dynamics can propel a company to new heights. Don’t miss out on more insights from industry pioneers—subscribe HERE to stay updated with our upcoming interviews and content that continue to explore the minds shaping the future of business.