How to Supercharge Your B2B SaaS Sales
Getting sales can be a hassle. B2B SaaS sales can be even worse. You have to deal with many middlemen, and the B2B SaaS customer is often skeptical about buying your product.
But don't fret. There are ways to supercharge your B2B SaaS sales. So, we're giving you the 411 on all things B2B SaaS sales, including what they are and great strategies to use to close more deals.
So grab yourself a cup of joe, and let's get started on how to supercharge your B2B SaaS sales.
What are B2B SaaS sales?
B2B SaaS sales are the process of selling software as a service (SaaS) products to businesses. This can be anything from enterprise software to small business software.
The key difference between B2B and B2C sales is that in B2B sales, you're typically dealing with more decision-makers. And the decision-making process is usually more complex. This means that to close a deal, you need to be able to build relationships, understand the needs of the business, and show how your product can solve the business’s problems.
10 strategies to supercharge your B2B SaaS sales
1. Find the right leads
If you want to close more deals, you need to start by finding the right leads. The best way to do this is to target companies that are a good fit for your product. To do this, it’s important to have a good understanding of who your ideal customer is. Once you know your ideal customer, you can start researching companies that fit that profile.
Let's say you're selling software that provides businesses with inventory management tools. In that case, you may want to target companies that are in the retail or manufacturing industry.
To find your ideal customer, you may want to create a customer persona. This is a semi-fictional character that represents your ideal customer. It includes their age, job title, pain points, and goals.
This can be helpful when searching for companies that fit your ideal customer profile. So, for the above hypothetical, your customer will likely be a retail business manager looking to make his team more efficient. That’s where your management software will come in.
2. Get in touch with the decision-makers
Once you've identified some potential leads, the next step is to get in touch with the decision-makers. These people have the power to say “Yes” to your product.
There are a number of ways to get in touch with decision-makers. One way is to reach out to them directly through email or LinkedIn.
Another way to get in touch with decision-makers is to connect with them through mutual connections. If you have a friend or colleague who knows the decision-maker, see if they can introduce you.
3. Build relationships
You need to start building relationships with your leads. The goal here is to build trust and credibility with the decision-makers.
One way of doing this is to offer them something of value for free. For example, if you're looking to sell them software that helps them seamlessly create commercial proposals, you could give them a complimentary PandaDoc commercial proposal template. Or, if you're selling a CRM system, you could give them a free trial of your product.
Another way to build relationships is to keep in touch with your leads, even if they're not ready to buy your product. You can send them helpful articles or invite them to webinars.
4. Understand their needs
You must understand the needs of your lead. What are their pain points? What are their goals? This will make them more likely to see how your product can help them and increase customer satisfaction.
You could do this by having a conversation with them. This can be done over the phone, through email, or in person. During the conversation, you should ask them questions like:
What are the biggest challenges you're facing?
What are your goals for the next 12 months?
How are you currently solving this problem?
Another way to understand their needs is to look at their website. This can give you insights into what they're trying to achieve and what their priorities are.
5. Show them how your product can help
Once you understand your lead's needs, the next step is to show them how your product can help. This is where you need to be able to articulate the value of your product. One way to do this is to create a custom demo of your product tailored to your lead's needs. This will show them how your product can help solve their specific problem.
Let's say you sell software that helps businesses make an international call quickly and easily. In that case, you might want to show the lead how your software can help them make an international call in under two minutes.
Or you could demo the features that would be most relevant to them. Some of these features may include a custom vanity toll-free number, local presence, or call forwarding.
6. Make an offer
Once you've shown the lead how your product can help, it's time to make an offer. This is where you'll need to decide what type of pricing model you want to use. There are a few different options.
Pay-as-you-go: with this pricing model, the customer pays for each product use. This can be a good option if your product is something that's used infrequently.
Subscription: the customer pays a recurring fee to use the product with this pricing model. This option is good for products that are used regularly.
One-time fee: the customer pays a one-time fee to use the product with this pricing model. This option is best for products that don’t require regular use.
Once you've decided on a pricing model, you'll need to determine a specific price point. Factors to consider when doing this include:
The perceived value of your product: how much value does your product offer?
The price of similar products: what are other companies charging for similar products?
What is the customer willing to pay: what’s the customer's budget?
7. Optimize your sales process
The next step is to optimize your sales process. This means ensuring that each process step is as efficient and effective as possible. There are a few different ways to do this.
Automate repetitive tasks: use technology to automate repetitive tasks, such as sending out emails or scheduling appointments. This will free up your time so that you can focus on more important tasks.
Use a sales CRM: a sales CRM (customer relationship management) system can help you keep track of your leads and customers and manage your sales pipeline. This will help you close more deals and increase efficiency.
Hire a sales team: if you're serious about growing your business, you may want to consider hiring a sales team using a talent management software. A sales team can help you reach more leads and close more deals.
8. Train your sales team
You’ll want to ensure that your sales team is properly trained. This means teaching them how to use your product, how to sell it, and how to overcome objections. Creating a sales coaching session is the best way to do this. This is where you'll teach them everything they need to know about your product and the sales process.
Some things you may want to cover in your sales and business coaching session include:
Product knowledge: teach them about your product and how it works.
The sales process: give them a step-by-step guide to the sales process.
Objection handling: teach them how to handle objections from customers.
You can also liaise with B2B customer marketing professionals, as they’ll be able to give you some great tips on supercharging your sales.
9. Close more deals
Now that you've optimized your sales process, it's time to start closing more deals. The best way to do this is to use a sales script. A sales script is a pre-written set of questions and responses that helps the salesperson guide the conversation. This will help them stay on track and close more deals.
Some tips for writing a sales script:
Keep it short and sweet: the script should be short and to the point. It should only include the essential questions and responses.
Make it flexible: the script should be flexible enough to allow for natural conversations. This means that the salesperson should be able to deviate from the script if necessary.
Test it out: before using the script, test it out with a few potential customers. This will help you refine it and make sure it's effective.
10. Measure your results
The last step is to measure your results. This means tracking your progress and seeing how well you're doing. There are a few different metrics you can track, such as:
The number of deals closed: this is the most important metric to track. It will show you how well your sales team is doing.
The close rate: this is the percentage of deals that are closed. It will show you how efficient your sales team is.
The average deal size: this will show you how much revenue you're bringing in.
These are just a few of the most important company growth metrics and benchmarks to track. There are many others that you may want to track as well. The important thing is to choose the metrics that are most important to your business and track them regularly.
Final thoughts
So there you have it. These are ten tips to help you supercharge your B2B SaaS sales.
If you implement these tips, you'll be well on your way to success.
Good luck and happy selling!
By Jessica Day - Senior Director, Marketing Strategy, Dialpad
Jessica Day is the Senior Director for Marketing Strategy at Dialpad, a modern business communications platform that elevates all conversations by employing templates for meeting notes to turn them into opportunities. Jessica is an expert in collaborating with multifunctional teams to execute and optimize marketing efforts, for both company and client campaigns. Jessica has also written for other domains such as Startups Magazine and Adlibweb. Here is her LinkedIn.