About Enterprise Sales Cycle
Do you want to get more and more target prospects for your SaaS Product?
Then, you must know about the enterprise sales cycle.
However, note that each of the sales processes comes distinct.
That means you need to apply different strategies for different prospects.
Nevertheless, the key steps would remain the same.
You just need to tweak and personalize the steps, as per the situation.
Hence, it is time to check out the steps below.
Start With Prospecting
Reaching potential customers calls for finding out potential customers first.
And it is not possible without appropriate sales prospecting.
Sales reps keep on applying various strategies to find out potential prospects.
Getting success in this step means increasing the odds for more conversion later.
Prospecting also needs sales executives to perform some research on prospects.
It includes prospects’ feasibility, contact information, and so on.
Some key tips for sales prospecting are listed down below:
About Enterprise Sales Cycle
Identifying Target Prospects
Different organizations set different parameters to identify a prospect as a target prospect.
Therefore, the first step of prospecting is to set the parameters of good prospects.
Furthermore, parameters depend on the respective product of the SaaS Company.
Next, it is time to figure out the common factors among qualified prospects.
For example, organizations, which have just appointed a new VP, could be highly qualified prospects for a SaaS Product.
Take The Help of Social Media
It is critical nowadays to use social media platforms when it comes to prospecting.
Not only do social media channels offer information on prospects but also on stakeholders.
Nowadays, customers prefer and appreciate personalization instead of salesy pitches.
Hence, it’s a good idea to interact with prospects in social media platforms beforehand.
Thus, when you send out sales pitches to them, they could recognize you.
It is rather important for new SaaS businesses.
Find Out The Appropriate Person To Pitch
Enterprise sales consist of more than one stakeholder.
That is why a single person cannot make a unilateral buying decision for the company.
Therefore, a sales executive of a SaaS company needs to reach a specific person.
The main goal here is to create a positive impact on the SaaS product.
Moreover, it is a must to know about the stakeholders of the potential client company.
Are you trying to sell your SaaS product to HR executives?
Then, start going through HR publications.
Know about the strategies to influence such stakeholders.
Making buyer profiles are essential to start prospecting.
Nonetheless, you should continue your research to know more about your prospects.
Start Discovering Your Prospects
Once you find out an ideal base of prospects for you, it is time for discovering.
Start making cold outreach strategies.
Then, reach out to listed stakeholders via cold emails or cold calls.
Leave no stone unturned to convince them about your product.
Avoid salesy talks.
Present your software as a solution to a specific problem their company is going through.
If they show interest in your product, you must arrange a discovery call.
Thus, you can know more about your prospects, their preferences, requirements, and so on.
Do not forget to make sure that the discovery procedure revolves around your prospects.
The following tips will help you to increase the odds for success in this regard:
First, find out which durations would better work for reaching out to your prospects.
For instance, if your prospects are not responsive in the mornings, chances are high that they are responsive in the afternoons.
Do not forget to mention the reason you are reaching out to the prospects for.
And the reason for outreaching must revolve around your product in the means of a solution.
Mention how your product can help the company to avoid a specific problem.
Specify the problem properly before mentioning your product as a solution to it.
Note that most prospects are not interested in your product’s features.
Instead, they want to know if it can solve their problem.
Start asking open-ended questions to them.
Don’t ask a straightforward question like “are you going through this problem?”
Instead, ask something that would enable them to explain a bit about their problem.
You can get to know more about their situation as a result.
It will further help you in an efficient presentation and demo of your product.
For instance, you can ask them how they are handling this problem.
Do not forget to jot down the key points once you are done with the call.
Next, enter the acquired information into the CRM (Customer relationship management) system.
It is time for Demonstration
Have you already found highly qualified prospects?
Have you managed to influence some prospects about the product demonstration?
Then, it is time to schedule a formal meeting and demonstrate your product.
It is better if you can convince your prospects about in-person meetings.
It will help you to demonstrate your product with the ace.
Moreover, you can also boost the business-customer relationship.
The following tips will help you in an efficient demonstration of your product.
Do not forget to check again if the prospect is qualified for the demo before going for it.
You do not want to waste your time, effort, and resources in the whole process, isn’t it?
So, it is critical to find out unqualified prospects and schedule your demo accordingly.
It is better to consult your team members when it comes to finding out qualified prospects.
Note that frequent interactions with team members have great benefits in enterprise sales.
It especially goes for the engineering and customer success team of a SaaS business.
Such consultation with team members can acquire great positive results.
Your prospects can also get to know what type of services they can expect from you.
Do make sure to personalize both your sales pitch and presentation.
Thus, you can make it ready to cater to the requirements and expectations of the prospect.
Since enterprise buyers look for customized service, you must tailor your demo.
A well-crafted presentation will clearly showcase your efforts.
Prospects would realize that you have devoted much time to preparing the demo.
Besides, the personalized presentation will help you garner a positive impression.
Try to boost the business-customer relationship with stakeholders.
It is critical if you want to boost customer loyalty for your SaaS Company.
It also paves the way for a great business relationship.
The Phase of Consultation
Have your meeting got successful?
It’s great!
Did your product demonstration go well?
It’s superb!
However, consultation is such a phase where the further process can be paused for a while.
Consultation in the client’s company is about internal discussions among the stakeholders.
And this conversation results in the final decision regarding the product purchase.
This phase may call for designing a business case.
However, you must continue providing your support to the prospect company.
Thus, you can come out as a reliable entity.
Patience is the most important criteria to succeed in this phase.
It is because consultation may be a lengthy process, as it is about decision making.
Do not give up even if it takes more than the average waiting time for your SaaS business.
Keep on providing value to your prospects whenever you follow up with them.
Do not forget to ask your prospects if they expect any help from you.
Do you want to help your prospects to design the business case?
Do you want to talk to one of their stakeholders?
Then, you should convey your thoughts to your prospect company.
Don’t hurry to close the deal, as it could harm your business reputation.
Do you think the prospect is not ready to buy your solution at the very moment?
Keep some patience and try to ask them politely the reason if you could help.
Pilot Testing Is Here
Long-term contract signing often comes with the need for pilot testing.
This process enables them to test your product within a low-risk environment.
Thus, they can come to the conclusion of whether your solution is perfect for them or not.
Some tips for the pilot testing phase are listed down below:
Boost your product demonstration.
Keep displaying the benefits of your product.
Let them know how your solution could help to streamline their business process.
Fix a timeline to show the benefits of your products to your prospects.
Never display all the features straight away.
The main goal is to unfold the features one by one.
Thus, you can create an impression that there are many things to explore in your solution.
Do not fail to specify the success criteria of your product in advance.
You must do it before the beginning of the pilot testing.
You cannot measure the expectations of each and every prospect.
Hence, it is better to let them know what they can expect from your product.
Once they agree with the expected product results, pilot testing can be started.
It Is About Onboarding
Do you want to succeed in the pilot testing of your product?
Of course yes, isn’t it?
Then, it is critical to make sure to provide a great onboaring experience to prospects.
Your customer success team would take over the charge at this step.
But, enterprise sales executives need to continue providing help to prospects.
Otherwise, it won’t be possible to ensure an excellent onboarding experience.
Follow the tips below to offer an excellent onboarding experience to your prospects:
Let your prospects know who would be handling their account. It will boost the reliability and transparency of your service.
Keep interacting with your customers daily. Thus, you could know if they need any help to use the software.
Make your customers feel free to contact you regarding the product in any difficulties.
And let them know you would revert to them at the earliest.
As a result, you can increase the level of trust for your services.
The Final Step of Enterprise Sales Cycle- Closing
You have crossed lots of hurdles with your team to reach this step.
Now, you can expect your prospects to get ready to convert into your customers.
This step is about finalizing the deal.
Do not forget to address and resolve the remaining issues (if any).
The following tips will help you to close the deals:
Keep the contract as simple as possible. It will save time and resources.
It is better to employ a software program in this regard instead of paper contracts.
Wait for the right opportunity and ask the clients about the duration they need to complete the process. Stay away from anticipations.
In case the deal fails due to any reason, try to cope with the situation tactfully.
Do not forget to express your gratitude towards all stakeholders for their valuable time.
Request them to remember you whenever they need your services.
How to opt for a SaaS Provider?
There is no dearth of SaaS providers in the industry.
However, if you want to boost your business productivity, you must choose the best SaaS provider.
Now, “best” is a relative term.
Different organizations have different sets of conditions to perceive a tool as the best solution.
So, how is it possible to opt for an ideal solution for you?
The following questions will help you to find it out.
You should ask the questions yourself.
It is better if you discuss the following questions with your team.
In the end, you can easily reach a better conclusion.
What Is The Purpose Of Going For A SaaS Service?
It may seem no brainer yet it should be the first question in the series.
Are you looking for a SaaS service to avoid maintaining complex software?
Do you want to get rid of infrastructure maintenance overhead?
Does your business need more focus on the core workflow instead of legacy software?
Are you looking for easing the collaboration among remote workers of your business?
Or, you may have some different purposes for transitioning into the cloud.
Whatever your goal may be, you need to write it down properly.
Write down what you envision to see in the best software for your company.
Have you separated the workflow that would be relocated to the SaaS?
It is a must-do work before opting for a software program.
Moreover, you should pinpoint the segments of your business that you want to keep as it is.
Do not forget to segregate your requirements into necessary and good-to-have ones.
You must remain as specific as possible with your requirements and expectations.
Having a thorough idea about your present business environment is a must.
As a result, you can cater to the integration demands necessary to fulfill your considerations.
Thus, you can compare your requirements with the shortlisted software features later.
Writing down purpose will guide you through an ideal software program.
Is The Software An Original SaaS Product?
Nowadays, you may mistake a hybrid software solution for a comprehensive solution.
So, you must be cautious while choosing a SaaS product.
Original SaaS products call for a web browser to start operating.
The cloud would take care of the remaining parts.
The users don’t need to worry about anything else.
Does the software need a specific client software installed on the end-users’ systems?
Does the software call for retaining some application parts on-premise?
Then, it is time to give a thorough check to these products before finalizing.
Some SaaS solutions also demand integration of multiple products altogether.
All the above solutions may charge you more for subscribing to all the features.
The same goes well for updating the product.
Is The Product Compatible With Your Present & Later User Environments?
You already know genuine SaaS product needs only a browser to run.
So, it does not depend on the business environment of a user.
However, you must ensure the latest web browser in place.
There can be a few minor differences in visibility and functionality in different browsers.
Note that a SaaS product may be incompatible with older web browsers.
Mobility also seeks consideration here.
Do your employees need access to the SaaS product on the go?
For instance, some businesses come with shipping services and warehouses as integral parts.
In such cases, the product must come compatible with iOS and Android apps.
Do not fail to inspect the functionality of such apps.
It is due to the differences between the app interface and the web interface of a SaaS product.
Does the interface come in a responsive design?
If it isn’t, you could face troubles while using it on different screens.
How To Exit From The SaaS Product?
Thinking about exit options before finalizing a product may seem surprising.
But, it is not!
Knowing the exit options would let you explore the flexibility of the product.
Otherwise, you can get trapped in complicated terms and conditions.
A SaaS company can be acquired, update policies, or stop working.
Are you going to structure certain parts of the business process on a SaaS solution?
Then, figuring out exit options is mandatory.
Never opt for a product in which you can get locked without exit options.
You should check whether the SaaS provider allows exporting all the user information.
It includes user account information, personalization, and so on.
Do not forget to check the format of exporting as well.
There may be some migration options available with the SaaS products.
Some products can also come as open-source software.
You can configure and host such software in your office.
Does your SaaS provider offer the convenience of exporting data when you exit?
If yes, then mention it in the contract to avoid discrepancies later.
Note that some SaaS providers can lock certain segments of data for a fixed timeline.
If it does not comply with your data terms, ask them to delete your data from the servers.
Some other questions that you should ask before finalizing your decision are as follows:
How is the quality of the help & support of the SaaS provider?
What is the SLA (Service Level Agreement) of the SaaS Company?
What is the process of integration of the SaaS product with other services & software?
How does a contingency plan work if the SaaS Product faces failure?
What about the IT support prerequisites for smooth functioning and availability of the SaaS software?
Do your employees need training for using the SaaS product? Does the SaaS provider offer sufficient training for the product?
What are the backup plans of the SaaS provider?
What are the migration options available to the SaaS provider?
What backup plans are available?
What is the price structure of the software?
Know about the hidden fees (if any) as well.
Find about the product’s maturity vs. functionality balance.
Hence, it is clear that thorough research is needed before finalizing your SaaS option.
Always seek a trial version to check the product and support quality.
How to Pitch Enterprise SaaS?
Preparing a sales pitch for your SaaS product is no less than an art.
Moreover, it also calls for comprehending the psychology of the customers and prospects.
It is no cakewalk to prepare a sales pitch for a complex yet powerful SaaS software product.
How to add all the valuable features and functions of a product to a short pitch?
At the same time, the pitch must be compelling and convincing that could convert.
Moreover, a sales pitch is not merely a description of product features.
Preparing a sales pitch seeks a combination of art and expertise.
The following tips will help you to prepare a sales pitch for your SaaS product:
Figure Out Your Prospects’ Objective
The goal of your sales pitch is to showcase an efficient solution to the prospects’ pain-points.
It will generate curiosity in your prospects’ minds about your solution.
Your sales pitch must consist of the benefits of your software product.
But, it should be related to the prospects’ problems.
Note that most buyers seek solutions to problems and they are not interested in the feature list.
Let your prospects know how your product can streamline their work.
Hence, your first task is to figure out the goals of your prospects.
Give them some genuine reasons for why they should show interest in your product.
You need to perform deep research about your prospects.
It includes their pain points, preferences, requirements, expectations, and so on.
Next, emphasize those features your target prospects found the most useful for them.
Define the complete steps of the execution of your product.
Make proper use of all the customer references.
Do not forget to add ROI estimates.
Channel your product features with the prospects’ expectations at the very beginning of all discovery calls.
All the above steps would present a clear idea to your prospects about your product.
Personalize Your Sales Pitch For Every Prospect
It is a must to customize your pitch for different prospects.
The research of the first step would help you to know about your prospects’ preferences.
Now, different prospects can prefer different features of your product.
Moreover, different functionalities address different pain points of prospects.
Hence, you should mold your sales pitch accordingly.
Do not explain each and every feature of your product in your pitch.
Add features in the form of solutions to your prospects’ problems.
Pitch Tone Depends On The Circumstances
A successful pitch needs streamlining a powerful product into its essence.
Now, the essence would be different for different prospects.
The clarity of your sales pitch completely depends on the different circumstances of different prospects.
Hence, it is essential to figure out the preferences of your audiences.
The main goal of a sales pitch is to draw your prospects’ attention.
So, keep on practicing to perfect your sales pitch until it gets success.
Top Marketing Channels to Receive Enterprise Clients
Marketing is part and parcel to making your SaaS product reach your target customers.
When it comes to convincing enterprise clients, marketing strategies need many considerations.
Do you want to attract a large number of prospects for conversion?
Are you looking for creating a long-term base for your SaaS solution?
Is there any freemium offering within your solution?
What is the type of buying process for your product? Is it complicated & lengthy?
All the above aspects would influence your marketing strategies.
It is essential to consider all these aspects if you want an efficient SaaS marketing strategy.
Account-based marketing or ABM
ABM is a targeted marketing strategy.
It is about targeting just some of the target accounts instead of all.
Organizations or individuals who you are already familiar with create an ideal fit for this marketing.
And all of the ABM strategies must channel your target customers only.
What is the criterion to succeed in ABM?
It calls for a systematic effort throughout various marketing channels.
It includes email nurturing, pay-per-click advertising, etc.
ABM also needs proper collaboration among team members.
It also goes well among the sales and marketing team.
Should you opt for Account-based marketing?
Do you have just started your start-up journey with enterprise clients?
Then, ABM is an ideal option for you.
Moreover, if your yearly contract values are high, you can also opt for ABM.
Does your SaaS come with a low price structure?
Then, opting for highly-targeted marketing strategies is not a good option.
It could unnecessarily harm your resources.
Moreover, it won’t generate sufficient ROI to help grow your business.
Affiliate Marketing
You must know about the concept of affiliate marketing, isn’t it?
Here, you would give commissions to people for promoting your services or products.
For which you need to build custom links to be used by your affiliates.
Also, it is essential to track those links for generating leads.
Next, you must check how many of the leads have been converted into paying customers.
Then, you can calculate your affiliates’ commissions based on the conversion.
Affiliate marketing comes with many scopes for a SaaS business.
As a SaaS provider, you can team up with affiliate marketers to get leads for your product.
Moreover, you can collaborate with many other SaaS organizations.
Opt for SaaS companies that come with complimentary services for your product.
As a result, mentioning every new customer would earn commissions to both of you.
Should you opt for affiliate marketing?
Have you just begun your SaaS marketing?
Then, it is not an ideal marketing strategy for you.
On the contrary, if you are a recognized SaaS company, you can opt for affiliate marketing.
Content Marketing
This marketing strategy is about sharing valuable information to get leads.
Content marketing also helps to boost the reliability and popularity of a product.
Opt for content marketing and you can reach more and more people with your offerings.
Valuable, informative, and helpful pieces of content can increase conversion.
Content marketing comes in the form of texts (such as blog posts).
Moreover, audio (such as podcasts) and visual (such as infographics) are other forms.
However, combining all those three elements can create an excellent marketing element.
You can choose content marketing for the long term to boost your website’s organic traffic.
Are you interested in short-term content marketing?
Then, you can create case studies to enhance your product’s credibility.
You can create gated resources, such as videos, white papers, and articles.
As a result, it gets possible to generate leads for your product atop the funnel.
Content marketing is a great marketing channel for SaaS due to its flexibility.
Brand Marketing SaaS Product
Branding is a powerful tool for almost every business.
So, whether you are a newcomer or an experienced player in the SaaS Product, branding will help you.
Branding is about many elements, such as the visual identity of your business. It includes the logo, illustrative style, and so on.
Besides, the brand voice of your business is also a part of branding.
It encompasses the messages of your brand to convince people to buy your product.
Note that branding can help you stand out in today’s stiff competitive environment.
That is how you can make a unique identity for your SaaS product.
More and more players are appearing in the SaaS market.
Hence, you must create and execute powerful brand marketing tactics for your business.
Is brand marketing an ideal option for you?
Brand marketing comes as a key marketing channel for most SaaS businesses.
Hence, you can also expect to get great benefits from branding.
Each and every aspect of your business, including your product, logo, website, etc is a segment of branding.
Irrespective of your experience in the SaaS industry, you should start branding.
Inbound Marketing
When it comes to inbound marketing, you should emphasize your customers’ requirements instead of your product.
This marketing channel helps to attract target prospects to a SaaS Product.
It can let your prospects know about your offerings with top-notch content.
It also contributes to prospect nurturing.
As a result, you can convince them to buy your product.
Inbound marketing helps to boost credibility for a brand.
Besides, it can also guide your prospects through your product.
Inbound marketing eliminates the concept of salesy methods to convince prospects.
You can incorporate inbound marketing in various marketing tactics.
It includes email, social media, content, conversational, PPC advertising, and so on.
You can also think about adopting inbound marketing in your business.
Video Marketing
Video marketing comes as a form of content marketing.
Nowadays, many people look for consuming knowledge via videos than texts.
Therefore, video marketing can bring a new identity for your SaaS business.
High-quality, informative videos can gain many clicks and views for your business.
It helps to increase customer interest and engagement for your product.
It is high time to incorporate video marketing into your marketing arsenal.
Should you go for video marketing?
Is content marketing your key marketing channel?
Then, you can combine it with video marketing.
Are you worried about investing in expensive equipment to start video marketing?
You just need a smartphone to start your journey.
Note that video marketing can add an edge to your SaaS business.
Some other efficient marketing channels for SaaS are as follows:
- Agile marketing
- Conversational marketing
- Direct mail marketing
- Email marketing
- Event marketing
- Growth marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Lifecycle marketing
- Marketing automation
- Outbound marketing
- Partnership marketing
Pay per click marketing or PPC marketing
Podcast marketing
Product marketing
Referral marketing
Testimonials and case studies
Search engine marketing
SMS marketing
Social media marketing
Viral marketing
How to Close Deals for Enterprise SaaS?
As a SaaS provider, you must have powerful strategies to close more and more deals.
However, it is a challenging part of the entire sales process.
Is it surprising?
Absolutely not!
Most people do not get convinced easily to purchase anything.
Therefore, it is your responsibility to give them a valid reason to purchase your product.
Do you know making a buying decision of a SaaS product is much harder?
Why?
It is due to the long-term contract instead of a one-time purchase.
Have you been facing troubles to close more sales?
Do you want to close more and more sales and grow your SaaS business?
Then, the following strategies will help you to close deals faster.
Note that you need to talk to the real decision-maker of the specific entity before applying the following strategies.
Otherwise, you could not know about the actual phase of the buying process of that case.
Thus, you can decide what to do to convince them to buy your product.
It includes making them knowing more about SaaS products, presenting a demo, etc.
A Thorough Interaction Is Essential SaaS Product
The first condition to close more deals is to know more about your prospects.
It includes their preferences, requirements, and expectations.
One-on-one calls can help you a lot.
It comes as the easiest strategy to reach your target customers.
Moreover, you can also reach prospects, who are not replying to your emails.
It can be perceived as among the most efficient closing strategies.
Nevertheless, you need to gear up before placing the call.
The reason for calling must be clear.
Otherwise, some prospects might not show interest.
Next, channeling their pain point with your product is a must.
You already know researching prospects is rather important.
So, try to align their recent activities with your offerings.
Explain the features (along with updates, if available), which are related to their pain-points.
Do not forget to add information on the product aspects you have mentioned earlier.
Communication is an art.
And the success of communication determines the future business-customer relationship.
Hence, avoid words, such as “discount,” “competitor,” or “contract” during the conversion.
Otherwise, it could hurt the close rate of your business.
Listen To Your Prospects With Patience
Do you want to increase the success rate of your sales calls?
Then, you should apply the “70/30 Rule.”
That means 70% of the entire talking should be from your prospects’ side.
And you should cover the rest 30% with a customized sales pitch.
Do not forget to ask the correct questions to your prospects.
Thus, you can make them realize their pain-points and benefits to resolve the same.
Asking correct questions means helping prospects to know about the intended results.
As a result, they could realize the benefits of your product.
You could start having queries about your product from their side.
Also, you could generate interest among your prospects about your offerings.
Do not ask excessive questions otherwise they might not entertain the conversion any longer.
Emotional labeling must be there to continue the conversation.
Your voice must be filled with empathy about the pain points of the prospects.
Thus, you can boost the credibility of your business and sound more genuine.
Personalization Is A Must
Using a single sales script for every prospect won’t do any good for your business.
You must add the information you have got from your research about prospects.
Do not forget to add the aspects you had discovered throughout the conversation.
All the above aspects will help you to personalize your sales pitch.
And it will further help you to close more and more deals.
Always emphasize specific pain points your prospects are currently going through.
Next, focus on the immediate remedy for the same in the form of your product.
Remember, most people are not interested in your product’s features.
Rather, they are more concerned about how your product can help them.
Personalization also helps to gauge the level of engagement of prospects.
For instance, whenever you would try to convert the trial customers into paying customers, you can figure out the metrics and activities.
Thus, you can find out if your prospects need any support regarding your product.
Winning Trust Is Essential
Regardless of your industry, you must aim at winning the trust of your prospects.
After all, trust is the biggest factor that leads people to buy a product from a specific brand.
So, before proceeding towards the sales cycle, win your prospects’ trust.
Make them realize that you are a genuine brand and your product can resolve their pain points.
If a prospect is not ready to buy your product, respect that decision.
Do not forget to add that you are there to resolve their queries about your product.
Do Not Forget To Follow Up
Following up is essential to draw the attention of prospects.
The nearer you would be in closing a deal, the more focus you should give on follow-ups.
Maybe your prospects are comparing various options at the same time.
Frequent follow-ups would make them realize that you care for your prospects.
Thus, you can increase the reliability and credibility of your brand.
Use sophisticated email templates and leave no stone unturned to customize them.
Note that the main goal of your business must be building a long-lasting business-customer relationship.
Do not try to close bad deals.
Some people might sound rude or some others tend to find out flaws every time.
Always seek for optimistic opportunities.
It will help to grow your brand reputation.
