Selling Software as a Service (SaaS) – A Start-up or Early Stage Company Perspective

I’m very excited to see the proliferation of business and personal productivity software applications that are being made available online using subscription services! Large and small businesses and individuals can take advantage of a wide range of applications without huge investments in technology and time. We are rapidly approaching the time when our tablet computers and smart phones will be the appliances used to access all of our applications and data online – using a variety of SaaS services.

Even complex IT applications are moving to a SaaS model. Intricate platforms designed to monitor applications, performance trending, fault-detection across cloud providers, single sign-on across cloud platforms, and web-based libraries for application sharing and development have proven SaaS providers.

But what if you’re one of these SaaS providers and you’re a start-ups or early stage company? And what if you’re trying to build awareness of your platform and attract large numbers of subscribers? I’m certain you’ve asked, “Are there sales and marketing strategies we can use that will give us rapid and consistent adoption?  Do you ask, “Where our marketing and sales effort should be focused?”

If you’ve read previous Sales Reminder posts, you are probably aware that I see a real blurring of the lines between marketing, sales, and business development when it comes to technology driven start-ups and early stage companies. In the early stages, one or two people probably have direct responsibility for sales, marketing, and business development and this is a good thing if their plans and strategies are well-integrated and coordinated.

So Where To Begin?

Some SaaS application can be sold completely online while others will probably require face-to-face interactions with prospective clients – especially in some B2B scenarios. Your management team needs to determine the selling methods that are best for assuring the adoption of your platform. Salesforce.com for instance started its selling primarily using an online strategy. Today they employ a team of experienced senior sales professionals that focus on major accounts and complex custom deployments.

Let’s assume your product can be sold primarily online and is B2B oriented. I’d focus my marketing and selling efforts online until you’re certain you need to develop outside sales, consulting, and integration teams. When you think you need a sales professional to help drive your efforts beyond online selling, please check this link for clues as to who to look for in your first VP of Sales candidate: http://leonardscales.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/hiring-a-vice-president-of-sales-for-your-early-stage-company/.

Suggestions For Getting Off To A Solid Start

1. Create An Exquisite Website – The majority of your prospective customers search for ways to solve their pressing business issues online.  I’m guessing that many of the leads for your SaaS platform will be generated from online inquiries or from other online channels leading to your website. To help increase awareness of your enterprise it’s important to:

- Create a website that’s clean looking and appealing to your target audience. If your target happens to be retailers, assure your imagery and calls to action are relevant for retailers. If you have a broader business demographic, be attentive to imagery and content and calls to action that align with your target audience.

- Clearly state what your solution delivers – graphically where possible

- Clearly state your pricing – show the value of a multi-year contract and ease of adding additional users and ease of upgrading to the enterprise level usage

- Clearly state what’s needed to get started with you – what’s the process and time required to begin – This is your call to action that sets you apart from all other solutions– If your SaaS platform requires a complex implementation plan for this! You’ll make your life much easier if you plan in advance of making a sale. Check this post for tips on planning a smoother implementation: http://leonardscales.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/implementing-the-solution-sales-reminder-10/.

- Never hide your contact information – include a 1-800 number, email contact, live chat, if your budget allows. Include your social media contact information – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter…

- Discuss training issues if instruction is required

- State your support methods – perhaps tiered – how simply support is accessed and hours of availability

- Discuss trials and how they are best conducted

2. Generate Buzz and Demand: If possible, collect information on all visitors to your site and offer ways for visitors to register for conversations with your tech presenter, for demos, presentations, and trials… Online advertising is an inexpensive way to have ads placed where your target demographic visits. SEO/SEM is not expensive and will payback over time.

3. Never Settle for “Me-too” Status: Strive to become the leader in your space even if there are bigger players or multiple players. Be the thought leader and driver in your space even if you are a party of two! Write opinion pieces (or have them written), create frequent blogs posts, ask visitors to opt-in for informative emails, newsletters and other communications, produce webinars featuring industry experts, and have weekly demo days displayed on your website where people will know in advance when they can learn about specific aspects of your platform. Realize you are an early stage company and your case studies, and success stories are not there yet. You are in the process of building your success library of webinars, blogs, and clients testimonials. Begin saving this information from day one and always let your clients know, they will at some point be asked for a testimonial. Get their agreement on this as part of your sales process.

Most startups and early stage companies have Board members who have broad networks of contacts and can provide warm introductions. Use them! Use your Board and those they know to “sell” the idea of your enterprise. Ask them to have their connections set aside some time for you to present and demo your solution. Even if it is not a perfect fit, the experience gained will be invaluable to all levels of your company.

4. Do Your Homework: I recently attended a business networking/business building seminar and the facilitator asked some very seasoned CEO’s and business owners, who were their best sales targets. I was astounded by the answers I heard! I’ll not say more! It’s imperative to know who you are selling to! Know your target audience. Do they belong to an association? Are their online destinations they congregate? Do they produce newsletters? Do they go to trade shows? Who do they compete against? In general, why is my product or service valuable to this target? What is the best mix of media I can use to reach and engage my targets? Do they use social media?

5. Create Traction: I’ve already mentioned online advertising, seminars, and demos as ways to generate demand and buzz. For some enterprises, the use of social tools can be an excellent way to attract new potential clients. Video campaigns and user-generated contests are inexpensive ways to create viral programs that engage and attract. If you sell using partner networks, joint selling and advertising can really support the growth of your enterprise.

6. Learn As You Go: There are several SaaS stories you can draw from. Research SaaS successes to learn about hurdles others faced and how those hurdles were jumped! As you have interaction with prospective clients learn more about their objections to your platform and their buying behaviors. Invest early in a sales CRM application and place all you learn there. Put all of your prospects there and all of your notes. Update this tool daily! This habit will payoff quickly.

7. Rapid follow-up: When people inquire about your product reply by email or phone and do so “quickly”. I once consulted for a very large software company that had nearly 280 web inquiries that sat unanswered for several weeks! The company was nowhere near their revenue goals. A low-end sale for them was in the $100k range but a large sale was in the millions. If only 20 of these were real opportunities on the low-end, we’re talking about several million dollars of lost revenue due to a lack of follow-up. There’s absolutely no excuse for this type of performance. This company’s marketing department was producing good results but the leads were rarely touched in a timely manner by sales.

8. Qualify: Teach the person that follows-up to do some basic lead qualification. Take a look at http://leonardscales.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/qualifying-checklist-sales-reminder2/ for a few clues. Learn if a demo is necessary to their evaluation and if so, how will your SaaS solution be evaluated, their timeframe for making a decision,… Ask if a guided free trial would useful? A guided trial because often during a free trial nothing much happens unless your prospect is guided to take specific actions and complete the trial.

9. Have Fun: Really! Have fun! Building a new business can be mentally and physically demanding. No doubt about it. But never forget about the energies that got you started in the first place. Keep that spirit! Be disciplined about your actions but keep the fun.

Sales Reminder – SaaS sales as a startup or early stage enterprise. Keep the creativity flowing!