Let’s first define what a SaaS is:
- SaaS is: Software as Service, hence the acronym.
- A SaaS sells technology in the cloud that you download whenever and anywhere.
- It is generally purchased by annual subscriptions.
- There is SaaS for B2C, surely you know Netflix, Spotify or Gmail.
- The least known are the B2B SaaS, they are niche and the goal is to digitize and streamline processes to make life easier for professionals. Examples of SaaS B2B: Salesforce, Userzoom or Geoblink.
The sale of B2C and B2B is always different and the same happens in the tech industry.
What is special about sales in SaaS B2B?
When selling a B2B SaaS, we sell a solution for a problem that prevents the client from being more efficient. Sometimes, the potential client is unaware that this solution exists or may have not detected the problem yet.
- The first peculiarity of a B2B SaaS is that it offers such innovative solutions that the market is unaware of them.
- The second is that the prospecting phase is essential because the software addresses specific problems. If you do a good job of research and identify your client, the sale will probably close and there will be few or no similar solutions in the market.
- The third difference is that the market for B2B SaaS is still large, it offers very large growth possibilities. According to studies by Statista, the B2B SaaS industry is expected to generate 176 billion USD by 2022 and 208 billion USD by 2023. No other industry is growing at this rate, which translates into a significant growth in the demand for roles for this sector; and not only for developers but also for marketing, sales, support, and customer success profiles, among others.
Every year, thousands of startups are born that aim to become the next Salesforce. To achieve this, they need the best salespeople, these SaaS B2B sales profiles are the SDR’s and the Closers (or Account Executives).
Who is the Closer and what do they do?
In most startups, the sales process has been segmented into different stages to better measure the sales processes and scale them effectively – because let’s not forget that their goal is to grow. While in mature companies the salesperson carries out the entire sales cycle, from the first contact to the closing of the sale and the subsequent management of that client, in SaaS B2B companies it has been segmented so that the funnel is always full of opportunities in the different stages.
Our Closer gets the 1st meeting thanks to an SDR (Sales Development Representative) who has awakened the lead’s interest via cold Calling or inbound (with the help of Inbound Marketing strategies) and has managed to close a meeting for our Closer or Account Executive. With this meeting, the closer has received accurate information about the lead through qualification questions that the SDR has asked and that will help him to prepare thoroughly for this 1st meeting.
The Closer must be thoroughly informed about the company and know their pains in order to understand and be able to ask about how they are solving them. Their objective is to see how our SaaS can help this potential client to sell more, so the client should talk more than the Account Executive. At this stage, the Account Executive should ask the right questions instead of singing the bonanzas of our SaaS. Clients do not want to hire the most famous service, they want to hire a service that solves a problem and helps them be more efficient.
The SaaS representative must have the following skills:
- Curiosity to ask questions and listen.
- Resilience. Sales reps in SaaS often have to show their potential clients that they have a problem that they were unaware of and that sometimes slows down the sale. Why? Because some clients were unaware of that problem. You must not give up! Although you shouldn’t be aggressive either. Your software is going to help them, you have to make them see it without pushing the sale.
- Effective communication, it is not about being the most friendly and talkative, it is about understanding and generating trust in your interlocutor through your mastery and knowledge of the different pains that you solve.
- Intelligence to quickly adapt to what the client needs, to understand their linguistic style and offer alternatives.
- Humility that pushes you to constant learning.
All of this is more important than previous experience in any other B2B SaaS; at the end of the day there are many SaaS with different targets and buyer personas. The important thing is to have the motivation to learn, be methodical and want the best for your company and for your clients. No sales rep from another SaaS can bring us a portfolio, they have to create it.
If you like sales and communication with clients, at Outbound People we’ll help you join the fastest growing industry today.
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