Loading...
Answers
MenuDoes anyone have any advice on getting commitment from a potential client to purchase a SAAS product without running a free trial?
A 14 day free trial without requiring any form of payment as collateral is being offered. Adjusting the price on the product for leverage is not an option.
Answers
Demos and free trials seem to be the only ways SaaS vendors can think about selling.
Funny thing: the same issues that plagued the IT field ten years ago (!) continue today.
The answer is in education. I don't mean teaching the prospect for free; I mean as the seller educating yourself on the true state of the target market so you can begin the sales conversation on ground they already believe in...and using education as a tool to bring the prospect around to your point of view.
I've made a couple videos and written a couple blog posts on the topic. Here they are:
Why Demos Fail to Sell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKK5Anu9keM
Blog post: http://www.salestactics.org/why-demos-fail-to-sell/
SaaS Sales Problems:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDZQ_8Srt7g
Blog post: http://www.salestactics.org/how-saas-vendors-get-it-wrong/
If you want to develop an effective sales funnel for your SaaS, book a call and let's get started. Given the jump in expertise required, it's probably not something you're going to figure out correctly on your own in a short time, and I can save you that time--and those lost sales.
My answer is:
- Leveraging exceptional success stories based on your previous clients.
- Great engaging videos directly from the landing page.
- Building a newsletter strategy sharing weekly articles about how your clients are growing their businesses week by week
- Delayed first payment on the first month to give them time to install and learn how to use the platform
- Substitute the trial time with an engaging webinar that includes a Q&A
To talk about how to apply these strategies and with which apps let's book a call.
I advised many marketing SAAS companies to improve their business models in the past years.
Related Questions
-
What do (bootstrapped) startups offer to new sales hires? Commission only? What are some good examples to keep people motivated and still survive?
Generally bootstrapped startups should avoid salespeople, for a few reasons: a. they typically can't afford the base and overall comp required to attract sales people who can actually sell / or afford to support them with marketing, management, etc b. it will be very difficult to find the rare person with the right mix of sales and startup DNA along with the critical domain knowledge, consequently the startup is likely to settle c. the founders need to be very involved in the selling and customers will demand it That said, if the plan is still to hire a salesperson, find someone who has demonstrated sales success in startups and is excited by the early stage in company building. Create a comp plan heavily leveraged on sales results (unless you are in an industry where 100% commission is a common practice, would recommend against $0 base as this creates the false impression that your hire isn't passing time with one company while looking for another job with a richer comp plan - you want your rep focussed). Sell the vision and opportunity to be part of a growth story. I have written a several blog posts on hiring sales people into start-ups. You might find these useful: http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/ceo-question-should-i-learn-to-sell-or-hire-a-sales-person/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/start-up-sales-and-hiring-advice-dont-stop-selling-once-you-hire-your-first-sales-rep/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/hiring-start-up-sales-reps/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/startups-and-salespeople/ Good luck!EB
-
Startup Looking To Hire First Sales Employee - And completely lost. Any advice on compensation structure (benefits?), items that need to be in place?
Instead of repeating the wisdom of others, I'll link to it below. Here is a great blog post on hiring your first salesperson: http://tomtunguz.com/when-to-hire-a-salesperson Also, Mark Suster has written a ton of great post on his blog about startup sales. http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/on-selling/CH
-
What is the best way to sell to dentists?
Get specific with the "who" of your market (i.e. what kind of dentist? what is their specialty? whom do they serve? demographics and psychographics of both the dentist AND their patients?) And specific with your offer to them. What are you selling? What are they buying? And why do they want it (according to THEM... not you)? Get those factors right and they'll buy from you all day long.DB
-
What should my consulting rates be as a freelance developer who can also do SEO, social media optimization and other marketing services?
Pricing for different tasks that require the same amount of time from you tells the Customer (and your subconscious) that you're working at a 5 on task x, but working at a 9 on task y simply because it costs/earns more. That seems to be a disconnect. Your time is your most precious asset, and I would charge for it whatever you're doing. If you build a site, and they are happy with your dev fee, but feel like you should charge less for SEO, simply let them find another SEO guy. That's their choice, but YOU are worth $xx.xx, no matter what you're doing. Also, in general, take whatever you're charging and add 10% to it. If you're still busy, add another 10%. Let the demand level determine how much work you do, and at what cost.SL
-
Whats the best way to find commission sales reps?
This is not my specialty, however, I have been in your position many many times -- maybe this will help. If the product is in-tangible, then look for JV partners on the Internet. Try to find an expert that deals with these JV opportunities (like me). If the product is physical, then look for sales organizations that have networks of sales people across the country. You do the deal with the organization and the independent network of sales people sells your product. It's a sweet setup if you can negotiate a margin that works for everyone. Hope that helps - Cheers - NickNP
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.