Over the past year and a half, there’s been plenty of talk about the effects COVID has had on B2B sales, with no shortage of predictions that sales will never be the same again. There is some truth to the hype, but much of it is nothing more than, well, hype. Post-pandemic, businesses will need recommendations for selling SaaS as much as ever. Engaging prospects won’t look quite the same, however. To get them interested and ultimately seal the deal, SaaS companies will need to recalibrate their approach to tech, understand how to appeal to a market where businesses are less willing to spend big on experimental projects, and ensure that there’s a clear fit between their products and the market’s needs.
Here’s how SaaS businesses can navigate the evolving B2B sales landscape.
Adjusting How We Use Tech
While businesses across industries were investing in big technology projects long before COVID-19 and will continue to prioritize innovation in the wake of a pandemic that has accelerated digital transformation, how they use tech and which projects they prioritize has changed. SaaS providers should pivot accordingly.
My company, for example — a SaaS data provider that helps salespeople reach their prospects faster and more accurately — has grown exponentially in the face of social distancing and the lack of events and tradeshows. And while our product itself did not need to be adjusted amid the pandemic, we’ve had to rethink the best practices surrounding it. If before a sales rep would hear about a prospect at a tradeshow, today the sales rep would have to find that prospect on the web and on his own. That’s where technology comes into play and data solutions act as effective alternatives to industry events. It’s important to understand these recommendations for selling SaaS.
Facing a Pandemic Economy
Amid a turbulent economy, many businesses have seen their budgets shrink during the pandemic — and even some companies flush with cash are hesitant about making big investments in new or unproven projects and products while the global outlook remains uncertain.
How can SaaS providers overcome this skepticism? First, it is important to realize that they’re less likely to get companies that don’t truly need their business to buy in. Given that, sales teams should eliminate time spent reaching out to irrelevant prospects and more time finding the ones that really need what they’re selling. Understanding the recommendations for selling SaaS is crucial.
In the new selling environment, SaaS companies are turning more and more towards self-serve and PLG strategies both to minimize the manpower needed to close deals and to overcome the irrelevancy factor.
Ensuring a Rock-Solid Product and Market Fit
If having a solid value proposition was a good idea before COVID, the pandemic has made having an airtight deliverable value a must. Securing a value proposition that differentiates your product from other key players is especially important when decision makers are hesitant and money may not be flowing.
A rock-solid product-market fit is essential to closing the deal in the post-pandemic sales environment. C-level executives are accountable for every last dollar they spend, and if they don’t see clear value in a particular product or service, they won’t purchase it out of charity. Sales teams need to come out swinging with a perfect pitch that will answer all their prospects’ hesitations upfront. But the pitch is just one side of it. The product has to deliver, too. It has to be everything the pitch made it out to be and then some.
Staying relevant and knowing recommendations for selling SaaS in a pandemic and even post-pandemic economy comes down to relevancy and accuracy. Razor-focused prospecting combined with a new set of best practices fit for the time, and a product that truly gives value hold the key to success in the new normal.
