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SaaS sales, or software-as-a-service, is a trending niche in our marketing area. This concept is very different from what marketers used to do in the past. SaaS involves selling some sort of service over the cloud to your customers and they won’t have any physical copy of anything. This is why it is trickier to do marketing for these types of services.
You as a business owner can learn a lot from some of the fastest SaaS-growing companies. Additionally, in this article, we try to explain everything in detail and give you a go-to resource for future reference. Therefore, if you have any questions about SaaS sales meaning and how they work, stay with us till the end.
What Is SaaS Sales?
Software as a Service (SaaS) is the type of software that businesses and organizations access and use exclusively online, without any physical copies. SaaS sales involve selling this web-based software to businesses and providing all the maintenance and services afterward.
When a corporation buys web-based software, its SaaS applications are engineered, maintained, and supported by a third-party company. Therefore, the cost of these kinds of services is usually higher than the traditional kind of products where the customer is in charge of maintenance and engineering itself.
This method is also used in B2B SssS marketing and is much more beneficial than traditional methods for your business.
What Are the Types of SaaS Sales Models?
According to PRNewswire, the amount of market value of SaaS sales is higher than 307 Billion dollars. Therefore, a strong foundation is essential for any successful sales team since it is what their overall approach is based on. In addition to the standard B2B sales models—relationship-based, outbound, and inbound—you can use more specialized models for SaaS marketing.
There are four main models people in SaaS sales jobs should be aware of while doing this kind of marketing:
1. Transactional Sales
In this model, marketing teams try to market and sell the SaaS product of their organization under a transactional sales model. It includes building relationships with potential customers, informing them of the benefits of the product, and converting them into loyal customers. These are some of the ways that marketing SaaS products with a transactional model works.
2. Enterprise Sales
Continuous sales operations are necessary for the enterprise sales approach. These operations can be recognizing, developing, and nurturing both new and current business relationships. Furthermore, sealing deals with new customers and providing ongoing support for them during their SaaS service subscriptions are crucial tasks for SaaS sales operations in an enterprise approach.
The businesses that sell SaaS solutions using the enterprise model are usually large enterprises, with several teams assisting in the marketing and sales efforts to engage and convert customer accounts.
3. Trial Periods
Models with trial periods are quite successful in bringing in new customers and maintaining current clients. Many businesses that use a trial-period business model provide free trials of SaaS solutions, which allows clients to make well-informed decisions.
To engage potential long-term clients and give them the opportunity to try out these solutions, a company that sells SaaS programs can, for example, offer a 14-day free trial period. The customer then has the choice to purchase the program after the trial time.
4. Annual Plans
Businesses usually give monthly subscription clients the option to upgrade to an annual service plan in order to save money. This is known as the SaaS annual plan model and is a well-known technique in SaaS sales. In this scenario, customers pay a single, discounted price to access the SaaS product for a whole year.
This way, the company has guaranteed a sale worth of a year. In the meantime, the customer is getting a big discount and is sure about his software for at least another year.
What Are the 5 Stages of the SaaS Sales Funnel?
The SaaS sales process for turning your SaaS lead into a loyal customer doesn’t happen in a single day. It requires some important steps and readifications that are called SaaS Sales Funnel. These steps must be performed by people who fill SaaS sales jobs in your company.
Here we will go through each one of them and give you a thorough explanation:
1. Awareness
When someone discovers your product for the first time, the journey starts. SaaS companies frequently use inbound marketing strategies, like social media and gated content, to try and catch consumers’ attention.
By reaching out to possible leads, SaaS sales representatives will help increase brand recognition. First-time buyer outreach strategies may include cold calling, email outreach, and free trial offers. And this is where deep customer knowledge can help you to keep them engaged with your brand.
2. Interest
At this point of SaaS sales, a customer starts to show genuine interest in your product. This is the instant a potential customer expresses interest through interaction with your marketing collateral or website. That can be going to a certain landing page or downloading a PDF from your website.
The best thing you can do in this stage is to educate your lead about your brand and give them the information and options that they need the most.
3. Evaluation
At this stage, potential customers are considering purchasing SaaS software, but they aren’t sure which brand to go with.
Make sure your sales team conveys the advantages of your SaaS product and what makes you stand out from the competition. This is the ideal chance to set up a demo and allow the potential customer to ask more in-depth questions.
4. Engagement
It can take some time for your lead to consider their options. It’s best to keep in touch with them as they are going through their consideration and choosing a plan.
Maintain contact with your clients by following up with calls and emails at appropriate levels. Inform them that you are available to answer any problems or questions they may have by phone or email.
It’s a fantastic method of SaaS sales to keep prospects interested and ensure that they think about your goods first.
5. Purchase
The buyer’s journey concludes when your lead makes a purchase, but their relationship as a customer is only getting started.
If you own a SaaS company, you are aware of how crucial it is to keep your customers satisfied so they too continue their subscriptions. By establishing trusting bonds with them and keeping your word, you can keep your consumers loyal.
FAQs
SaaS sales is a topic that can bring lots of questions. Here are some of the questions that are most asked through the Internet:
1. What Is The SaaS Method of Sales?
The SaaS Method emphasizes the importance of discovering, communicating, and delivering throughout the entire customer journey, along with the customary funnel processes of awareness, education, and selection.
2. What Is a SaaS Sales Strategy?
A SaaS sales strategy is a method (or group of methods) used to increase sales and revenue for Software-as-a-Service products. However, the success of these strategies depends on the ability of business leaders to deploy and manage them successfully.
3. What Is The Average For SaaS Sales Salary?
As of Apr 21, 2024, the average salary for SaaS Sales is $81,617 per year in the United States. This number can change based on each business and the conditions of the work such as remote or on-board.
Conclusion
SaaS sales are one of the many marketing methods that are utilized for products that don’t have any physical copy. You as a business owner that sells such products must know about the details of this method and use them to your advantage.
In this article, we went through all of the details and steps you need to take to make a potential customer into a lifelong and loyal customer. Use these methods and see the rise of your revenue for yourself.
