SaaS Sales Funnel - 5 Strategies To Selling SaaS (Software as a Service)

Summary

In this informative video, Patrick Dang outlines a five-step strategy for effectively selling Software as a Service (SaaS). He emphasizes the importance of lead generation, prospect qualification, targeted presentations, strategic closing, and diligent follow-up. The script is a comprehensive guide for both startups looking to pre-sell their SaaS idea and established companies aiming to enhance their sales process.

Takeaways

• 📈 The SaaS sales process is best visualized as a funnel, starting with lead generation and narrowing down to qualified leads ready to purchase.
• 🔍 Lead generation is a critical yet often overlooked step in sales; without it, the sales process cannot begin.
• 📝 Different industries may require different lead generation techniques, such as cold calling, cold emailing, or leveraging social media platforms like LinkedIn.
• 🤔 Qualification of prospects is essential to ensure they are a good fit for the product and to understand their needs, budget, and decision-making process.
• 🗣️ Building rapport and asking for permission to begin a sales meeting can set a respectful tone and establish trust with the prospect.
• 🔑 During qualification, focus on identifying the prospect's pain points, budget, urgency, and decision-makers involved to assess their readiness to purchase.
• 💡 The presentation or demonstration phase should directly address the qualified prospect's pain points and showcase how the SaaS product provides a solution.
• 🎯 Tailor the presentation to highlight only the features and solutions that are relevant to the prospect's expressed needs, avoiding unnecessary information.
• 🤝 After demonstrating the product, seek to understand the next steps from the prospect's side and assist in facilitating any required internal discussions or approvals.
• 📆 Setting clear expectations and timelines for follow-up is crucial for maintaining momentum in the sales process and ensuring both parties are on the same page.
• 🔄 Persistence in following up, even when faced with delays or objections, is key to keeping the sales opportunity alive and being the first choice when the prospect is ready to buy.

Q & A

What are the five simple steps to sell SaaS mentioned in the video?

The five steps are: 1) Lead generation, 2) Qualifying prospects, 3) Presentations and demonstrations, 4) Going for the close or next steps, and 5) Following up.

Why is lead generation considered the most overlooked aspect of sales according to the video?

Lead generation is overlooked because without leads entering the sales funnel, there is no opportunity to walk potential customers through the sales process, discuss product features, or close deals.

What are some methods of lead generation mentioned in the script?

Some methods include cold calling, cold emailing, and using LinkedIn and social selling, depending on the industry and target audience.

How does the script suggest finding an effective form of lead generation?

The script suggests observing competitors or larger companies in the same industry to see what lead generation methods they use successfully and then following a similar approach.

What is the purpose of the qualification step in the SaaS selling process?

The qualification step is to understand the customer's needs, determine if they have a problem that can be solved with the SaaS product, assess their budget and buying timeline, and identify the decision-makers involved.

What should be the focus of a SaaS demonstration or presentation after qualifying a prospect?

The focus should be on addressing the specific pain points the prospect has identified during the qualification phase and showcasing how the SaaS product solves those problems.

Why is it important to understand the next steps in the selling process for the prospect?

Understanding the next steps helps in managing expectations, setting a timeline for the sales process, and identifying any potential obstacles or approvals needed before closing the deal.

What is the recommended approach for handling objections or additional requirements from the prospect?

The recommended approach is to ask open-ended questions to understand their needs, address objections directly, and propose a meeting with all relevant stakeholders to streamline the decision-making process.

Why might a prospect not be ready to buy immediately after a presentation?

A prospect might not be ready to buy immediately due to various reasons such as needing approval from multiple stakeholders, complexity of the product, budget constraints, or the need for further evaluation.

How should a salesperson handle situations where the prospect's company pulls the budget?

The salesperson should express understanding, inquire about future possibilities, and schedule a follow-up at a later date when the budget might be available again, ensuring to set expectations for this follow-up.

What is the significance of setting expectations for follow-ups in the sales process?

Setting expectations for follow-ups ensures that the prospect is prepared for and open to further communication, making it more likely that they will respond positively and keeping the sales process active.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to SaaS Sales Strategy

Patrick Dang introduces a five-step strategy for selling Software as a Service (SaaS), applicable for both pre-selling an idea and promoting an established product. He emphasizes the importance of watching the entire video and engaging with the content through likes, subscriptions, and notifications. The sales funnel is likened to a triangle, starting wide with lead generation at the top and narrowing down to qualified buyers at the bottom. The first step involves casting a wide net for leads, which is crucial for any sales process. Different industries may require different lead generation techniques, such as cold calling, cold emailing, or leveraging social media platforms like LinkedIn. The goal is to identify at least one effective method for lead generation and then expand from there.

05:00

🔍 Prospect Qualification in SaaS Sales

After generating leads, the next step is to qualify prospects to ensure they are a good fit for the SaaS product. This involves understanding their needs, identifying if they have a problem that the product can solve, and assessing whether they have the budget and the urgency to make a purchase. Patrick suggests using phone calls to build rapport and ask key questions that reveal if the prospect is a potential buyer. The qualification process, sometimes referred to as the discovery phase, is about gathering information to determine the prospect's suitability for the product. It's important not to rush into selling but to first ensure that there is a match between the prospect's needs and the product's capabilities.

10:02

🎯 Effective Presentation and Demonstration Techniques

Once a prospect is qualified, the focus shifts to presenting the SaaS product effectively. Patrick discusses the importance of addressing the specific pain points identified during the qualification phase and avoiding generic feature lists that may not resonate with the prospect. He recommends using a combination of PowerPoint or Keynote for a structured presentation and live demonstrations of the software to show its practical application. The presentation should be tailored to the prospect's expressed needs, highlighting how the product can solve their problems. Patrick also touches on the importance of understanding the next steps in the prospect's decision-making process and being prepared to address any objections or additional requirements they might have.

🤝 Navigating the Sales Closing Process

Patrick explains that in SaaS sales, closing a deal often requires multiple steps and doesn't always happen immediately after a presentation. He advises销售人员 to understand the prospect's next steps, which may involve discussions with various stakeholders within their organization. Instead of directly asking for a sale, Patrick suggests inquiring about any remaining requirements or objections the prospect might have before moving forward. This approach allows销售人员 to address concerns proactively and to schedule follow-up meetings that include all decision-makers, streamlining the process towards a potential sale. The goal is to create a clear timeline and ensure both parties are working together towards closing the deal.

🔄 The Importance of Following Up in Sales

The final step in Patrick's SaaS sales strategy is the importance of following up. He acknowledges that not all sales processes go smoothly, and there may be delays or changes in the prospect's situation. Patrick emphasizes the need to set expectations for follow-ups during the initial conversations, which makes subsequent contacts more acceptable and effective. Whether it's due to budget constraints or other reasons, having a plan for follow-up ensures that the sales process can be reinitiated when conditions are favorable. Patrick stresses the value of maintaining a relationship with prospects and being the first point of contact when they are ready to move forward with a purchase.

Keywords

💡SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS refers to a software distribution model where applications are hosted by a service provider and made available to customers over the internet. In the video, SaaS is the central product being sold, and the video discusses how to effectively sell SaaS, whether it is a new idea or an established product.

💡Sales Funnel

The sales funnel is a visual representation of the steps a customer takes from becoming aware of a product to making a purchase. The video uses the sales funnel as a framework to explain the SaaS sales process, emphasizing the importance of guiding prospects through each step to convert them into paying customers.

💡Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of identifying and attracting potential customers for a product or service. In the video, lead generation is highlighted as the first and most crucial step in the sales funnel, as it involves getting prospects into the funnel so they can be nurtured towards a sale.

💡Prospect Qualification

Prospect qualification involves evaluating potential customers to determine if they are a good fit for the product or service being sold. The video explains that qualification is critical because it ensures that sales efforts are focused on prospects who have the need, budget, and authority to purchase the SaaS product.

💡Pain Points

Pain points are specific problems or challenges that a prospect is facing, which a product or service can address. The video emphasizes the importance of identifying and addressing these pain points during the sales process to demonstrate how the SaaS product can solve the prospect's issues.

💡Presentation/Demonstration

A presentation or demonstration is the stage in the sales process where the salesperson showcases the product’s features and benefits to the prospect. The video discusses how this step should focus on the prospect's specific pain points identified during the qualification phase, making the demonstration more relevant and impactful.

💡Closing

Closing refers to the process of finalizing a sale. In the video, closing is described as guiding the prospect to the next steps after a presentation, which may involve securing a commitment or scheduling follow-up meetings, rather than pushing for an immediate sale, especially in complex deals.

💡Follow-Up

Follow-up involves maintaining communication with a prospect after the initial sales interaction, especially if they are not ready to purchase immediately. The video highlights the importance of follow-up in ensuring that the salesperson remains top-of-mind for the prospect when they are ready to buy.

💡Cold Emailing

Cold emailing is a strategy where unsolicited emails are sent to potential customers to generate interest in a product or service. The video mentions cold emailing as one of the lead generation tactics that can be effective depending on the industry and target audience.

💡Social Selling

Social selling is the practice of using social media platforms to find and engage with potential customers. The video suggests social selling as an alternative to cold emailing or cold calling, particularly in industries where building relationships online can lead to sales opportunities.

Highlights

Patrick Dang introduces five simple steps to sell SaaS, applicable for both pre-selling an idea and established products.

The importance of watching the entire video to grasp strategies for different SaaS sales scenarios.

SaaS sales funnel is visualized as a triangle, starting wide with lead generation and narrowing down to qualified buyers.

Lead generation is identified as a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of sales.

Different lead generation methods are suggested, such as cold calling, cold emailing, and LinkedIn for various industries.

The necessity of finding at least one effective outreach method to start the lead generation process.

Qualification of prospects through phone calls to understand if they are a good fit for the SaaS product.

The significance of asking the right questions during qualification to determine the prospect's needs, budget, and decision-makers.

The demonstration and pitch process, emphasizing addressing the specific pain points uncovered during qualification.

Recommendation to use a combination of PowerPoint and live software demonstration for clarity and effectiveness.

The importance of not overwhelming prospects with all features but focusing on solving their specific problems.

Understanding the next steps in the sales process and handling objections to move the prospect towards a decision.

Creating a timeline and setting expectations with the prospect to facilitate a smoother sales process.

The strategy of scheduling a meeting with all involved parties to expedite the decision-making process.

Following up effectively by setting expectations for future contact and maintaining a relationship with the prospect.

The final step of the sales process involves persistent follow-up and readiness to resume the sales conversation when the prospect is ready to buy.

Patrick Dang offers a free training for accelerating sales careers and provides a link in the video description.

Transcripts

- In this video, I'm gonna walk you through

five simple steps to sell SaaS, software as a service.

And you wanna make sure you watch this video

all the way through

because these strategies are gonna be applicable

if you are selling a SaaS idea that's not quite built yet

and you want to pre-sell it,

and it's also gonna work

even if you are working at a company

selling an established SaaS product.

What's going on everybody, it's Patrick Dang here.

Before we get started,

make sure to give this video a like, subscribe

and turn on notifications

if you wanna see more sales training videos like this,

and let's go ahead and dive right in.

Now to understand from a high level perspective,

the SaaS sales funnel,

essentially what we wanna be thinking about

is thinking our sales process as a funnel,

almost like a triangle, right?

So at the top of the funnel is your first step

where you're gonna obviously have more people

and you try to get as many people

in your funnel as possible.

And as you walk them through every step, right?

There's gonna be five steps for this video,

well, you know, you're gonna filter out more and more people

until you get to the end of the funnel

where people are actually qualified to buy,

and they end up purchasing your products and services.

And so this video is all about

how to walk your prospects, your potential customers

through every step of the funnel

so that you can turn a total stranger

into a paying customer.

Now at the top of the funnel, right?

The top of this triangle,

is gonna be lead generation.

So lead generation, in my opinion,

is probably the most overlooked aspect of sales,

because, you know if you think about a funnel,

if you don't have the beginning of the funnel,

meaning people are not coming in as leads,

you can't even walk them through any of the steps,

you actually do this on process,

talk on the phone, do a presentation,

close a deal and negotiate,

you cannot do any of that without lead generation.

So whether you are already a proven enterprise

selling established software

or if you're a startup

and you just really starting out

and you haven't built anything yet,

you have to generate leads.

Now for your industry, for whatever you are selling,

it's gonna vary a little different, right?

For example, real estate in that industry

it might be easier to cold call,

you know, real estate brokerages and real estate agents

to try to sell them that way.

For other industries,

it might be better to do a cold email, right?

In other industries,

like let's say if you're selling consulting services,

if you're installing any software

or integrating anything,

using LinkedIn and social selling might be more effective.

So whatever it is you are selling,

just note that each channel is gonna vary

depending on what you're selling

and who you're selling it to.

But what's most important is,

you find at least one effective

form of outreach and communication

to start generating those leads.

Once you get one down, you can expand.

But if you don't have one way to generate leads

whether it's cold email or LinkedIn or whatever,

well, you got nothing.

So definitely find one that works for you first.

And my recommendation is to look at,

you know, other people in your industry,

maybe your competitors

or people who are much larger than you,

and see how they're doing it.

The chances are, if it's working for them in their industry,

it probably can work for you too

if just kind of follow a similar route.

Now the next step of the SaaS selling process

is you want to qualify your prospects, right?

Because not everyone is gonna be a fit to buy.

For example, if you're sending a hundred emails,

how do you know for sure

that these people are actually gonna buy from you?

You don't.

And that's why you have to get on the phone, right?

You basically send them an email saying,

Do you wanna have a meeting?

You get on the phone and you qualify them

before you start selling anything, right?

So qualification is extremely important

because you are basically asking a bunch of questions

understanding the customer,

and seeing if they are a good fit to buy.

I'm not saying you have to force anything,

I'm just saying,

is there a fit, do they have a problem

that you can solve with your SaaS product?

So from a tactical level, how it's gonna work is,

you get on the phone with a prospect

and you have, you know, a little building rapport,

a chat a little bit like,

"Oh how's the weather over there?

Oh, where are you from?"

Then you say something like,

"Hey, I wanna be respectful on your time,

so how about we go ahead and get started.

Is that okay with you?"

And they're going to say,

"Sure, let's go ahead and get started," right?

And that's how you start a sales meeting.

You just ask permission.

"Hey, do you mind if we go ahead and get started?"

Obviously they're on the phone with you,

they're gonna say yes.

And as you qualify the prospect,

the main things you're looking for from a high level,,

is you wanna look for a couple of things.

Do they have a pain, that you can solve?

Is that pain bad enough

that they're gonna pay money to you to solve it?

Okay, if that's true, then you wanna talk about,

okay do they even have the budget to buy

whatever it is you're offering?

When do they want to buy?

And who is going to buy?

Meaning who are the other decision makers

involved in this process?

And you want to get all these questions answered

during the qualification process.

And some people also call it the discovery phase.

You can kind of mix the two together

where you're just learning about the prospect

getting as much information as possible.

And by the end of the meeting,

your only goal is to understand,

"Hey, is this person

someone that should buy my product and service?"

You're not even quite selling them quite yet,

you're actually just gathering information

to see if they are worthy, right,

qualified to move to the next step.

Which moves us to step number three,

which is your presentations,

your demonstrations and your pitches, okay?

So I'm kind of bundling this all together.

Now, once you qualify the prospect,

the next step is to do some type of presentation,

a pitch or a demonstration to show them

how you actually solve their problem,

what your product actually is, what value you provide,

and to actually show them the software

if you already have it built.

What does it actually do?

What does it look like?

What does it feel?

Is it easy to use, right?

And this is where you're gonna start actually selling.

Now the important part to understand is,

before you even sell anything,

you have to first qualify the prospect, right?

Because if you start selling in the beginning,

you're not even sure

if this person even cares about what you have to say.

But if you qualify the prospect first,

then suddenly everything you say in your demonstration

is going to hit a lot harder,

because you're directly

addressing the pains that you uncovered

during the qualification step.

Now in your presentation, demonstration,

however you want to do it,

the main thing you want to remember

is that you only wanna talk about the pain points,

the prospect already told you

during the qualification phase.

If they didn't talk about those pains,

don't talk about it in your presentation

because they actually don't care, right?

Don't talk about all the different features that you have

and all the things you can do

because that's not what they came for the meeting for,

they came to see how you can solve their problem.

Now, from my personal experience,

I find the best way to do

a SaaS demonstration or presentation,

is actually if you're doing it remotely, right?

Whether you're like sharing your screen

and you know, talking to the person

maybe with a Zoom call,

I would share my screen and I would do a presentation

probably using PowerPoint or Keynote,

and basically walk them through the pains that they had,

and how we solve their pains.

And, you know, know why I prefer,

you know, using a Keynote or PowerPoint

is because you're using your audio, using your voice,

and at the same time you're using visuals

so you can clearly demonstrate,

you know, the problems that you're solving.

It's a very simple thing

where you just a slide by slide

and you don't have to memorize too many things,

you're literally just going with the script

and talking them through it.

Now on top of that,

what I would also recommend,

and now if you have some kind of software

that's very easy to use and it's fast and it's working,

I would use a combination of PowerPoint

and then also go into the software

after you kind of finish your PowerPoint to show them

like, hey, you know this is how we do the thing

I was talking about.

This is how you, you know,

add people here and delete people here and this and that,

you know, it depends on what you're selling, right?

And I would show them how the software actually works

so they can visualize,

"Oh, this is how my life would look

if I bought this software from Patrick."

And again, when you talk about the different features

in your software,

whether it's through the PowerPoint

or actually going into your software

and showing them live,

you only gonna wanna talk about

the things that they care about.

Obviously don't talk about

all the different features that you have, right?

Especially if you're working at an enterprise company

and they have all these

different types of features that nobody uses,

don't talk about those because they didn't ask for that,

they asked for the features that solve their problem, right?

Pain, solution, match it together

and that's how you do your presentations.

Now, the next step of the SaaS selling process,

is you're gonna want to go for the close

or go for the next steps.

Now, typically when you're selling SaaS,

not everyone is going to buy on the spot

and buy right after the demonstration, right?

Because a lot of times

if you're selling something more complicated,

especially if it's more enterprise

or if it's quite expensive,

you're gonna need multiple people involved

in the prospect sides before they make a decision, right?

Maybe their CTO, CMO, CEO

all have to get together in the meeting

to decide whether or not they should purchase

a product or service from you.

So that's why you can't always expect someone

to close right there

unless you're selling something that's fairly obvious

very transactional and not very expensive,

then yeah, maybe they will buy after

you do the presentation and do a demonstration.

However, if you're doing something very complicated,

it takes many people to integrate the software

and things like that,

and they have to hire a consultant

and all these different things,

don't expect it to close

because there's a lot of steps

that need to happen before things actually do close.

So what you wanna do instead,

is you want to understand what the next step is

in the selling process for the prospect, right?

So instead of saying like, "Hey, do you wanna buy now?"

You could say something like,

"Hey, you know,

based on everything we've talked about so far,

is there anything else you need to see

before moving forward?"

And if they have any objections,

you handle them right there.

If they say nope, you know

that's everything we need to see,

then you're like, "Okay, so it seems

like you guys are interested."

Well, you know, just curious to understand,

you know what exactly is the next step for you

if you were to move forward with this.

Now what's gonna happen

when you ask a question like this,

is the prospect is going to tell you

exactly what needs to happen on their side,

if they want to buy it, right?

And if they actually do want to buy it,

they might want to buy right now

but they cannot because maybe there's an approval process.

So they might say, "Okay, well, Patrick,

thanks for doing the presentation.

Well, usually our next step

is I gotta talk to my boss about it,

and then we're gonna go to procurement

and then we got to talk to a tech guy

to see if this is gonna work with this and that."

And then, you know, they're gonna tell you,

every sales will look different.

So they're gonna tell you what the next steps are, right?

And then you're basically gonna ask,

"Okay, interesting,

well, how long is it going to take

for you to have those conversations, right?

When will you have those conversations?"

And then they're going to say,

"Oh, probably sometime next week."

And then you're gonna say,

"Okay, do you need me to be on that conversation

to make sure that everything goes smoothly

and I can answer any of those questions?

And they might say,

"Okay, yeah, that sounds pretty good, Patrick

and it'd be easier for you to do it than me to do it."

So then what I would do as a sales person is,

I would make a recommendation

and I'll say, "Hey, do you mind if I make a recommendation?"

They'll say, "Sure."

"Well, it seems like if you need to talk to this person,

and talk to the IT guy and talk to this person,

how about we go ahead and do this.

We schedule a meeting with everybody,

me, you and everyone included,

and we have a conversation to see

whether or not this is really a good fit for everyone.

And that way, you know, you don't have to do it by yourself,

and I can help answer some of the questions

that maybe your boss might have, the IT guy might have,

and it will be a lot smoother, quicker,

and it will save a lot of time for both of us.

How does that sound?"

And the other person who might say,

"Okay, that sounds pretty good, Patrick.

Well, let me go ahead and work on getting everyone on

you know, on the same page and we'll schedule a meeting."

And then from there you say,

"Okay, how about I go ahead

and put a tentative date for now

and then you try to get everyone on.

How about next week, Wednesday at 10:00 AM.

Does that sound good with you?"

And they're going to say yes.

And then that basically closes out the presentation

and moves them to the next step, right?

And so usually for like longer deals where,

you know, it takes multiple steps

before someone closes a deal,

you basically have to keep doing this over and over and over

until you go through every step

that a company needs go through before buying, right?

So after all that,

maybe they get on the call, everything sounds good

and then you ask them the same thing,

you know, to everyone and say,

"Hey, is there anything else you need to see

before moving forward?"

And they're going to say,

"Okay, well we need to do this."

And then you basically drop a timeline,

make sure both sides know,

and then do the thing and have another meeting

and then you keep doing that

until you get to a point where they're ready to close,

you send them the contract and that's when they sign.

But it isn't always that easy

which leads us to the final step, which is following up.

So any type of sales deals, you know,

whether you're selling SaaS

and enterprise startup whatever it is,

you know, not everything goes according to plan,

sometimes things get delayed,

sometimes people it's just not the right time in the moment,

or maybe they had the budget,

then they lost the budget

and they had need to wait for the budget, right?

There's so many different things that can happen.

And sometimes it's just totally out of the blue

and you don't expect it.

So what you wanna do,

is you want to always be following up

if those things don't go the way you want

and things get off track, right?

And as you can see, the way I'm selling is,

I'm always creating a timeline

that I understand and they understand,

we're on the same page,

we're working together to close the deal.

But when things don't go according to plan,

well, you wanna make sure that you follow up, right?

So if someone says,

"Okay, you know, everything sounds good, Patrick,

but you know, our company just pulled the budget,

we don't have any money to buy this IT anymore."

Then I would say, "Okay, I totally understand,

that happens all the time, right,

nothing we can really do about that.

And I'm just curious, you know in the future

is this something that your company wants to do

in the future and create a budget for it

or is this something

that they just don't care about at all?"

And the person might say,

"Yeah, we want to do this

but it's just that they need money for this other project.

And maybe six months from now

we're going to get the budget again."

So then you basically schedule another meeting

or basically you can say something like,

"Okay, well that totally fine.

How about this?

Six months from now I'll go ahead and follow up with you,

maybe I'll send you an email, give you a call,

whatever works best for you

and you know, we can talk about

whether if you got the budget or not,

if you did get the budget,

we can kinda start things over and resume the conversation.

But if not totally fine,

because I understand if you don't have money, you can't buy,

is that right?

And they're gonna say, "Okay, it sounds totally fine."

So you create an opportunity

for you to follow up six months from now, right?

And that's very different from, let's say,

you say, "Okay, thanks, bye."

And then six months from now,

you give them a call out of the blue.

Because when you tell them ahead of time

that you're going to follow up,

following up is a lot easier

because they already expect you to call them

or expect your email,

you're almost like friends,

but if you're just like not setting those expectations

in the beginning and you try to follow up later,

they're not gonna pick up your calls,

they're not gonna respond to your email

because they don't feel like they need to.

They never agree to it, right?

So that's why when you follow up,

make sure you, you know,

set the expectations in the beginning

for your follow-up, if you can,

and then just keep following up

until something changes on their side.

And then when they're ready to buy again,

they have the budget they're ready to go,

you're the first person

they're gonna think of to move forward.

And so with that said, that's gonna be the five steps

to selling SaaS,

whether you're working at a startup or a large company.

If you enjoy this video,

make sure to give it a like, subscribe

and turn on notifications.

And if you want a free training

on how to start accelerate your sales career

and sell anything to anyone,

I got a free training, link is in the description.

So that said, my name is Patrick Dang,

and I'll see you guys in the next one.