Direct sales for SaaS startups – our experience and tips

Anyone with tech background who doesn't where to start with SaaS sales, here's a step by step masterpiece for you by Entrepid - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57daf6098419c27febcd4...

Industry segmentation then targeting sales resources to segments. Those resources are your salespeople, ad materials, trade-shows, etc. The industry segmentation is prioritized for segments that benefit the most from the product and have money to spend. You don't focus on the markets or company sizes you want. You focus on who really needs your product because it really makes a difference in their bottom line.

There have never been more brick and mortar, grey haired experts available for hire to SAAS providers. These folks have the domain expertise to look at your product and provide the message, network and outreach to grow your user base.

I cringe mightily reading SAAS job postings looking for someone with business development (or marketing) experience but without industry expertise. Is it agism? Not sure, but I had this experience interviewing for a Marketing Director role with a major Valley SAAS firm who opted for a generalist and who I understand hasn't seen more than 10% growth since. Sometimes the hard way is the right way.

This was a bit ranty, but it's been on my mind for some time.

It’s ego, scrappiness, and company building.

The number of times I recommended an expert we should hire as consultants to teach us how to do things[1] and the founders just don’t wanna ... it’s silly. Always the same excuses: we want to build experise in house, invent from first principles, we need employees not experts, we can’t pay that much, we’re disruptors and old advice doesn’t apply ... bleh.

So you get marketing departments run by folk who have never made a buck online on their own. All the book knowledge, none of the visceral experience. It’s ridiculous

[1] I hvae a network of those because of my sidehustling

* What's your problem? w/ Tell me more (as follow up)

* What are you doing right now for that problem?

* What other solutions have you tried?

* Are those other solutions working? Why / why not?

* Why do you feel our product might work for you?

The last question is a BS filter. If they're just using you for their own research purposes / get their existing vendor to bid lower, their response here will sound thin. Prospects who are early in their decision making won't have much to say here (or they are already late in their decision making and have made a decision to go with another vendor and are just going on a call with you to say that they've done their DD). The more they have to say, the closer they are to the finish line (ie. sale).

To elaborate on our last question, it's also a tactic used to help potential customers convince themselves to buy something. Hey (the email app) did this in their prelaunch by asking people who wanted to get on their early launch to email them with reasons why they wanted to be on the list. There's a bit of reverse psychology at play here. Cognitive dissonance must be resolved.