> Last time we talked about SaaS pricing, focusing on people paying in the tens to hundreds of dollars range Where can I find this?
I believe this would be the one - https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/saas_pric...
Selling Software To Large Businesses
51–57 of 57 posts
Re: Selling Software To Large Businesses
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is more than just that. Log files only give you a list of individual transactions that happened. Auditing capabilities (as I understand them) imply the ability to trace a sequence of interrelated transactions in order to determine whether business procedures and rules were properly followed or even determine flaws in the procedures and rules themselves. For example, if a customer complains that a physical product…
That sounds way more comprehensive than most "auditing" I've seen in software. Usually it's timestamped activity logs with a couple of reports and maybe some filtering. Very basic.
Of course, "auditing" as I described it is not just a button to be clicked on a GUI - it requires the user to know what stuff he is auditing in first place.
Re: Selling Software To Large Businesses
#531) If you want to sell to enterprises, build your product for enterprises.
This means that you must be able to document systems and processes that lead to high reliability and security. Every aspect of the product must be managable by more than one person, in case someone goes on vacation or is fired (prominent enterprise services that fail this: Twitter and YouTube). You must be able to distinguish between "users", who just use the product to do their job, and "administrators", who manage the product for the enterprise. (Don't send "upgrade now" emails to users!) You must support--or be able to support--browser and OS versions that are a few steps behind what consumers are using. If it's client software, you must work on Windows. Etc.
2) Put your answers in email. Don't bother with attachments unless it's to print or sign.
I can't tell you how many emails I get from salesfolks with Word documents or PDFs attached to answer my questions. Just answer my questions, please, and do it in the body of the email so I can easily read and forward. Your product sheet might have the answer, but I don't want to dig for it. The sales process can be a competitive advantage, but only if you actually act like you're a person I'm conversing with, not a brochure-forwarding bot.
3) Don't jerk me around on pricing.
If you publish a low-dollar tier or tiers on your site, let me take one of those levels even if I'm a big enterprise. Here I disagree with Patrick--enterprises ARE cost conscious. Managers are charged with buying what they need. If it MUST be expensive, that might be ok. What's not ok is spending a penny more than necessary. If I see a 50-foozle price on your website of $500/month, and you tell me I need to pay $5,000/month for 50 foozles just because I'm enterprise--see ya. Just because big businesses are rich, it does not make them saps.
4) "No" is rarely permanent.
If I tell a telemarketer at my home not to call me back, and they call me back, I am pissed. But if I tell an enterprise salesperson I'm not interested right now, or I only want the low website-advertised price, it's ok to call me back later to see if I changed my mind. There are a lot of brains in a big enterprise, which means mindsets and needs can actually change pretty fast. That said--respect a timeline you're given. If I say don't bother calling for 6 months, then don't call me next month (5 would probably be fine though). Be attentive but not pushy.
5) Don't try to go around me
If I tell you I'm the person you should be talking to, that still means that I will need to get clearance to spend. Don't try to find the "decision maker" above me. I'm not lying to you--I am the person who is responsible for managing the sales process for the actual decision maker, because the decision maker just wants to make decisions, not read 2,000 word emails from 5 different prospects. I know the decision maker better than you do. Going around me is just going to make me tell them that you are an unreliable loose cannon, and they will believe me, not you.
6) I have assymmetric expectations about communications; unfair, but that's life.
If you send me an email, it might be a week before you hear back. Feel free to politely follow up. I probably feel a little guilty about it, but sales guys are easily pushed down the priority list. But--if I send you an email, I expect an answer very fast. Meeting that expectation can be a competitive advantage. As Patrick says, a perception of responsiveness can beat a perception of size. I have often picked smaller companies over big ones because they answered every email and phone call right away.
Re: Selling Software To Large Businesses
#54i loved reading that.
Re: Selling Software To Large Businesses
#55"One of the most common objections I hear from folks thinking about moving upmarket into the enterprise is that they're not cut out to be Sales Guys. Guys, believe me, I used to play World of Warcraft and still often stare at my own shoes while talking. Nobody is less qualified to be a Sales Guy than me." i loved reading that.
Re: Selling Software To Large Businesses
#56The UK Government is doing a lot of work to get around these problems. Firstly all new development is preferred to be open source (1), secondly they have created at least two programs where suppliers are pre-vetted and then can offer their products (and services) in an online catalog. (2). I failed to know about either of these in time but there are 700+ SMEs on there. I am not saying that this is all solved - but a…
Thanks! I just registered in both and it is a very simple process(though I am still waiting on approval). There are quite a few software contracts in there.
Re: Selling Software To Large Businesses
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this separate from the line item about support (best effort / no SLA purchased)? And if it's separate, in what sense does enterprise purchasing use "maintenance"? Software updates?
in what sense does enterprise purchasing use "maintenance" 90% of the time, they don't. It's a checklist item. They don't care if it ever gets used.
My last project was heavily reliant on a particular feature in a game development framework. We were more than 1 million into development when they announced they were discontinuing the feature. We had a service contract, but not a maintenance contract. They basically told us at that time that all those bugs we had filed over the last 6 months? Here's the code, fix them yourself. We pivoted as hard as we could, but it was too late and we had spent too much money. The end result is my company canceled the project and laid off my entire studio.