Selling SaaS to the Enterprise

Selling SaaS to the Enterprise

Selling SaaS to the Enterprise

Growth Process Group has been involved in selling SaaS solutions to the Enterprise for 10 years.

Many SaaS Solution providers focus on product features, rather than Value for the customer. Enterprise Solution providers need to sell the Value of the Problem You Solve (including TCO) for your customer with your SaaS solution. SaaS can be an important differentiator, but enterprise customers want to implement solutions to their acute problems at reasonable business risk.

Some SaaS companies are all over the map and tend to have problems reaching their objectives. We hear from SaaS providers, “Tell us what’s wrong with our sales force”, when the problem may not be the sales force at all — it may be an executive team unwilling to say no to any customer. Don’t waste time talking to those who don’t qualify to be your clients.

Enterprise SaaS Solutions solve enterprise-wide problems and typically change the way work is done across the enterprise. Departmental SaaS Solutions change the way work is done at the departmental level. When Selling Enterprise or Departmental SaaS Solutions, you need the endorsement of an executive who has the authority and political power to change the way work is done. When SaaS solution providers use a viral model to achieve enterprise acceptance, the investment requirement is quite high (exhibit salesforce.com) and the probability of success is low. We prefer a targeted approach.

There are many aspects to selling SaaS to Enterprise customers, such as Value Proposition Development and Sales Compensation, that are not discussed here.