Login
Book a Demo
How to Sell like an Expert, not a Salesperson, in SaaS
Working in sales requires many skills. Strong communication, empathy, listening, negotiating, the list goes on. We go through the best sales tips to get you ahead.
Getting the most out of your sales, when working in SaaS, requires even more navigation to source good quality leads that won’t churn two months down the line.
But before we dig into how to get more from your SaaS sales team, there’s one clear distinction to make.
Inbound and outbound sales are brothers, except they look, sound and act nothing alike. While they’re grouped in the same family they require very different approaches to get the most out of them.
In this blog, we’ll go through:
We sat down with Matt and Tom from our sales teams to dig into their top tips for getting more out of your inbound and outbound sales.
Let’s get started.
Matt, our inbound sales expert had some key tips for understanding, processing and pursuing your inbound leads.
“When you work in sales, time is a commodity and you want to make sure you’re spending it on the right people. While you might think inbound leads are an automatic win, they might not be a good fit.
Understand their issues and make sure your product helps them solve their problem. Once you’ve established this, communicate to the customer that investing their time with you can benefit their specific needs and pain points. It’s surprising how many leads want to jump right into the product, but it’s always worth taking it slow and making sure it’s a perfect fit.
While we’re on the subject of great fit, don’t be afraid to walk away. A good salesperson needs to know when to disqualify a lead and walk away. In the long term, it means more time for them to find and nurture leads that are going to close and blossom into a long business deal. It also saves any awkward conversations and you won’t mis-forecast or make promises you can’t deliver on.
The biggest tip for any salesperson is to listen. It’s a cliché for a reason. You have two ears and one mouth so I always try to keep my calls to that ratio. Your goal should always be to try and get the contact to tell you about their situation and then dig deeper into their issues and processes so you can understand if and how your solution can help them.
Lastly, always agree on next steps and get a call in the diary. A ‘call me anytime’ next week isn’t a guaranteed call back. Often it results in a lot of chasing up and can turn a positive opportunity into a bit of a drag for both parties.
When faced with a ‘call me anytime’, simply ask when is best. I usually ask what time doesn’t suit and then offer some alternatives for them to choose from. Tools like Calendly can work well if a customer doesn’t have their availability to hand, but this should always be a last resort. Ultimately, if a customer won’t book a time to discuss further (after you’ve asked), the likelihood is that they might not be very interested in speaking with you again!
Jaymie, our outbound lead generation expert had some key tips to share when it comes to improving your outbound sales process, and results.
“Positivity is key. Be positive and believe in what you are saying – the first objective is to make the recipient WANT to speak to you.
There’s nothing worse than being hounded by a sales rep, so why not make it enjoyable? Going beyond small talk will help you to build a relationship with your leads and customers.
Building a relationship from the ground up takes time, effort and understanding. If we can’t stick to deadlines nor prove to the prospect that we mean business and really want to work with them on a personal level, they will quickly lose trust and any interest in the solution will diminish.
The biggest hurdle with outbound sales, and sales in general, is qualifying your leads. Your goal is to convert as many people as possible into customers. From a SaaS point of view in particular, there’s no point converting someone who may go onto churn later down the line.
Plant a few keywords into your discovery call and listen to how they respond. Their response is key to understanding if you’re both a good fit. Take a consultative approach, always. Avoid making assumptions and firing away on a rehearsed sales pitch without fully understanding their business pain points.
At the end of the day, you want to be helping your customers. If you can’t offer them a solution to their problem, then they’re not a good fit. Find that balance and you’ll be flying.
And there you have it, some simple advice to wrap up our sales tips.
Want more insights?
Keep in touch with us via our newsletter to get insights straight to your inbox.
