B2B SaaS Sales Strategy: 8 Tips To Increase
Conversion & Revenue

According to Startup Bonsai, businesses say that 70% of the software solutions they use are SaaS products. What’s more, they also estimate that it will go up to 85% by 2025.

If these companies are anything to go by, it’s safe to say that SaaS is the future of business software. As a result, there’s a lot of money to be made in selling SaaS products.

However, it’s not enough to just have a great product. With the shiny opportunity also come multitudes of competitors.

There are several factors that can affect whether or not your business can stand out from these competitors.

And in this article, we are going to focus on B2B SaaS sales. We will be discussing the different elements that make a successful B2B SaaS sales strategy.

So let’s dive right in.

1) Know Your Target Market

The first step to having a successful sales strategy is understanding who your target market is.

This means you need to know the answer to questions, such as:

• What type of businesses are you selling to?
• What are their pain points?
• What are their goals?
• How can your product help them achieve these goals?
• Who is the decision-maker in these businesses?

What’s more, the B2B market itself can be quite broad and diverse.

There are small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises.

Within each of these groups, there are different needs, wants, and pain points. As a result, it’s important that you take the time to segment your market and understand who your ideal customer is.

This process will help you create targeted marketing campaigns that speak directly to your audience. It will also make it easier to sell to them because you’ll know what they’re looking for.

2) Create An ICP & Buyer Personas

Your ideal customer profile (ICP) and buyer personas are tools that can help you dig deep into the needs of your specific target audience.

Ideal Customer Profile

An ICP is a representation of the customer that perfectly matches your SaaS product. And for a B2B SaaS company, that customer is not just one person. It’s an entire company.

Your ICP takes into account demographic factors such as:

• Company size
• Industry
• Location
• Annual Revenue

It may also look at the company’s technical needs such as:

• Infrastructure
• Security
• Compliance

Creating an ICP will help you focus your marketing and sales efforts on the companies that are most likely to convert. As a result, you’ll be able to close more deals and increase your revenue.

To create an ICP, you first need to understand your target market. Once you know who your ideal customer is, you can start creating buyer personas.

Buyer Persona

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of the specific person within your ICP. That can be an executive, a manager, or an entry-level employee.

To create a buyer persona, you need to consider factors such as:

• Their role in the company
• What their day-to-day looks like
• What their challenges are
• What their goals are
• How they make purchasing decisions

Creating buyer personas will help you understand your target market on a more personal level.

As a result, you’ll be able to create targeted SaaS marketing campaigns and sales strategies that speak directly to them.

For example, if you’re targeting executives, your main selling point might be the return on investment (ROI) that your SaaS product can bring.

But if you’re selling to end-users, you may want to emphasize how it will boost their job performance and make their lives easier.

3) Choose The Right SaaS Sales Model

With a complex and diverse product like SaaS, there are a few sales models to choose from. The most common ones are the traditional, product-led growth, and enterprise SaaS sales models.

The Traditional Sales Model

The traditional sales model is the most common and straightforward way to sell SaaS products. In this model, you have a dedicated sales team that focuses on generating leads and closing deals.

Your sales reps would be responsible for getting potential customers interested in your product and then nurturing them through the SaaS sales process.

This sales methodology can be quite effective, especially if you have a high-priced product.

However, it can be costly because you need to invest in a strong sales team.

The Product-Led Growth Model

The product-led growth model, also known as the self-service sales model, is a newer and more popular approach to selling SaaS products.

In this model, you make your product available for free but with limitations. You may do this using a free trial or a freemium model.

Whichever you choose, you allow customers to sign up and use it without speaking to a sales rep.

The idea is that your product should be so easy to use and valuable that customers will be willing to pay for it without any help from a sales representative.

This sales methodology can be very effective when you’re targeting SMBs and end-users. Potential customers like these tend to do their own research rather than reach out to a sales rep.

What’s more, it is less costly than hiring a full-fledged sales team.

However, the product-led growth model also comes with its risks. Remember that, with this approach, you’re relying on your product to sell itself.

That means you need to ensure that you have achieved a solid product-market fit.

What’s more, your SaaS product needs to be intuitive, user-friendly, and offer enough value that customers are willing to pay for it.

Otherwise, you’ll end up with a lot of free users who never convert into paying customers.

The Enterprise Sales Model

The enterprise SaaS sales model is similar to the traditional sales model in that you have a dedicated sales team focused on generating leads and closing deals.

However, the enterprise model is typically used for high-priced SaaS products that require a lot of customization. As the name suggests, this SaaS sales model is often used when you’re trying to target enterprises.

This sales method is also common in industries where there are long sales cycles and complex decision-making processes.

This approach can be very effective if you have a product that is priced high enough to justify the cost of a dedicated sales team.

4) Stick To Your Value Proposition & USP

Your value proposition is the main reason why a prospect should buy your product. In other words, it paints a picture of the benefits and value that your product offers.

For example, if you’re selling an all-in-one SaaS CRM system, your value proposition might be something like this:

“Manage your contacts, emails, and sales pipelines—all in one platform.”

Your unique selling proposition (USP), on the other hand, is what makes your product unique and differentiates it from the competition.

It’s important to have both a strong value proposition and a solid USP because they play different roles in the sales process.

Your value proposition is what will get prospects interested in your product in the first place.

Once you have their attention, you need to follow up with a strong USP to show them why your product is the best option on the market.

5) Build A SaaS Sales Funnel

A SaaS sales funnel is the path that a potential customer takes from awareness to purchase and even beyond.

The SaaS sales funnel typically has five main stages:

Awareness

In the Awareness stage, your potential customer doesn’t even know about your SaaS product yet. But they have a problem that needs solving.

Your job at this stage is to get their attention and educate them about the existence of your product. You can do this through content marketing, social media, and paid ads.

Interest

Once you have their attention, you need to generate interest in your product. In other words, you need to convince them that your product is the right solution for their problem.

You can do this by providing more information about your product and its features. Case studies, demos, and free trials are also effective at this stage.

Consideration

At the Consideration stage, your prospect is interested in your product but they’re not ready to buy just yet. They may be comparing your product to similar solutions on the market.

It’s important to keep them engaged so they don’t lose interest and move on. You can do this by providing more resources, such as ebooks and webinars.

Content marketing can still play a big role in this stage. Product comparisons and buyer’s guides can be particularly effective in showing your SaaS product as the best option for your prospect.

Purchase

At this point, your prospect is ready to buy your product. All that’s left to do is close the deal.

There are a few things you can do to increase the likelihood of a successful sale at this stage.

For one, you can give them a discount. You can also provide a money-back guarantee or a similar offer.

Retention

For a SaaS company, the relationship doesn’t end once a sale is made. In fact, customer retention is usually more important than customer acquisition.

The goal at this stage is to keep your customers happy and engaged so they continue to use your product.

You can do this through the following:

• Customer service/support
• Customer success
• Regularly introducing new updates and features
• Building a community for your users
• Reward programs

6) Automate Your SaaS Sales Process

One of the best ways to improve your SaaS sales process is to automate as much of it as possible.

There are a number of different sales automation software platforms on the market. They all offer different features, but the basics are usually the same.

Sales automation software can help your sales reps with a number of tasks, including:

• Lead generation
• Contact management
• Email marketing
• Appointment scheduling
• Proposal creation
• Contract management
• Payment processing

By automating these tasks, you can free up your time so your sales reps can focus on the more important task of connecting with prospects.

7) Offer Strategic Free Trials

Free trials can be a great way to generate interest in your SaaS product. But they can also be a huge drain on your resources if they’re not done correctly.

That’s why it’s important to offer strategic free trials that are designed to convert prospects into paying customers.

Here are a few tips for doing this:

Answer FAQs At The Very Start

Your free trial should start with a bang by answering any questions prospects might have about your product. The last thing you want is for them to get confused and give up before they even start.

Offer A Live Demo

A live demo is a great way to show prospects exactly how your product works and how it can benefit them. This will help them get the most out of their free trial.

However, it will also be great if you have tutorial videos and articles available so they can learn at their own pace. This will also be beneficial for users who don’t necessarily want to interact with a sales rep.

Track Their Usage

You should track how prospects are using your product during their free trial. This will give you valuable insights into which features they’re using, and which ones they’re not.

This information can be used to improve your product and make it more user-friendly.

What’s more, it can also be used to create targeted SaaS marketing campaigns that focus on the features prospects are most interested in.

8) Have A Solid Upsell Strategy

An upsell is when you offer an existing customer a more advanced tier or plan of your product.

For example, if a customer subscribes to a Basic plan for $10 per month, you could strategically ask them to switch to your Professional plan for $20 per month.

Upselling can be a great way to increase your revenue per customer and customer lifetime value (CLV).

But it needs to be done correctly. Otherwise, you risk annoying your customers and driving them away.

Here are a few tips for successfully upselling your customers:

Don’t Be Overly Pushy

Your upsell strategy shouldn’t be too in-your-face. Otherwise, prospects will feel like they’re being pressured into buying something they don’t really need.

Make Offers Based On Their Current Usage

Your upsell offers should be based on how prospects are currently using your product.

For example, if they’re about to reach the storage limit on their plan, you could offer them an upgrade to a higher-tier plan with two times more storage space.

This is a much more effective approach than just making a generic offer that’s not tailored to the prospect’s specific needs.

Make It Easy To Upgrade

The process of upgrading should be as simple and straightforward as possible

Ideally, prospects should be able to do it with just a few clicks. Otherwise, they’ll likely get frustrated and give up.

Final Thoughts About B2B SaaS Sales Strategy

SaaS sales, even in general, is no easy task.

You have to build lasting relationships with the right people, continuously provide value, and overcome objections. What more if you’re selling to meticulous businessmen and professionals?

But with the right B2B SaaS sales strategy, it can be a lucrative and rewarding opportunity.

So make sure that you have a deep understanding of your target market and how your sales process works. Then, put together a sales strategy that’s tailored to your specific needs.

Want more guides to help you take your SaaS business to the next level? Visit our blog here.