7 SaaS Sales Tips to Close More Deals

Oh boy, what a promising title! 

Because who doesn’t want to close more deals? 

(We’re going to assume you didn’t say ”me”.)

That said, if you’re from the sales world, you know that engaging prospects, delivering compelling product demos, and closing deals is easier said than done. 

So, that’s where we come in. 

We wrote this very article to go over some top SaaS sales techniques to help you and your team win deals quickly and efficiently.

1. Do your homework

You know the story: Once upon a time, customers had fewer choices when buying software. Life was sweet for buyers and sellers. Birds sang and sh*t. 

Nowadays, customers are exposed to an insane flow of offers, making each purchase decision much harder. 

For sellers, particularly software providers, closing deals and increasing SaaS sales has become much more challenging due to the increased competition. 

That’s why as sellers, it’s essential to do your homework before any interactions with potential customers. As the guy who invented the telephone said, “preparation is the key to success” — Ring a Bell?

(Excuse our lame jokes.) 

So to help you prepare for your SaaS sales pitch, here are some questions you need to ask yourself, no matter which sales model you’re using: 

Which persona do you want to target?

In other words, who is your prospect? 

You need to define the sizes of the companies you want to target (enterprises, SMBs, or start-ups, for instance), titles of potential decision-makers relevant to your business, and the industries that need your software. 

What are your investments and expected returns? 

Depending on your goals, budget, and capabilities, you must decide if your time and money investment will pay off the way you want. 

Some opportunities simply won’t be worth the effort of your SaaS sales pitch. 

So, it’s essential to qualify your leads to help you better understand which opportunities to spend the most time and effort pursuing. 

What pain points will you target? 

Have you heard that no two snowflakes are alike? 

Well, the same goes for prospects.

Every prospect has their own issues or challenges they are hoping to address. 

So, you have to be ready to tackle each client’s unique pain points and understand how much they are willing to pay to solve it. 

That’s why one of the most valuable and practical SaaS sales tips is personalizing your pitch to target these specific pain points.

2. Don’t sell features. Solve pains

We know we just mentioned this, but we want to make sure you fully get how important this one is.

Different prospects might need your product for different purposes, so tailoring your SaaS sales pitch to each of them is a must. But be careful: don’t start out by explaining the history of your company and every little thing your product can do. 

You must understand why your prospect needs a solution and approach them through their pain.

So, one of the best SaaS sales techniques is to ask about their pain, and let them give you the answers to all of your questions. 

The only thing that matters is understanding your customers’ pains, needs, and expectations. 

Once you’ve collected this information, you’ll have a much better understanding of how to discuss your product and create your demo. 

3. Create a killer personalized demo 

It’s showtime, baby! 

Once you’ve convinced your prospect you’re the knight they needed, it’s time to show what your product can do and to “draw” your demo.

But hold your horses, cowboy. 

One does not simply show software. 

You’ll want to use interactive demo software (LIKE WALNUT) to customize the entire user journey through your product the way your prospect and their team need. 

On top of this, this kind of SaaS sales tool can help you make every second of your demo count. Rumor has it that 15 to 30 minutes is the optimal demo duration, so stick to it. People famously have a short attention span online — look, a bird!

Another reason for using this kind of SaaS sales tool is to avoid demo nightmares, like loading time issues and bugs. 

This’ll allow you to present an interactive and personalized version of your interface frontend to offer a realistic product experience. 

4. Know the traditional objections

“Your product is too expensive” and “I’m missing this feature”.

Yes, your honor, these two objections are a pain in every SaaS sales pro’s ass. But just because your prospect raises these flags doesn’t mean your deal is dead in the water.

Let’s go over how you can address each of them.

“Your product is too expensive” 

This objection shows why it’s critical to always ask how much your client is willing to invest right off the bat. 

Usually, lowering the price isn’t generally an option — it can make you look cheap. 

So, one way to resolve this objection is to reframe the problem and explain how much your software can save the company compared to its cost.

“I’m missing this feature”

The easy way to deal with this comment is to just say the specific feature is in the pipeline.

But don’t — you’re smart, and intelligent people, so you know lying will eventually bite you in the ass. 

Features can take time to be released, and people have no patience for bull sh*t. 

Instead of walking on this shaky ground, dig into your most precious resource: your SaaS sales pitch homework. You know the customer’s needs, and you know your product perfectly. 

Consider creative ways to address your client’s pain with other product features. Maybe the functionality they’re looking for isn’t the most efficient tool to overcome the issue. You know best, so don’t be afraid to offer alternative solutions. 

There are many more objections that may come up during a pitch. 

So, how do you overcome any objections your customer may have? Don’t hate us, but there is only one way to do it: practice your SaaS sales techniques. 

The more you rehearse, the more ready you’ll be to face any unexpected questions. 

5. Systematize your follow-ups

Now, we want to break the SaaS sales process down into two phases: before you schedule a demo with the prospect and after.

Before the demo

To master SaaS sales 101, you need to learn how to get prospects to agree to a demo. 

It’s tricky but not rocket science. 

You’ll want to create sequences of personalized messages to entice your lead. 

Just remember to carefully plan the timing for each — basically, don’t be a spammer. 

To maximize your outreach, generate multiple touch points: email, LinkedIn friend request, LinkedIn message, pigeon carrier — the more, the merrier. 

But for goodness’ sake, be creative and personal with your SaaS sales emails, showing genuine interest in the prospect’s needs.

After the demo

When it comes to SaaS sales, the job isn’t done after you’ve finished your demo.

Once you show your product magic to your potential client during the demo, follow up with content that brings them real value. 

Don’t give your prospect homework — create a plan based on your discussion and craft your follow-up communications according to their needs and goals. 

If you haven’t already, schedule another call to go over any remaining questions and align expectations.

If they don’t show interest in your software after your demo, try a softer approach and give them space to breathe. No need to harass them or to give up. Simply create a softer flow of demo follow-up emails based on marketing content they may find interesting and leave the hardcore SaaS sales pitch on the side.

6. Stay memorable with content marketing

No matter what, you need to make sure that your prospects won’t forget you. 

Content marketing is integral to SaaS sales because when done right, it can lead to prospect engagement.

(Seriously, we’re not just saying that because we’re marketing content writers.)

Marketing and sales are two sides of the same sword. By shaping your content, you can create additional value for your leads, incentivize them to convert (or upgrade their package), and, most importantly, learn about their preferences to nail your sales process. 

There are several different types of tools that you can use to perfect your content marketing, including: 

Email marketing

If a prospect has left you their email address, you’ll want to add them to a lead nurturing funnel. 

This will involve creating an automated flow of emails, each tackling a different content angle, to help you move prospects through the sales funnel and encourage them to convert. 

There’s an endless amount of content you can create, from industry research to fun facts, user testimonials, company milestones, product releases, webinars, case studies, and blog articles. 

Once you collect stats about your marketing content (open rate, click rate, and all the other infamous metrics), you’ll be more equipped to optimize your content strategy and enhance your SaaS sales techniques.

Social media

Every business needs a social presence. Period.

It allows you to directly communicate with the prospect, amplify the company’s voice, and reach potential leads with various items. 

Each social network enables you to try a different approach and to learn about your community in a “naturally” segmented way based on behavior. 

The best part? You’ll gather tons of insights to use to improve your SaaS sales strategy going forward. 

Blog

Your blog is your content bank. 

Writing stellar content on topics interesting to your audience is a win-win-win for your business and can increase SaaS sales. 

You can educate your community by sharing valuable information, position yourself as an authority in your field, and, most importantly, bring sh*t loads of traffic to your website and boost SEO.

Of course, many other marketing tools are at your disposal, such as social promotion, eBooks, white papers, events, and more. But the types of content we mentioned above are a solid start.

7. Keep your trials short and plans long

When it comes to a SaaS sales pitch, length matters. 

It might sound logical that the more time people have to test a product, the more they get used to it and are willing to pay for it. 

But in fact, it’s quite the opposite. 

In only a few days, most potential users can understand if the product fits their needs. More than that, the urgency of only having a few days to understand the product or software incentivizes them to try it more intensively. 

Some companies opt for a freemium model with limited features in the free version and paid plans for customers seeking more advanced functionalities. But your SaaS sales technique depends on the nature of your software and the company’s maturity. 

That said, most software companies offer their customers a free 14 days — it’s considered a best practice. Your call though, friend. 

For billing, you should try to sell yearly plans. 

However, this doesn’t have to be the only option: you can sell monthly plans at a higher price (make sure the yearly prices are divided by 12 so people see the “benefit” of buying a yearly plan over a monthly one). 

The logic behind that is super simple. You want your customers to use your service for the longest possible time, quickly recovering your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and better predicting your revenue. 

There are many benefits of offering monthly plans — the greatest being that it removes customer adoption barriers. But once again, your call. 

You know your product, company, and users best, so trust your gut, and of course, your SaaS sales skills. 

Improve your SaaS sales strategy with interactive product demos

We know you want to smash those targets and create a lasting impression on your customers.

But we also know that even with these tips, doing so isn’t easy. 

Luckily, you have another tool at your disposal. That is of course, if you use interactive demo software. 

With a demo platform (like Walnut), you’ll be able to easily deliver personalized and interactive codeless sales demos — to convince your prospect that your product is everything they’ve ever needed and more.

Think of it this way. Using an interactive demo platform gives you the tools you and your team need to easily implement the above tips. And this will enable you to improve your SaaS sales strategy.

What’s holding you back? Click the “Get Started” button to start improving your sales performance!