The shift to software as a service provides more predictable revenue streams. Especially for publicly traded companies striving to deliver earnings, quarters that hinge on one or two “make or break” transactions occur less frequently.
While predictable revenue streams provide upside, many companies haven’t considered the potential downside. A client server transaction for CRM in the 90’s took an account out of play for competing vendors for 5 years or so. That is not true today with the reduced effort and expense of changing vendors.
With revenue streams being more vulnerable, the way accounts are sold and how results are monitored becomes a core strategy for maintaining the base. I welcome your views on how selling software as a service differs (or should differ) from traditional big-ticket sales.
The biggest difference I have found is your company and your product must keep on delighting your customers. Your support, your product, and your all customer facing activity must be excellent.
Jim
http://www.dataforcecrm.com