If you’re a software reseller transitioning from selling on premise to selling SaaS, you need to know the fundamentals of how to adjust your business model.
If you run a business that sells on-premise solutions and need guidance on how to make the transition to Software as a Service (SaaS), we’re here to help. One of the most important things to realize is that SaaS isn’t just a new way of delivering your software; it requires a completely different business model. The sooner you accept this, the better your chances are of having a smooth transition to SaaS sales.
Excel at Selling SaaS
If you rely on a great team of sales representatives to sell your on-premise solution, you’ll be happy to know that in order for your SaaS initiative to succeed that team will continue selling on-premise. As tempting as it is to train your existing team to sell SaaS and on-premise solutions at the same time, this strategy won’t work in the long run. You simply can’t sell cloud solutions the same way you sell on-premise.
Software as a Service aims to deliver low cost solutions that are deployed quickly and are easy to use. When you consider the way on-premise software has been positioned for the past decade, it’s been presented as a solution tailored to the unique needs of a business. SaaS, on the other hand, is a standard offering that’s easily scalable and implemented faster than on-premise solutions. Of course additional capabilities can be integrated into a SaaS solution using add-ons, but above all SaaS is an offering that gives the buyer bang for their buck right away. That’s not to say that on-premise solutions are extinct; there are buyers who care more about having customizations in place and prefer to purchase solutions that are installed on their infrastructure. There are also those who know what they want and they want it now. As a sales representative it won’t be easy to sell both value propositions. That’s why it’s in your best interest to have a separate SaaS sales team trained in the right way to position a SaaS offering.
From Demo to Trial, The Customer is the Driver
Since the needs of the SaaS solution customer aren’t as comprehensive as those purchasing an on-premise solution, the customer will likely be doing a lot of research online themselves. They will only reach out to your sales team when they’re almost ready to purchase. By providing a variety of gated demos on your site you can ensure that prospects will find the information they’re looking for. This also helps your SaaS sales team. The transaction size of cloud deals is not just smaller, it’s fundamentally different. Depending on your pricing model, you could only be securing a small fee from each account. Don’t exhaust your sales team with personalized demos from the onslaught. Discover which questions prospects need to have answered and make it easy to locate that information on your website. Offer recorded demos that show multiple facets of your software, and encourage users to sign-up for trials.
Selling SaaS doesn’t have to be difficult; learn how to employ the best practices in your business and you will have a competitive advantage over other software resellers making the SaaS transition.
