Match Your Selling to the Way Your Customers Want to Buy

Today too many SaaS companies have fallen into a trap of designing their sales processes to optimize for their own sales and marketing teams rather than for their buyers.  They approach buyers as just another transaction and focus on checking off a couple of checkboxes but this doesn’t match the way that B2B buyers want to buy.  The way that buyers (i.e. people / humans) are approached today by SaaS sales reps is that the buyer is viewed as just another lead in the CRM who needs to fit into a funnel stage with whom there should be some specific set of steps from the sales rep’s required sales process.  The prospect is treated as just another opportunity or a potential dollar amount in the sales funnel and these buyers come out feeling like some process is being applied to them (not something they really asked for or want).

For example, I recently posted about the Discovery Call Fatigue after noticing a pattern in SaaS when SDRs follow up with you after you fill out a Demo Request form and they insist on scheduling a 30-minute discovery call to ask you questions and qualify if you to see if you’re a fit for their SaaS product.  The issue is that this is not the way prospects want to evaluate and buy (or subscribe to your SaaS)  – if a prospect requested a Demo then they just want to see that demo and not spend their limited time on a call to be questioned and qualified.  And when SDR tells the prospect that this SDR also doesn’t want to lose their time then that’s not a good way to sell and build relationships because this is very self-focused and not prospect-focused – it shows that the SDR is not aligning to the buyer and this reduces the Win probability (i.e. that’s just bad salesmanship).

Buyers just want to talk to someone to get their questions answered but they are not excited about any kind of process applied to them.  Buyers don’t want to be thrown into some standardize process that doesn’t help them do what they need.

The most effective way to sell is to understand your customers and how they prefer to buy (i.e. or subscribe to a SaaS product).  True sales pros are ones who are focused on the customers and match their selling to the way their customers want to buy.  This typically starts with customers wanting to see a demo, ask some questions, try the product out and then make a decision.  They want to make a good decision for their company and want an ROI from your product.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t ask questions or qualify the prospects – of course you need to do that. But it should be done in a way that aligns to your customers, in a way that is not disruptive and doesn’t go against the grain of the prospects’ buying journey.  This requires skill and aptitude and sometimes a good amount relationship management during the sales process – this is why selling is not easy but the process of matching your selling to the customers’ buying is actually quite simple.  Don’t create friction for your buyers and don’t make it difficult for them – understand their objectives and challenges and just focus on being helpful to them in their process.  Being authentic and genuinely helpful will ensure a trust and rapport that you need and, in return, prospects will also be open-minded to answering your questions that will help you in your selling process.

Quick tip – every VP of Sales / CRO should call and ask customers a simple question of how these customers prefer to buy. And then just ensure your team’s selling process is designed to match the customers’ buying process.