SaaS Sales Strategy

In this post, we will discuss some actionable SaaS sales tactics you can implement today and boost your revenue. Some of the things on the list are probably already familiar to you, but it's always good to be reminded about what works. Some will be new, and worth trying out. Read the whole article, and get to business, new sales await! Tactic #1: Raising Prices Raising your prices seems awkward, risky, and counterintuitive, but might actually be what your company needs in order to break plateaus. This tactic is simple to implement, but it can have so many benefits. First, operating on razor-thin margins is always risky. When your SaaS profits are slim, you need to make many sales every month just to hit the green. And when the new month starts, you need to do it all over again, which creates an enormous amount of stress on your whole company. Seconds, while making more agile sales seems reasonable, in the SaaS world, it will lead to more support tickets as well, simply because you will have more customers. That will mean more work for your support team, and more expenses, again leading to thinner margins. Also, if the low price is the biggest benefit your software has, you will attract the wrong kind of customers: bargain hunters. This type of SaaS customer will only show loyalty if you continue to be the cheapest, and as soon as your SaaS trial period ends, they will be likely to find another tool one of your competitor makes, only because they have a lower price or a free trial. Raising prices fixes all of that. First, your margins will be much bigger, and you won't be forced to sell more only to keep the company going. You can use the profit to make the product even better, which will attract more sales, and allow you to raise the prices further in the future. Second, the fact that you don't have to sell as much doesn't mean that you won't sell more. If your business goes good, you won't feel pressured, and the bigger margins will allow you to hire more people for your support desk while still turning a profit. Thirdly, higher prices will chase away bargain hunters who are only looking to buy cheap. Don't get us wrong, your app still needs to provide excellent value for money. But, if it does, and you are giving it out for next to nothing, you are underselling your value proposition and attracting the wrong SaaS customers. Start raising your prices and watch the number of sales vs. the profit you make. That relation will tell you when you are becoming too expensive. Tactic #2: Focus On Existing Customers Finding new customers is always great SaaS marketing strategy, but only focusing on that is not a good idea. Instead, you should be focusing on keeping existing customers too, as well as upselling to them. If someone decided to buy from you, that means you did something right, and that your marketing efforts were successful. The person decided to give you their trust, to give you a chance, and now your part is to deliver. In the SaaS world, the "deliver" part isn't one-time, it needs to be a continual effort. Yes, you've convinced someone to buy, but the story shouldn't end there. You want that same person to be your customer at the same time next year, and ideally, for years to come. To do that, you need to offer an app that is continuously updated and competitive. You need to provide the best support and to solve customers' problems ASAP. You need to introduce new features, and to make sure your app is staying simple to use even as the feature list expands. That is the only way to keep the existing customers happy and loyal in the long run. And not only that a loyal customer will be willing to continue to use the service, but they will also be willing to buy more from you. If you notice that a customer is using their plan to its max, several months in a row, offer them an upgrade at a discounted price. Send them a custom email letting them know how the better plan can help them, and how the discount will save them XYZ amount of money over the year. Also, if you are selling other tools as well, that are similar to the one the customer is using, offer them a free trial, explaining how the tools work together, which can save them both time and money. Again, because they are a loyal user of the first tool, they will be much more likely to try the second one and continue using both in the future. Tactic #3: Offer Prepaid Annual Plans Or Lifetime Plans If you are just starting and the money is scarce, offering annual or lifetime subscriptions can do a lot for your cashflow. This tactic is relatively simple and self-explanatory—you give customers a better price if they sign up for a full year (or two years), paying up front. Once the promo period ends, the customer will get to choose to either cancel the subscription or to continue paying the regular software monthly price. On the other hand, you now have the full yearly amount at hand, which gives you more flexibility. You can choose where you want to invest the money, which will enable your SaaS to grow. Making your app better during that year will give more reasons to the customer to continue using the software even after the initial sign up period expires, creating a win-win situation for both of you. You can also consider adding a lifetime subscription plan if you really need cash and are struggling to make sales. This is a good option if you operate in an extremely saturated niche, with some big names that are already established, and offering a lot of features at very low prices. Offering a lifetime plan might give you an edge over them. However, you need to do the math carefully and figure out which price is the right one. Roughly speaking, if your annual subscription is $99, it makes no sense to put the lifetime at $200. Placing the price somewhere around $500 is a much reasonable option. But, this is just an estimate, and it will depend on the competitors too, and their lifetime plans, if they offer them. It's a risky tactic, but if it works, it can really help you position yourself on the market. Once you do find your place, it is probably wise to cancel the lifetime subscription plans and to stick to regular recurring income schemes. SaaS Sales Tips Conclusion Three SaaS sales tactics we gave you should help you generate more sales, helping your software grow, and attract even more customers in the future. They seem quite simple, but the devil is always in the details. If you are reluctant to experiment and try things on your own, it's best to partner up with a specialized SaaS marketing agency. Leaving things to pros is always the right choice, as it allows you to focus on your own business, while the outsourced marketing team takes care of the promotion, and boosting sales.

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