The SaaS world is full of “tire kickers” who are either eager to learn about new exciting technology/ ideas, or were told by their boss, “Hey, go check this out, and let me know if we should take a look.”
It’s incredible how many of those people are willing to spend 30 minutes on a demo for a product they know little or nothing about. Shouldn’t they be doing something more productive with their time?
Fret not SaaS sales world. There are a few easy steps you can take to transform or avoid the rubbertoes. Hold your prospects and yourself accountable with a little Sales 101, and proceed with the drivers!
1. Know your target audience.
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Make sure your call is booked with or includes your target buyer. It is okay to use a “coach” in this process, but tread lightly.
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Know who needs to be included to make a decision. If you have one person on the call that will probably not cut it.
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Understand what drives decisions for your target and hone in on key initiatives.
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Ask yourself: If you were in your prospect’s shoes, what would make you buy?
2. Ask qualifying questions early.
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A very effective question to ask after the initial intro is: “What peaked your interest?” Or try: “What were you looking to get out of this call today?” These types of questions will allow the potential customer to explain why they are spending time looking at your product and help validate the time you are both spending.
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Prospective buyers rarely care about every little function your “shiny” product has to offer. Forget about your product-focused demo, and first try to learn more about that prospect’s business. Try to understand some of the points below, and then evaluate if you can offer a solution.
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Main goals
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Initiatives
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Sales Process
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Org Structure
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Challenges
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If the product aligns with the prospect’s needs, discuss how it can be a good fit and more specifically, what it will address. If the customer can identify with how it can help, then keep moving forward.
3. Cut the call!
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A lot of salespeople will run a complete demo with a tire kicker after disqualifying them in the first 10 minutes — DON’T!
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Politely end things early if you need to, so neither of you will be wasting time. You will be doing the prospect and yourself a huge favor.
Tire kickers are inevitable, but if you follow these basic SaaS selling tips, you should be able to save yourself hours of valuable time and find the drivers! Always be polite but candid and remember to ask the right questions early on.
