SaaS sales funnels have altered the interaction between the marketing and sales teams and customers.

Individuals who work in business and marketing are familiar with the fundamentals of the sales funnel. As technology advances, more and more people are switching to a SaaS sales funnel model.

SaaS stands for Software as a Service, a cloud computing service. Instead of downloading Software to each particular device, SaaS services allow users to store data in the cloud and access it online.

What is a SaaS Sales Funnel?

SaaS sales funnel, also referred to as a conversion funnel, is made up of many sales procedures that begin with raising the profile of your company in the eyes of your potential customers and continue far beyond the point at which they make their first payments.

In addition, the SaaS sales funnel keeps track of the activities of prospective customers.

How Can a Sales Funnel Benefit My SaaS Business?

Sales may give you an advantage in a highly competitive environment such as the SaaS market by guiding prospective consumers toward a successful purchase conclusion. Because your sales funnel is a planned process, you can remove a significant amount of the element of chance from your marketing and sales endeavors.

You will be aware of the measures that need to be taken by your internal sales process to prevent churn once you have quality leads entering your funnel. You will eventually have a system that functions like a well-oiled machine if you spend enough effort optimizing your funnel over time. This may entail a more streamlined and efficient procedure, which, in the long run, will allow for increased profit margins.

How to Build a SaaS Sales Funnel

Your sales will look different based on the sales technique you choose to use. Do you offer your app directly to customers or work via a network of partners? Which channels have you settled on for your first point of concentration?

1. Determine your ideal prospect profile

This is what a marketing persona looks like from the perspective of a sales representative. It has everything that a marketing persona would have, as well as some extra information that assists sales in better understanding the prospect and communicating on a deeper level with them.

2. Develop your sales messaging

Understanding the commercial and personal problems your product addresses is essential to determining whether or not it is a good match for the market.

In our experience, the SaaS services that are most effective are business solutions that address issues that are faced by businesses.

You may begin developing your sales message after thoroughly understanding how this pertains to your product or service and having reached that degree of familiarity.

Your testing has shown potential customers connect with these phrases and nuances of language. It is not sufficient to know just about your company and its solutions; you also need to know about your clients.

You must clearly understand how your product or service may assist your client save money, earning money, or making their lives simpler.

3. Lead Generation Campaign

After creating your sales message and identifying your target prospects, the next step is to begin working on a Lead Generation campaign.

The following are the two primary ways that may be used when it comes to Lead Generation:

a) Inbound Lead Generation. Campaigns that generate inbound leads are those in which the potential customer contacts you first. They may email you, give you a call, or fill out a contact form on your website. To create inbound sales leads, you must engage in content production, advertising campaigns, webinars, referral program, or search engine optimization (SEO).

b) Outbound lead generation. Campaigns that generate outbound leads include contacting potential customers through telephone, email, direct mail, events, and account-based marketing. When you run an outbound campaign, you will usually be required to establish an outbound sales team, which may be a costly endeavor.

Most SaaS businesses use inbound and outbound lead generations; however, these businesses almost invariably focus on one marketing strategy over the other.

Stages of the SaaS Sales Funnel

Depending on the sector you operate in, sales may take various forms. A perfect funnel enables a SaaS company to concentrate its efforts and resources on generating qualified leads. Potential customers will most likely upgrade from a free trial, demo, or freemium version of the SaaS product they use to a paid subscription plan.

You may construct a robust SaaS sales funnel for your products with the assistance of this four-step method.

1. Awareness

The awareness stage is located at the very beginning of the sales funnel. This is the stage in which your target audience first becomes aware of a problem and begins searching for potential solutions. They are not searching for your particular brand now; instead, they seek answers to their problems. For instance, rather than searching for Instacart, they are looking for methods to have groceries delivered quickly. However, with the assistance of your marketing staff, you will be able to supply the solutions that your audience needs while at the same time drawing attention to your SaaS product.

When prospective clients are at the awareness stage of the buying process, your first objective should be to get their contact information. You also want to provide customers with more details on your Software and brand. At this point in the process, the generating of leads takes place.

At this point, a content marketing approach could prove to be effective. You may want to give these strategies some thought if you want to move your prospects on to the next stage:

• Search engine optimization (SEO): Produce blog entries or landing pages of a high standard that answer the issues posed by your audience and focus on the keywords your leads are looking for. You may interweave information about your company throughout the content, and you can also add a call to action (CTA) or a form where people can submit their contact information.
• Lead magnets: To submit an email address, you may provide a free trial, an informative webinar, a whitepaper, an electronic book, or a printed checklist. You may be able to demonstrate the competence of your brand by doing so. Lead magnets are often made available on landing pages and marketed via various additional marketing channels.
• Social media marketing: Create informative social media content or eye-catching sponsored advertisements with CTAs. This is a chance to demonstrate to consumers how your brand may assist them while directing them to web pages encouraging conversions.

The SaaS marketing techniques you use during the awareness stage should always provide value that explicitly solves the problems or objectives of your audience. This encourages more individuals who genuinely need your SaaS solution to join up for free trials, newsletters, and other complementary products.

2. Consideration

By reaching this point, the prospects should be relatively high-quality leads. You have their interest by interacting with them throughout stage 1. Giving consumers greater motivation to purchase can help you maintain their interest.

Many businesses deploy email marketing at this point in the SaaS sales funnel. If your product has a free trial or a freemium pricing model, or if your website is free to use, here’s how to motivate your email subscribers to keep using it:

– Introduce new capabilities for them to explore.
– Link to landing pages or blog articles
– Link to a software instructional video

 To lower customer acquisition costs (CACs), utilize email automation tools like ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign.

Another effective strategy to get potential customers to purchase from you is to provide social evidence. Consumers are just as likely to believe reviews or testimonials as they are personal recommendations. Similar to this, case studies demonstrating your SaaS service’s efficacy may be pretty appealing.

3. Conversion

Leads have a strong desire to purchase when they reach this stage of the SaaS sales funnel. Consumers now see you as a dependable solution, thanks to Stage 2. They have you at the top of the list. They want to give your product one more review to ensure it meets their standards.

Naturally, at this point, the leads are pretty qualified. Making direct, one-on-one touch with them is time well spent. Your sales representatives may persuade these leads to contact you for a quotation or set up a video conference for a demo or consultation.

You may also redirect potential customers to a live chat pop-up on your website to make this touchpoint as simple as feasible for your leads. Visitors to your website may ask to talk with your sales representatives in real-time using ServiceBell. To start a live video call, they must tap on a widget to give you a notice. With far more convenience, it provides a high-touch, individualized experience tailored to the customer’s demands.

To succeed, every encounter you have throughout the buying process must be highly individualized. Human engagement strengthens your brand’s relationship with consumers and is often the last impetus for SaaS buyers to purchase.

The first purchase happens after this phase.

4. Customer Retention

Excellent work – you sold something! However, new clients aren’t yet devoted supporters. Their spending with your brand will increase by up to 31% after winning their loyalty. New customers may see the first month as an extended free trial or a chance to try out your premium features.

Keep your customers interested in and content with your product if you want to increase client lifetime value or the total money you anticipate earning from your connection with them.

Onboarding is equally essential in this situation. After the first month, customers may stop buying from you if they feel they aren’t receiving value from your goods or are just confused. You may think about:

– Delivering a series of welcome emails
– Establishing a user assistance center or FAQ page
– Paying graphic, live onboarding sessions

Sales representatives should follow up with clients regularly by email or phone to address concerns, provide recommendations, and ensure they are satisfied. It would be ideal if you could offer a dedicated support representative. Consumers who cease engaging with your product or onboarding procedure may be re-engaged via this.

These regular check-ins may also assist you with upselling when your clients come closer to determining if they want to renew. You may discover your customers’ features and persuade them to upgrade. Alternatively, monthly users of your service may be prepared to commit to a yearly plan.

Conclusion

Typical marketing funnels illustrate the client’s path from brand awareness through product or service acquisition.

Along with the development of the Internet and new cloud computing and storage technologies, Software as a service (SaaS) arose. The SaaS sales funnel created by fusing SaaS technology with a traditional marketing funnel structure benefits companies with experience in SaaS marketing.

The SaaS sales funnel offers a systematic method for selling SaaS and encourages a more dynamic interaction between customers and businesses.

Modern firms may approach client acquisition, business KPIs, and customer retention differently, thanks to the SaaS sales funnel. Today’s technology improves human communication and permeates the globe, greatly benefiting enterprises.

The SaaS market boomed in the previous ten years. Building relationships between businesses and consumers now brings new difficulties and rewards for business owners and customers. SaaS, search engine optimization, and social media platforms provide fresh approaches to increasing customer engagement and confidence.

Businesses may benefit from SaaS technology by mastering lead generation, lead conversion, and product sales. Customer awareness, engagement, and intent encourage brand loyalty and lifetime purchases.

Optimizing a company’s SaaS strategy and SaaS sales funnel promotes maximum growth and output.

RELATED: The 4Ps of Marketing Every Marketer Should Know

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