From Market Innovator to Multi-Billion-Dollar Acquisition: A SaaS Sales Transformation

THE CHALLENGE

When Funnel Clarity first began working with this SaaS client, the company had roughly 10 salespeople, less than $20 million in annual revenue, and a product that had introduced something distinctly new into an established market.

There is a fundamental difference between selling an innovation and selling a better version of something buyers already understand. As outlined in Selling Innovation vs. Selling in Mature Markets, buyers in mature markets already understand the problem and the types of solutions available to solve it. The seller's job is to demonstrate why their solution is the better choice.

Selling an innovation requires something different. Buyers may not know another way of solving the problem even exists, so the seller first has to create a vision of what is possible. Only then does the solution have context and value.

This SaaS company wasn't simply competing against another software platform. Its sellers were competing against the status quo and the buyer's belief that there was no compelling reason to change it.

THE SOLUTION

First, Teach the Team to Sell an Innovation

Funnel Clarity introduced research-based sales practices for selling an innovation, then reinforced and coached those skills as the team put them into practice. The fundamentals weren't different from those used in mature markets. What changed was how and when they were applied.

Sellers learned not to rush toward the product. Discovery helped buyers examine problems they had learned to tolerate and envision what eliminating them could mean for the business. Only then did it make sense to demonstrate how the SaaS platform could deliver that outcome.

The company began penetrating a market where it previously had little foothold...then the market changed.

The Market Caught Up

Over the next five to six years, competing offerings entered the market and buyers became increasingly familiar with the type of solution the company was selling. Their innovation was becoming an established category.

Funnel Clarity adjusted the sales approach accordingly.

Funnel Clarity continued working with the company as its products changed, its market matured, and its sales organization grew from roughly 10 people to approximately 70.

Building the Sales Organization Around the Buyer

As the company scaled, its sales organization became increasingly specialized. Funnel Clarity's work eventually spanned six distinct sales functions across the revenue organization:

1. Nurture: Teams learned to work with prospects not yet ready to buy, creating the often-elusive integration between marketing and sales.
2. SDRs: Reps learned Funnel Clarity's research-based prospecting practices, which delivered 600% greater results, measured by pre-qualified meetings booked per unit of prospecting time. They also learned to distinguish between prospects requiring long-term follow-up, nurture, or an AE conversation.
3. Account Executives: AEs developed skills in sales call execution, Funnel Clarity's four-question approach to qualification, and opportunity management.
4. Sales Engineers: Technical experts were incorporated when their expertise could help advance a buyer's decision.
5. Renewal: Teams learned to reduce competitive exposure, make renewal frictionless, and identify expansion opportunities for AEs.
6. Sales Management: Managers learned what to inspect, reinforce, and celebrate, and where additional development was needed. The company ultimately outsourced its sales coaching to Funnel Clarity.

Across all six functions, the common thread was evidence:

• SDRs needed evidence that someone warranted a meeting.
• AEs needed evidence that an opportunity belonged in the funnel.
• Managers needed evidence of what was preventing an opportunity from advancing.
• Renewal teams needed evidence of where an account could expand.
  

Ongoing coaching and reinforcement helped turn those practices into sustained sales behavior.

THE SALES ORGANIZATION HAS TO EVOLVE WITH THE MARKET

A company selling something buyers have never encountered does not face the same sales challenge as an established category leader defending its position against competitors. Yet organizations routinely expect the same sales methodology and application to work regardless of where they are in that evolution.

This company's experience suggests a different approach:

• Diagnose the market
• Understand what buyers need from sellers
• Build the skills around that reality
• Reinforce them until they become routine behaviors
• And adapt the application as the market changes

If your market, buyers, or business have changed but your sales approach hasn't adapted to these changes, talk to Funnel Clarity. We'll help you identify what your sales organization needs now and build the skills to execute it.