CRM Buyer Talkback

Re: Compensating SaaS Sales: Turning Hunters Into Farmers
Posted by: Andrew Petty 2008-01-21 07:34:25

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Software as a Service was designed to be a more convenient way for businesses to implement enterprise applications. However, on the vendor side, the new distribution approach complicates matters in the sales department. Traditionally, a salesperson would sell clients on-premise software packages that might cost in the neighborhood of $250,000. The client would use the application for several years before buying a new product or upgrade. With SaaS, customers can enter a variety of subscription contracts, paying a fraction of the total cost -- $7,000 a month, for instance.

Customer service...the key to long-lasting fees?
Posted by: ifranks 2008-11-27 04:30:41 In reply to: Andrew Petty

For instance, activity in 37 Signals' Forums and discussion boards about their SaaS products, especially feature requests, show that when users are left "stranded," they are likely to threaten moving to a new vendor.

Nowadays, it is easy to move to different vendors, with the theme of low brand loyalty possible because of high exportability and low costs.

I feel that customer service can be one of the keys to retaining customers: reply to discussion posts (and use these to enhance the features) set up mentoring programs,jump on solving technical issues.

Re: Compensating SaaS Sales: Turning Hunters Into Farmers
Posted by: craigklein 2008-01-21 07:35:42 In reply to: Andrew Petty

Great article!
This catch 22 is probably a big reason why Salesforce.com and most other SaaS CRM vendors have been unable to make a profit.