Reversing SaaS demos, and going extreme

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Reversing SaaS demos, and going extreme

Recently, I’ve highlighted some SaaS playbooks that are currently working for me.

In that article, I discussed how one type of SaaS product I run is b2b-like, high-ticket, and high-touch; like software with a service.

It’s nearly impossible to sell these kinds of products without demos. Currently, what we do is:

I meet with the client over a Google meet call

I do my spiel going over the product and all its features, and how they can benefit the client, usually showing a live account

I ask for the client to send over some data needed to create an account

I create an account for them and set up everything correctly

They sign in and put a card on first access

Here is what this process lacks of: conversion

For me, the #1 goal of having demos in the first place is to charge the client.

Sure, that goes hand to hand with education, and support – I mean the client surely has to have some questions. But, if the client is not either charged or on the way to being charged soon, we lost an opportunity.

I always liked the mindset of “doing it for them” (DIFT) and being of service to the client. In the current process, we are doing a lot for the client: I’m going over the product, answering questions, researching, and creating the account.

But, we are too dependent on communicating with the client, and usually, communications are slow. I’d like to minimize that time. Speed is everything.

Better yet, I’d like to make it so that if the client is slow in communicating, it’s worse for him/her. Currently, the client can change his/her mind in the period between the call and the first sign-in, whereas we have already invested a lot of resources. I’d like to reverse this.

Lately, I’ve been also ticketing with the idea of “going extreme”. There are a few things that differentiate our products from the competition, and so I find myself asking “how can we go extreme on that?”

In my case, how can I go extreme on DIFT while increasing the conversion rate?

This process has to start with a way to qualify leads, and better lead scoring. We don’t want to waste time on potential customers who don’t want to pay, don’t really need the product, or simply don’t have the ability to pay. Steps in that direction have already been done:

We do not have a trial

We do not have a free plan

We do not discount

We have a minimum required spending

Once we say no to a large proportion of potential clients and inbound requests, then the process of giving a demo can be:

I research the data needed to create an account beforehand

I create an account for them and set up everything correctly

I meet with the client over a Google meet call

I do my spiel going over the product and all its features, and how they can benefit the client, usually showing their account

I help the client sign in and put a card in on the first access

I charge the client right there

This will, hopefully, solve the conversion problem, minimize time wasted on async communications, and make clients happier.

Thanks,

Mike