Most software-as-a-service (SaaS) purchases aren’t one and done. Buyers don’t just walk into a store (or your site, that is), fill up their cart, and call it a day especially not for new, potentially unknown products or those that are complicated or expensive.
Your team and funnel typically have to put in a lot of work before sales are made. In most cases, your buyers are heading into a long-term relationship with you, and one that will likely involve setup time and learning curves.
They want to make sure that they’re making the right decision.
On your end, that means it takes time to attract leads, educate them about your industry, build awareness and trust around your product, demo the software, and negotiate SaaS contracts.
Eighty-seven days, to be exact. According to Hubspot, that’s the length of the average SaaS sales cycle. If your timelines aren’t quite where you want them to be, you can take steps to accelerate the process.
Here are 10 tips for moving your leads more quickly through the buyer journey:
1. Zero in on your audience
You’ve heard the saying “Sell to everyone and you see to no one.” To make sure you’re attracting the right leads and moving them through the funnel towards a sale, you first need to be super clear on who you’re targeting.
Research your ideal customers. Talk to them. Learn about their pain points and be clear about the problem your service solves.
2. Make sure everyone is on the same page
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that sales and marketing are powering the same engine. Align your sales and marketing teams and efforts, and work together to learn about ideal customers, define personas, and nail down consistent messaging.
Consistency across teams helps improve customer retention, minimize wasted resources, and increase revenue.
3. Use a lead management system
Customer relationship management systems (CRMs), including Hubspot and Salesforce, automatically capture, distribute, nurture, and prioritize leads, so your sales team can spend more time converting them.
When those tasks are automated, reps can spend less time with people who aren’t ready to buy. With everyone getting full visibility into the lead gen pipeline, all stakeholders can see communication history and monitor client activity, such as website downloads, and sales reps can strike when the iron is hot, without pouncing too early or, conversely, missing the window.
4. Put the right content in front of the right eyes
Time is of the essence. To help move your buyers quickly through your pipeline, including attracting leads, engaging them as they learn about your company and your solution, and delighting them after they sign up, you’ll need to provide valuable content that keeps them coming back.
Be sure to keep your content organized, so you can, on one hand, know what’s already been used (and when and where) and, on the other hand, repurpose content that’s been successful. That way your CRM and your sales team can get people the information they need when they need it throughout the sales process.
5. Be prepared for questions and objections
Remember that 87-day cycle? During that time, prospects will likely be turning your offer over, upside-down, and inside-out trying to figure out how it works and what it will mean for them—what integration, long-term investment, and so on will be like.
Listen to what they say, and put yourself in their shoes to get a good understanding of the objections they’ll throw at you so you can plan appropriate responses. Customers who feel validated and understood are more likely to see your service as the solution they need and move through the sales cycle faster.
6. Be crystal clear about pricing
Early in your sales conversations, make sure your customer understands your billing options. If unexpected fees pop up at the eleventh hour, you risk a purchasing delay, and they could cancel the contract altogether. Transparent pricing allows your customer to compare apples to apples and get the approvals they need to move forward.
7. Streamline the sales process
Scheduling tools such as Acuity or Calendly take the hassle out of setting up meetings. Integrate with your calendar and video conferencing tools to save time, avoid time-zone mix-ups, and minimize frustrating back-and-forth emails.
8. Use a sales enablement tool
With sales enablement platforms like Salesloft or Gong, you can analyze communication touchpoints throughout the sales funnel and use actual data from your team to drive performance. See where reps are doing well and where they can improve. Give your salespeople the personalized strategies and coaching they need to build on successes, improve conversations, and convert more leads faster.
9. Use AI for automatic contract review
How often have you sent your contract to Legal only to have it bottlenecked for days on end? The review process can be slow, and dictated by your lawyers’ priorities. If you’re using an outsourced lawyer, you don’t even have visibility into when they’re working or not.
An AI-based contract review platform can help you avoid those delays, reduce turnaround times, and keep your deals on track. Superlegal uses insights from current trends and past contracts to create new documents, reuse previously approved templates, and anticipate revision requests. It simplifies SaaS contract negotiation, reduces legal fees, and helps your team close deals faster.
10. Make it easy to get contracts signed
As more companies move to remote-first and hybrid staffing policies, digital signatures have become standard. If you want the sale and want to seal the deal quickly, you’ll need to make it easy for your customers to get the necessary documentation signed. Send your contracts through Superlegal to make signing as easy as clicking and submitting.
A solid, streamlined sales process, enhanced by the right platforms and technology, is the key to reducing the amount of time between capturing a lead and celebrating the sale. Evaluate your processes regularly to see where you can save time throughout the buyer process and convert leads more efficiently.
When negotiating contracts, every minute counts. Superlegal makes sure that you lock your deals in while they’re hot while keeping you protected with compliant and bulletproof contracts.
Ready to see how to negotiate SaaS contracts faster with AI? Try Superlegal for free today.