Many entrepreneurs see SaaS as profitable since it is still in the early stages of its theoretically infinite lifetime, with its prime period still ahead.

So, how does one get on board this brand-new train that’s just left the station and proceed to various fascinating locations while getting to profitability as quickly as possible and with the fewest resources?

Below are a few empirically-based hacks to help you reclaim your time and save money.

1. Make your trials short

A lengthy trial may appear to be a great approach to attract a customer, but you’re actually damaging your startup. Trials should not last more than 14 days for 99% of businesses. This is why.

The majority of consumers do not take advantage of free trials for the whole length. If you examine your data, you’ll notice that the great majority of your trial consumers leave within three days.

Users are more likely to take a brief trial seriously. Your prospects will put off making a decision, and when they do, they will forget. They’re more inclined to try your stuff right away if the trial time is shorter.

Reduce the expense of acquiring new customers. When you reduce the length of your trial, you also reduce the length of your sales cycle. If you can cut your sales cycle from six to three weeks, you’ll save a lot of money on customer acquisition.

If your conversion rate is still poor after reducing your trial, use one of these three techniques to get lost trial leads to activate.

2. Make your email marketing more effective

Most of your prospects will forget about you within hours of signing up for your trial unless you have a fantastic email campaign. Here are three ways to maximize the effectiveness of your drip email campaign.

Use email addresses that are “human” in nature. Sending an email from a department is never a good idea. Use “YourName@YourBusiness.com” instead of “Sales@YourBusiness.com.”

Send emails that are based on your activities. If no one is labeling your emails “spam,” maybe you’re not sending enough emails, such as when they sign up, visit the account or cancellation page, or when their trial is set to finish, your drip campaign should automatically contact your prospects.

Close, our sales platform integrates with a variety of sophisticated automation technologies that make managing drip campaigns a breeze. Use our 14-day free trial to see for yourself.

3. Contact your trial signups right away

The majority of new SaaS companies do not contact their trial consumers, and those that do so generally wait until the last day. They have no idea how to market SaaS. You should contact every single trial user within five minutes of signing up in the early stages of your business. If you accomplish that, you’ll be able to:

Improve your reach rate dramatically. There’s a strong probability the prospect is still sitting at their computer, thinking about your goods. The longer you wait, the less likely your potential client will respond.

Prospects can be quickly qualified or disqualified. Before you offer to complete the transaction, be sure your solution is a suitable fit for your prospect’s demands. If it isn’t, you may utilize the call to assist them in looking into alternative possibilities.

Effectively deal with objections. The optimum setting for properly managing objections is a controlled phone call. If they don’t have any, you might utilize this opportunity to address frequent concerns ahead of time.

The consumer belongs to the company that understands them. If you don’t pick up the phone and get to know your trial users, they won’t become customers.

4. Give short, value-focused demos

When it comes to demonstrations, the most common error I see companies make is approaching them like a training session. Your lead doesn’t need (or even want) to see all of your product’s features. They’re curious as to how it will assist them in becoming more successful. Here are three methods for doing effective product demonstrations.

First and foremost, qualify. Demos should not be used to qualify candidates. Before you deliver a demo to a lead, make sure they are qualified.

Keep it brief. 30–60 minutes is very lengthy. You don’t know your product or your prospect if you can’t describe how it benefits them in less than 15 minutes.

Benefits should take precedence over features. Your customers aren’t interested in every single button on your user interface. Tell them what your product does for them rather than what it does for you.

A successful product demo is more of a value demonstration than a training course. You’ll be a lot more productive if you approach it that way.

5. Follow up ruthlessly

On the first call, you’re unlikely to seal a transaction. Your ability to follow up on sales leads is critical to your startup’s success. How often do you do it?

Follow up on any leads who have shown an interest in your goods. Don’t accept silence or “maybe” as an answer; maybes will destroy your startup. Continue calling and emailing until you receive a definitive “yes” or “no.”

Follow this 14-day schedule if the lead is entirely cold:
Day 1: The first point of interaction.
Day 3: First follow-up. Send a shorter version of your first message at a different time of day.
Day 7: This is the second follow-up. Restate your call to action and reach out at a different time of day.
Day 14: This is the third follow-up. Send the break-up email if you haven’t received a response from your lead. This is the point at which response rates soar.

Move on to other prospective leads if you don’t get a response to your break-up email.

6. Set your prices (really) high

Companies that rely on pricing to compete aren’t confident in their offerings. They believe that discounting their answer is the only way to make it feasible.

Your product’s worth, not its price, should make it competitive.
. When you’ve got it right, you’ll be able to say:
“You’re insane, I’d never pay that!” say 30% of your prospects.
“Your product is incredibly affordable,” remark 30% of your prospects.
“Your product is pricey, but worth the price,” 40% of your prospects say.

It’s ok to charge too much for some possibilities. In fact, your SaaS solution is too inexpensive if you never lose transactions over cost.

7. Promote yearly prepaid plans

SaaS products are popular among startups because they provide consistent monthly revenue. While those plans may provide a steady stream of income, it is a sluggish trickle.

You need a cascade of money, not a trickle, to expand your SaaS firm. Consider giving your customers a discount if they purchase a prepaid yearly plan.

Although this reduces total income, for the time being, it provides you with rapid access to significant cash flow. This additional income might be used to recruit salespeople, expand into new areas, or improve your product.

8. Don’t provide any discounts

Discounts may appear to be a terrific method to entice hesitant customers to join your team, but they really do more damage than good. It’s not how SaaS is sold. This is why:

Salespeople become sluggish as a result of discounts. It’s difficult to sell prospects on their worth, but it’s simple to cut the price. When discounts are available, expect your salesmen to take advantage of them.

Discounts make revenue forecasting hard. When every new consumer pays a different price, it’s impossible to predict how much money you’ll make next week, let alone next year.

Discounts are detrimental to a company’s brand. Customers speak, and they won’t be thrilled if they find out that their competitors are receiving the same thing for less money.

You must have a stringent discount policy that you must adhere to. We don’t advocate giving discounts unless you’re selling prepaid yearly plans.

9. Never ever close a bad deal

Never sell to those who aren’t qualified. Saying “no” to a consumer who wants to give you money is sometimes necessary. It may be enticing to close a quick sale, but the cost of churn will always outweigh the short-term gain.
Here’s why selling to the wrong clients will put your SaaS company out of business.

You will not be successful if you sell to an unqualified prospect. They’ll have a lot of issues and will need a lot of help. Unfavorable feedback from these clients demoralizes your workforce, and they begin sharing negative evaluations online.

They’ll eventually go, and they’ll blame your product for their demise.

They’ll be correct. It’s your job to keep bad consumers from purchasing your stuff. Follow these four steps to ensure that each lead is correctly qualified:
Make a perfect client profile.
Determine your prospect’s requirements.
Figure out how they make decisions.
Determine who your competitors are.

After you’ve completed those stages, you’ll know if the prospect is a suitable fit for your product. It’s alright if they aren’t. That is, assist them in finding a solution before moving on to other leads. This is how to properly market SaaS.

10. Why you should recruit hustlers instead of salespeople for your business

LinkedIn. Craigslist. Job posting sites. When 90 percent of entrepreneurs are looking for SaaS salespeople, they look in these locations. For one reason, you’re seeking in the wrong places: excellent salesmen are too busy selling to be unemployed.

Instead, you’re much more likely to recruit terrible salesmen, which is a costly error for early-stage businesses. If you want to know where to find good salesmen and how to hire them, read on.