All You Need to Know About the Growing Complexity of the SaaS Sales Cycle

Once upon a time, the SaaS sales cycle was relatively straightforward. All you had to do was demo your service, offer a free trial, get the contract signed, and onboard the customer. Unfortunately, in the full-blown digital age, those days are long gone. In today’s cutthroat online digital marketing arena, sales teams have to be battle-ready or risk heavy defeats in lead generation for SaaS.

In today’s post, we take a closer look at what’s driving the increasingly intricate buying journey that is fraught with numerous pitfalls and demands a higher level of marketing competence and technological acumen from professionals on the lead generation frontlines. Let’s break it down to get a closer look at the complexities in play.

Why are SaaS sales cycles becoming longer?

When the industry was a novelty and the playfield was occupied by companies with little competition, people turned to SaaS providers to solve specific problems. Nowadays, businesses seek comprehensive solutions that integrate various fields seamlessly with their existing workflows. This has created a greater demand for customization implementation and agility in anticipating potential stumbling blocks. Here are 6 reasons behind the growingly complex SaaS sales cycle.

1. Growing number of decision-makers

Just a decade ago, a single manager or director was all it took to greenlight a SaaS purchase. Now, buying committees that carefully deliberate every move have become the norm. The average B2B buying group consists of 5-10 stakeholders and IT security and compliance teams, so many more people are asked to have a say. For SaaS sales teams, this means longer sales cycles and tailored messaging that speaks to different people.

2. Product-led growth changed the game

The rise of product-led growth (PLG) models has added a whole new layer of complexity. In sales-led models of yesteryear, the sales team exercised much greater control over the buyer’s journey. Since many buyers now gain experience with the product before coming into contact with the sales team, SaaS companies must focus more on user adoption and engagement rather than just acquisition. 

3. Buyers are more savvy than before

As we’ve outlined above, buyers don’t rely on sales reps for information. With reviews strewn all around the web on various portals, threads, and video tutorials, buyers today have often narrowed down their options and have a good idea of what they want. This makes the job of SaaS sales teams harder and pushes them to personalize their approach. In many ways, sales reps act as consultants who nudge buyers in the desired direction.

4. Security & compliance play an ever-increasing role

With the increase in the number of users and transactions, the digital realm has been making headlines for large-scale data breaches and internet frauds. This in turn led to regulations such as CCPA and GDPR that have further complicated the SaaS sales process. Most deals now involve security questions, third-party audits, and legal reviews prolonging what was once a straightforward process into weeks and even months of back-and-forth.

5. Subscription fatigue is creeping in

Some are warning that due to increasing SaaS sprawl, we are slowly arriving at a saturation point. The rising number of subscriptions and a stack of software tools have led finance teams to crack down on unnecessary subscriptions and exert pressure on the decision-makers to consolidate vendors instead of constantly adding new ones.

6. Longer sales cycles mean greater churn risks

When added together, all these factors combine to prolong the sales cycle from a few weeks or a month to a months-long process. This in turn brings its own set of challenges. Today, even after closing the deal, the work isn’t over. Clients and customers expect support in ongoing adoption or they may downgrade or cancel their subscription. This has worked to blur once clear lines between sales, marketing, and customer support, with post-sales engagement now playing a crucial part in nurturing long-term customer relationships.

Which digital marketing agency excels in high-quality lead generation for SaaS?

For all those who are aware of the importance of professional lead gen for SaaS companies, businesses who aren’t sure how CRM can raise their lead gen to the next level, and individuals who want to learn about the difference between demand generation and lead gen, Lead Fly is here to provide the answers. Just give our specialist 15 minutes of your time and we’ll change the way you look at SaaS digital marketing.

If you’re still a slave to spreadsheets and a patchwork of disconnected solutions, now’s the time to let professionals streamline and optimize your approach. Take flight with Lead Fly, contact us today!