Everything You Need To Know About SaaS Sales

SaaS sales is the busiest, most exciting, and most innovative area of sales you probably haven't heard about (if you don’t work in sales, that is). 

So much of our modern sales and marketing industries lean on the flexibility and modular scalability of SaaS platforms, and as more and more of our communications, tech, data sharing, and server industries move into the cloud, SaaS has become a ubiquitous catch-all term for internet-based services and products delivered in packaged deals to a global customer base. 

But working in SaaS sales takes a particularly talented, tech-focussed, product-obsessed, and patient salesperson, and is not for the sales faint-hearted. However, to develop a career in SaaS sales is to work at the forefront of emerging businesses that straddle the globe.

Here is everything you need to know about working in SaaS sales!

What is SaaS Sales?

SaaS stands for “Software as a Service”. This service is provided exclusively via the internet, with the framework, security, and support structures all provided by an external vendor. Think of Hubspot, Salesforce, Spotify, and Amazon Web Services: some of the world's biggest and most established companies selling services and providing products online.

SaaS sales is the process of selling this web-based software to customers.

What are the main responsibilities of a SaaS salesperson?

SaaS sales parallel workflows and responsibilities in other lines of sales. However, due to the unique nature of SaaS verticals (more on that later), SaaS sales pipelines are famously fluid, and SaaS sales commonly intersect with marketing, product development, and customer service. 

As such, SaaS sales professionals can be expected to work on a 360-degree brand advocacy basis, selling not only the product and its unique solution, but the range of support networks, product advancements, and scalable solutions all via modular, customer-focused upselling. This customization of both product and purchasing makes SaaS a lucrative and trusted mode of software provision.

What can SaaS sales professionals expect to earn?

According to ZipRecruiter, the average SaaS sales salary is $78,898 as of October 2021.

While each SaaS provider will vary their commission structures, the average commission percentage is 10%. 

However, due to the variances in how SaaS platforms are paid for by customers (based on either monthly revenue or annual revenue), and the fact some SaaS providers have rolling month by month contracts (therefore attrition rates are additional variables) other commission structures can be introduced, such as accelerator or tiered commission structures, or more bespoke commission payment schemes. 

Do you need experience to work in SaaS sales?

Yes, and not just sales experience. SaaS sales is ostensibly a tech sales role, but bigger. The SaaS market is huge - in 2018 there were 6,000+ SaaS companies in just marketing, and in the USA there are approx 15,000 SaaS companies currently plying their trade in 2021, with a combined user base numbering 15 billion  - which means SaaS sales professionals have to be sales savvy and technically proficient enough to master their platform, compete against others, and rapidly adjust communications, budgets, offers and customer service to fit a specific customer profile. 

Conversion of SaaS leads into SaaS customers differs from the mainline sales vertices - there are three distinct sales “conversation” paths SaaS customers can walk. Potential customers can either purchase via:

A self-service model (see Spotify or Mailchimp) requires (almost) no contact from any particular sales figure to complete a sale. These are often lead nurtured through freemium offers or small monthly payment plans. Although direct B2C sales are mostly delivered via effective marketing via website support once purchased, SaaS reps can leverage mailing lists to upsell more expensive or elite subscriptions.

Or

Transactional Sales. This is the face-to-face service, where the key differentiator in a SaaS salesperson’s approach will be converting nurtured leads into customer demos or enterprise sales presentations. 

This is where a SaaS salesperson shines - in front of stakeholders, displaying the service to decision-makers, and involving other critical members of the SaaS development team to discuss the platform and answer any questions a client may have. Hence the importance of the SaaS sales team to be closely aligned with product development and customer service.

Can I work in SaaS sales without a degree?

Yes. Experience in sales, proficiency for technical solutions, and being customer-focused in everything you do are the key competencies of a successful SaaS sales rep. Degrees can help in product development, and when considering high-level enterprise and business considerations of mass SaaS rollouts such as financial and long-term contractual decision making. But in the main the best SaaS salespeople are those who can communicate with agility, propose unique and customizable solutions through effective collaboration with marketing, and do so consistently across multiple channels, all whilst long-term lead nurturing.