Don’t sell, productize

Your product is your #1 sales tool.

I met this great investor from one of the largest VCs in the bay area. It was a great conversation, getting great insights from this very wise person. During the meeting I asked what is the main role of the modern salesman in the B2B SaaS space, the person thought for some time and then answered: “Understanding the customer’s needs, is the most important piece, once you understand what the customer needs then you show him the real values of your products and you can make the sale”.

That’s very true. This is also supported by most sales books and the latest literature. It is also implemented by most of today's sales teams. I myself led worldwide sales teams under these assumptions. It is about understanding the need and provide value to the customer. Makes a lot of sense, right? It’s just there are two inherent gaps in this approach. 

The first assumption is that we will be able to understand what the customer really needs. It is based on the hidden assumption that the customer himself knows what he needs. In reality, let’s face it, we don’t really know what we need. We may know the direction that we want to go, the general ideas of what we may need, but usually we, as potential buyers, don’t know exactly what we need. Even if we do enter a shop, we don’t really know exactly what we need or even want. We are trying things, we wear them, we experience them. That’s even stronger when we enter a website or checking an online B2B SaaS application as we can do it by one click. We want to test, we want to feel. So how can we expect the salesman to understand what the buyer may want if the buyer itself is not sure?! Potential buyers usually want to experience and not to buy. If experience is good, they may buy it.

The second assumption is about showing or exposing the values of our solution. The problem with that is that I have seen how products work, I have seen how service is provided, but I have never seen values. How to show, or expose or explain something that it’s not visible, not tangible? How can I know if I manage to do “it” or not? And if I cannot measure it, how can I know if I am doing my work properly? The truth is that “values” are something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable and it’s very abstract psychological aspect, which is related to the set of mind of the buyer. That brings us back to the experience element, you as a salesman cannot “show” values, but he can definitely experience them in his mind.

So what the salesman in this B2B SaaS world should do if he cannot fully understand what the customer needs and he cannot show him the values of the product he is selling? The SaaS concept comes with a big great promise. You can provide your product right away, with no barriers, no obstacles. No download, no setup, no integration, no hardware, no long project. You can let your customer experience the product right away, within hours, if not minutes or seconds. The new salespeople will not need to do yesterday work i.e. coordinating and scheduling endless meetings and coordination. They need to ensure the customer experience the product in the best and fastest manner.

The new salespeople need to be much more product-oriented people rather than mainly coordinators. The need to productize their relationship with the prospect, helping them to experience their journey in the most positive manner from signup to closing to after-sales. The new salespeople should be there for the customers and help them to gain early success with using the products. Sales teams and B2B SaaS companies that will focus on their customer usage journey, tracking it and understanding it, will be the successful ones in the long run. Productize, don’t sell.

And don't get me wrong. Productize does not mean show off the product, it is not about providing the customer a list of all features and explaining about each feature. It is a negative experience, rather you should let the prospect experiences the bigger picture i.e. how this product is going to change his/her life, how it's going to make his/her work much easier, how it's going to solve current pain or how it's going to bring him or her better results. Productize is not about the features list but the wider experience you should gain by using the product. And it should start from the very moment the prospect experiences the product from the very first signup or the very first demo.

Selling SaaS solutions? Your product is your #1 sales tool. Use it wisely.

Good luck!