B2B SaaS Startups; 4 Pre-launch Tips If You Want to Thrive in the Cyberspace

You've spent your precious time and resources building your very own online SaaS product with features that could revolutionize B2B workspaces, companies, or business-building strategies. But now, you don't know where or how to approach, find, and onboard clients.

It can be frustrating to see zero outbound and inbound interest after churning down days and nights perfecting your product. Well, the harsh truth is, product creation is just one minor aspect of building a functional business.

Well! Worry no more because this article covers 4 key aspects of pre-launch that'll help you acquire clients, FASTER!

Pre—What Now?

To make things simpler, we classify launching a business into three stages: pre-launch, launch and post-launch stage.

In the pre-launch stage, you decide the foundational aspects of your business, like the USP (unique selling point), brand persona, ideal client persona and pain points, marketing strategies, and so on.

This acts as a foundation for every business. If the launch is flawed from the outset, you might as well miss the moon by a mile.

#1. Don't Stress Over Perfecting The Product Too Much.

The good news is, you don't need a perfect product to start the client onboarding process. You just need the final prototype, great interface, and small feedback button in the corner.

Use feedback to gain insights into the product and improve it along the way!

Image Source: Customer Feedback Loop. Definition + Our Use Case.

#2. Premium Clients, Premium Feedback

A client that has paid well for the service understands the problem you're solving the best, which is one of the reasons why many SaaS startups charge 50 - 100% higher for early clients, add in more features and updates for them over time, and later move them to the most premium offer.

Former clients have the incentive to provide the most articulate and thoughtful feedback (there can be exceptions everywhere, however). In contrast to that, chances of receiving half-assed feedback increases exponentially with every freemium user.

#3. Create/Organize Your Sales Funnel

A sales funnel concretizes the idea of customers/clients going through different ideas of persuasion before buying the product. While the niche you serve determines your sales-funnel/marketing-strategy and the channels you choose, in the most rudimentary form, a sales funnel has 5 stages to it.

i. Precontemplation

At this stage, prospects aren't aware of your service. You can draw their attention via ads, SEO, social media, relevant forums, and influencer marketing.

ii. Contemplation

It's the stage where prospects are aware of your service and have considered looking into it. This is where most SaaS strategies diverge, because each product solves a unique problem.

Here, your only goal is to get people to consider your service. So, generally, this is where your brand persona and the biggest product benefit go. Your job is to create something so unique that people never forget it.

iii. Preparation

At this stage, prospects are planning to buy your product, so here your role is to bombard them with - not features - but benefits of your service. Ideally, you'll help them visualize using your service and reap its benefits, and create an undeniable offer.

iv. Action

This is the stage where your lead/prospect has gained enough momentum to move out of inertia and buy your service. So here using an effective call to action (like "Book an appointment", "Try your 7-day free trail", "Get instant access to XYZ (feature)", or a simple "join 30K+ users now") is crucial to making the sale.

You'd have also noticed phrases like "limited time offer," "first 10 users get XYZ benefits," or "sale ends in hh:mm:ss". Many sales pages use them to create scarcity, as it moves people out of inertia and prompts them to make a decision.

v. Maintainence

Once they're onboard, and everything's set up, it is easy to maintain them. If you don't use unified comms to organize your clientele and workforce, however, you'll find difficulty scaling and bringing in more clients at some point. I've elaborated on why you should use unified comms in this article.

You must provide consistent service, necessary updates, and monitor your competitors.

Most competitors often look for opportunities where your customer has a chance to make a switch and try something new - like their service. For example, you'd notice GoDaddy and Squarespace ads pop up after 11 months of using a hosting service.

How can they do this to you? Well, some clients often move back and forth between services to see what's best for them.

Google has a lot of datasets for determining when you'd buy something. It can be scary - or useful - to know how much information Google collects from your daily online activities. Well, there's no person sitting behind the screen grinning (or mwaha-ing) the moment you type something uncanny (it's all AI), so there's nothing to worry about!

You can maintain clients through active engagement or showing them how and why your product is better. An effective way of doing this is by creating thought-leadership and engaging content on linkedIn, Medium, YouTube, and other appropriate and relevant channels.

How to Execute The Funnel?

You can collect leads and do email marketing. So, here, you guide your leads through automated emails that move them through the funnel over the course of, say, one or two months. The number of emails you should send at each stage of the funnel depends your niche, price point, the need for your service, and many other factors. A generally accepted number is 3 - 5 email per stage.

Another effective approach to using this funnel is through content marketing, which is my full-time job. So, here, you create a blog that generates value through helpful articles targeting prospects from each and every stage of the funnel. This offers the benefit of bringing people into the funnel through every stage!

I didn't lay out options for you. Use both strategies for the best results!

You must also measure each funnel stage and take as much data from client/customers as possible, including the churn rate. Having tangible sales metrics gives enough incentive to the workforce to improve it.

#4 Be So Unique, They Can't Ignore You.

Make your brand image so unique, it's laser printed in prospects' memory, especially when you're in a saturated market.

If the giants have already set the standards, you would need to do something different to stand out. For instance, you can associate very specific figures and subjects with your brand. Check out Windscribe's promotional video, for example!

They've presented their VPN service as a type III civilization product. So, people associate their service with high-end technology, convenience and creativity.

There are a lot of minor aspects to this animation that cater to a specific audience. For example, the color pallet, space, animation style, facial expressions and references, everything in it feels like home to otakus and programmers.

Concluding

As a business owner, you want your SaaS business model to be repetitive, scalable, and profitable. To do that - hands down - the most important aspect is to measure and track everything.

If a guy says, "bullet-proof coffee is a hoax. The damn cup breaks every time you shoot it with a gun!", you don't sell bullet proof coffee to him. Some people may not understand the purpose of your product or how to use it effectively; So, it's okay to lose a few clients here and there.

Alrighty! So, these 4 tips will give you an edge in a competitive space if you execute them properly, — obviously! That's it for this one!

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