Steve was recently interviewed by Elizabeth Doty for an article in PWC’s Strategy + Business. The topic centered on the key promises that every successful sales team must make (and keep) before, during and after the sale. Enjoy!
Three Promises Every Sales Team Needs to Make — and Keep
There’s no denying that SaaS (what I generally refer to as “Something as a Service”) is a hot trend that’s growing and one that appears here to stay. What I don’t believe many organizations who are transitioning to or contemplating the shift to SaaS appreciate are the far reaching implications of culture, organization and processes this change entails. By far, the most common mistake I see when making this transition is assuming the only demonstrable difference is simply a change in “payment terms.” The selling organization can continue selling the same way, to the same customer contacts, and manage the account after the sale just like they have in the past. This general assumption leads to many challenges and pitfalls and I’ll try to summarize the key ones here.
When asked by clients, who really understands (and has successfully implemented) the transition from the traditional “perpetual license” model to a SaaS model, the first company that always comes to mind is Coupa Software. They get the unique differences of a subscription based business and have effectively organized around those differences. When I first met their CEO, Rob Bernshteyn, I joked that I was jealous he had beaten me to the phrase “Value as a Service” (VaaS) – for that is truly what we are talking about – and where the market is headed. I hope you enjoy this informative blog from Coupa Software.–Steve
