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68+ Sales Tips for SaaS Founders to nail their initial sales

Read a curated list of the best Sales tips for SaaS founders with examples from Sales experts and SaaS founders to grow your SaaS.

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68+ Sales Tips for SaaS Founders to nail their initial sales
We curated the best sales tips for SaaS founders from experts to nail their initial sales. Let’s GO!
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Note: SaaSwrites is a curated growth marketing hub and resource built to help SaaS founders grow their products. We sincerely thank all our experts for their constant value addition to this world.
Updated on: 10/05/2022
We know sales is difficult for SaaS founders but it is also the number one and most important channel for growth. We curated a list of sales tips from sales experts for SaaS to help you skyrocket your sales numbers.
David Morris remarks everyone is in sales. He shares his 10 secrets to better selling

1. We're All In Sales

Stop denying it.
Whether you are:
  • Running a company or a household
  • Raising money or raising children
  • Writing a novel or a resume
You are selling. Every day. You can't sell effectively without adopting this mindset. Accept your role.

2. Sales Is Not A Trait

The traditional view of sales is personality-driven. Salesperson = BIG personality.
I have tons of charisma...and failed. That's because people buy from people they trust and are comfortable with.
Adaptability > Charm
Listening > Talking
Sales are about being adaptable and listening to your prospects.
Sales are about being adaptable and listening to your prospects.

3. People Buy Emotionally

Buying is not a rational exercise. As humans, we don't like to admit this. It makes us sound intellectually weak. So we feign objectivity. It's a ruse. Don't fall for it. Stop selling features, benefits, and technical details. Start selling feelings.

4. Questions > Answers

You want to prove your credibility to a prospect. So, you start talking. You just lost the sale. People are buying your ears not your mouth. Instead of talking, listen. Ask questions. Let the prospect talk. Show how smart you are by shutting up.

5. Once You Find Pain, Stop Selling

2 things motivate people to buy: pleasure and pain. Pain is more powerful. Ask questions to uncover pain. When you find it, stop selling anything else. Focus on relieving that pain. People buy their pain and your confidence you can fix it.

6. Go For No

People don't like being pitched. There's a natural distrust, a fear that they're getting taken advantage of. Want the immediate trust of a prospect? Tell them why it's not a fit. Let them tell you why it is. Your "No" = Their "Yes"

7. Always Have A Goal

Most people wing it when they sell. Never pick up the phone, send an email, or start a conversation without a clear goal. And your goal should rarely be closing a sale. Instead, script incremental wins at each step of the sales process. Build momentum.

8. Focus On The Experience, Not The Sale

My team won a big sale last year with a new customer.
The story:
  • Great meeting with a prospect
  • Prospect didn't buy (not a fit)
  • Told a friend about the experience
  • Friend called and bought
Bad experiences are just as powerful.

9. Get Out Of The Way

No one responds well to pressure. If you're trying to pull someone toward buying, you're literally standing between the prospect and the sale. The single most powerful thing you can do is get out of the way. Depressurize. Make it okay to say "no."

10. Manage The Internal Noise

Your most difficult customer is always the one inside of you. Self-doubt and imposter syndrome are real. Their voice says:
  • I'm a bother
  • They don't like me
  • They don't need what I'm selling
Ask: What if the opposite were true?

11. We all sell.

Let's do it better
  • Accept your role
  • Focus on skills, not personality
  • Tap into emotions
  • Shut up and listen
  • Sell pain relief
  • Go for no
  • Script incremental wins
  • Provide a great experience
  • Don't block the way
  • Silence the voice of self-doubt
Alex Hormozi shares 17 lessons you must learn to be a top 1% sales machine:

12. People want to believe you.

They inherently want to buy.
You need to help their logical brains justify that emotional decision.

13. Selling happens before you ask for the sale.

Closing begins after.

14. It's easier to handle obstacles than objections.

Obstacles are when YOU disagree with the prospect.
Objections are when THEY disagree with you.
Diffuse obstacles early, so they do not become objections and blow up the sale in the close.

15. Expect and plan for NO.

It is not failure; it is expected.
If they could decide without you, you would be unnecessary.
No is the job.
Stop being surprised.

16. If you didn't get a gasp from the price tag—

You didn't go high enough.
Raise your prices.

17. Selling correctly is the first step to helping your prospects.

Your first impression and the expectations you set will dictate the relationship.

18. Selling is helping prospects make decisions to help themselves.

The objective is not to get them to buy but to get them to decide.

19. Prioritize helping your prospects—

Not the sale.
It's not about you.

20. Seek to understand, not argue.

You cannot influence someone you do not understand.

21. Closing is a dance, not a fight.

💡
Read:
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9 steps to effortlessly close sales as a SaaS founder

21. Selling is a transference of belief over a bridge of trust.

Therefore, you must have the belief first, then build trust to transfer it.

22. You can only build trust if you genuinely want to help.

Why? Because humans are exceptionally good at sniffing out intention.
No 'hack' will replace the trust built from a genuine desire to help.

23. Belief and trust are continuums, not binaries.

It's not WHETHER they trust or believe you, but HOW MUCH that dictates the sale.
Act accordingly.

24. Closers ask hard questions—

Everyone in their lives lies to them, especially themselves.
You must ask the profound truth questions they are afraid of answering.

25. The person who cares the most about the prospect wins the deal.

Stop selling and start caring.

26. Record your sales calls. Always.

You cannot improve what you do not get feedback on.

27. Power is the ability to direct or influence people or events.

The process of influencing people is selling.
If you desire to be powerful, you must learn to sell.
Developed in the '60s by David Sandler. The Sandler Selling Method focuses on acting as a consultant, rather than a pushy salesperson. It shifts the focus from closing the sale to simply qualifying the lead.
Frankie Hildebrand shares how to use this on an actual sales call

28. Build rapport

Before I get on a call––I look for a point of personal connection to the prospect.
  • Find them on social media.
I go into every call with at least one unique point to relate to. Instead of "how's the weather?" it's "Ah I grew up near X location too."

29. Establish roles

I start by giving the backstory on me as a founder & what services my business offers. This does 2 things:
  1. it begins to form a bond (they know my story)
  1. it gives me credibility

30. The Pain

Next, I listen to what they need help with. As they talk, I'm identifying which services of mine directly solve their problem. I'm not forcing a solution onto them that "kinda" fixes it. If I find I can't solve their problem––I tell them it's not a good fit.

31. Budget

Being a straight shooter is a superpower. People will respect you for not wasting their time. Straight up ask them what their budget is. Transparency is a two-way street so be prepared to share your ballpark pricing as well.

32. Fulfillment

Now that you know their problem & budget, Propose your service as the solution to their problem. Make it obvious you are only selling them what will solve their problem. If they suspect otherwise, trust will deteriorate.

33. The Decision

Understand what YOU can do to make the decision a no-brainer.
Ask:
A. Who has the final say (the CEO, the board, etc) B. What info can you provide to make the decision easy. C. When do they want to make a decision by.
Help them help you.
 

34. Next Steps

Before leaving the call, present a concise timeline for what the next steps look like. Send a follow up email delivering on your promised timeline. This will allow you to:
  • prove you're accountable.
  • get the ball moving on the deal.
Learning how to sell is intimidating. Sticking to a framework like this will help you find your confidence & natural style.
Boss your day shares 10 golden tips

35. Set goals in writing

Before you sell anything there needs to be a plan. Create the plan and make your goal big! Remember, you are not just an designer, writer, marketer, programmer. If you are in this sales industry you are supposed to close deals. This is the end goal.

36. Establish trust

Can you sell things without trust? Sure. will you do it! Consistently? no! Pay attention to everything. Use all the information. Take your time building the sale. Your client is not in a rush and if they are, slow them down. Lead them. Be yourself.

37. Build value

Be an expert in your field. Show them why your product is the best. Don't tell them, show them! Be a trend-setter. Do not be like every other salesman. People want a good deal, so help them find one. But do it on your terms.

38. Inform/educate

This is the part of sale I think most overlook. Lets face it, most customers do not know your product as well as you do. It is your job to teach them. If you are in sales, you are an educator, you are a teacher. What makes your product stand out? Why?

39. Provide solutions

Find options that will lead to fixing their problem. Have multiple things to sell, always provide all of your options. Being able to fix people problems is priceless. Learn how to promote your solutions in a way the client can understand.

40. Inspire

This is the stage the literally can make you a millionaire. People buy from people who inspire them. Show you want to help them, be genuine. Now is when you use all of the information have to create excitement and motivate your customer into buying.

41. Create urgency

Why should they buy now? Well most times the customer cant answer this, so its your job to tell them why. Strategically position yourself to do the job when you want to. Urgency closes deals more than anything else. Be a master urgency creator.

42. Overcome objections

Expect objections. Be prepared. Do not fear objections, use them as a tool. An objection is not a "No", it is merely a defense mechanism. Learn softening/reverses. "I hear that a lot, but wouldn't you say its time to stop putting this off?"

43. Ask for the sale

Sounds simple right? It's not. The customer is talking to you for a reason, it is not because they love talking to strangers. You have spent this process selling yourself. That was the plan all along. That was your goal. Now ask for the sale.
Luke Sophinos shares the traits of a great leader

44. Improve their GTM strategy

They:
  • restructure parts of their strategy & explain why.
  • have strong opinions on what success looks like because they’ve seen it.
  • make changes FAST with under- performing people & strategy.

45. Be Realistic

They:
  • religiously crunch historical data to understand the inputs & outputs that need to happen.
  • give you a forecast they know they can hit. Even if you're not happy with it.

46. Own the room, on day 1

They:
  • earn everyone’s respect, quickly.
  • don’t let people “stay in their lane.”
  • move everyone over to what they KNOW works. If folks don’t flex, no matter how good they are, they move on.

47. Recruiting

They:
  • bring in fantastic sales reps, and quickly— typically folks who worked for them in previous roles.
  • have a great rolodex.
  • understand not having butts in seats creates unnecessary risk.
  • spend a TON OF TIME recruiting.

48. Transparency

  • They make all the inputs & outputs INSANELY TRANSPARENT. Bad salespeople hide behind corners.
  • Good ones create a dashboard/spreadsheet on day 1 that shows the whole team:
  1. Are we hitting our inputs (ie daily activity requisites)?
  1. What are the resulting outputs?
Good sales leaders know if a quarter is going to be missed long before anyone else can see it—and they’ll make that known.
 
George Ten shares the basic structure for a sales page

49. Basic structure you should use for your sales page

The perfect sales structure to close any SaaS deal.
The perfect sales structure to close any SaaS deal.
  • Hook - reel them in
  • Lead - create desire
  • Body copy - handle objections
  • Offer - what you sell
  • Bonuses - sweeten the deal
  • Guarantee - risk reversal
Play with the order.
Diego shares the structure for your next sales funnel

50. Follow this structure for your sales funnel:

  • Here's what I’ve got.
  • Here's what it'll do for you.
  • Here's how it works.
  • Here's what I want you to do next.
  • Here's why it's safe and smart for you to do.
With a good offer and good targeting you can't lose.
 
Lawrence shares 8 Things ALL Rookie Sales People Do

51. Ask How Are You?

Want to make yourself sound fake? Ask how are you with "oh great" after it to someone you don't know.
They know you don't care. Also what if things were bad? What if their dog just died? You going to buy them a poodle? Never say How Are You

52. Make Small Talk

"Oh you are from Seattle oh my god I went on holiday there once" You think the client cares? You think they are going to hand over 10 - 100k to you because you went to seattle once. The small talk doesn't build rapport it makes you look like a suck up.

53. Interrupt The Prospect

"Oh absolutely" "hmmm hmmm" "Couldn't agree more". Again just more desperation to make yourself look like you understand the client. Best way to understand someone is to listen and then ask question to go deeper once they are done. Not interrupt them

54. Too Much Energy

Imagine walking into a Doctors office and the Doctor was super pumped up trying to sell you something. You would run out of there faster than usain bolt in his prime. Chill out, you are in control, the one in the control never goes over the top. Ask questions

55. Not Give The Client A Way Out

Only desperate sales people want to sell to everyone and anyone. Professionals want to make sure they are a fit and if they are not they are prepared to let them go and the client can feel that energy

56. Talk About Yourself

Me, Me, Me I did this once. Again another sub-concious desperation play to get the client to think you know what you are doing. They don't care about you. They want their problem fixed and that is it.

57. Talk About Features

They don't care how your product works. They care about you fixing their problem and how that is going to look and what the result was going to be. Everything else is just noise

58. Come Across Desperate

Both potential clients and Women can tell when a Man is desperate. There is a smell in the air that you cannot get rid off. Like that "gilly needs a sale" guy from the simpsons. Nobody buys from him. Be in control and be confident.
Capo shares 10 Words/Phrases You MUST Eliminate From Your Sales Vocabulary

59. "Possibly"

Do not ask them if they would *possibly * be interested in hopping on a call. No one wants to give their time of day to someone who is uncertain of their value

60. "Just"

"Just following up", "Just checking in" No! Stop. You are downplaying the importance of your message & you are exuding an aura of self-doubt. You are not "just" following up, you are simply following up

61. "Probably"

"I can probably get that done for you". Don't say anything until you are certain. If you are uncertain but need to tell them something, you can always under-promise & over-deliver. This will help shift their perception of you from a seller to a reliable advisor

62. "Try"

"I'll try to get that for you". This is business. There are no participation trophies. Trying doesn't put $ in the bank. All this says is that you are not confident in your ability to deliver And if that's the case, who would want to buy from you?
Instead, you can say something like "That is not something we usually do for reasons XYZ. However, I will make a case for you & let you know if we can make an exception". This comes across as professional and confident while making them feel like they are getting VIP treatment.

63. "I think"

Do I really need to explain this one? Remember, a great seller is simply an advisor & a problem solver. You're an awfully shitty problem solver if you "think" you have a solution. Instead, you will position yourself as an information quarterback
Instead,
"Let me check in with our solutions engineer & I'll get right back to you"
"That's a question best suited for our XYZ Expert. I'm going to get in touch with him & circle back with you"
But position yourself as someone with access to the knowledge of industry professionals & demonstrated that I'm only willing to share high-quality/verified information. You cannot tell them right away. Then they feel good about your reliability & that's all that matters.

64. "To be honest,"

Why do you need to say that? Are you not always honest? If you were always honest, you wouldn't need to say that. So you're not honest. Seems a little risky to buy from a liar. Leave that out & just get straight to the point.

65. "I'm sorry"

Apologizing is necessary sometimes. But "sorry" is a low-energy word. "My apologies, but I'll need to reschedule today's call". You are a valuable asset & shit happens, move on. Also, never apologize for selling.
Instead,
"Sorry to bother you" says you don't have anything of value to offer, If you truly had something of value, why would you be sorry? You're doing them a favor. If they feel bothered, it's their loss - move on!

66. "Buy"

Yes, you are selling them something & they are going to "buy". But when you say buy, they feel pain. No one likes spending. They like the results, "would you implement this solution if it could produce XYZ results?" Induces a positive reaction to the same question.

67. "Haven't heard from you in a while"

No shit, they're avoiding you. Do you think reminding them that they are avoiding you is going to help the situation? You need to flip it around & get them engaged again. Hit them with a new value or something that induces FOMO.

68. "Contract"

"When do you think you'll have the signed contract?" Like "buy", they feel pain when they hear a contract. If you've been on the receiving end, you know it's a painful process. Remember you always want to induce positive emotions with your language.
  • Ask the same question, that makes them feel good about the results they'll get. "When do you anticipate the MSA arriving? My team is on standby and ready to begin XYZ immediately upon receipt.
MSA = Master Service Agreement = Contract
The difference? - "MSA" doesn't sting quite like a "contract" does and you have again made them feel good thinking about the results they desire.
You want to exclude all words that convey doubt or uncertainty. Avoid phrases that remind them of the painful parts of the process. Rephrase to remind them of the benefits they will reap and use words that portray confidence, trustworthiness, and reliability.
 
 

Written by

Ricky
Ricky

Ricky is the founder of SaaSwrites. A SaaS founder himself, Ricky found it difficult to grow and market his product after building it. While networking on Twitter with founders, he realized there was a big gap in a platform that can truly help SaaS founders and makers with Marketing. He started SaaSwrites to bring the best marketing and growth resources. Ricky is an expert in SaaS Marketing offering SaaS channel strategy consulting services to SaaS companies. He also writes about SaaS marketing tools that help people with marketing. Ricky is also the founder of a B2B SaaS product - Beejek (a digital receipt platform for retail stores) Say Hi to Ricky @rickywrites on Twitter.

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