What Your SaaS Sales Team is Doing Wrong

The reality is that the vast majority of SaaS salespeople are struggling. Even if they make sales, they’re going about it wrong. Often, the only reason they’re succeeding is that they’re pushing out huge numbers of messages, but are getting a low rate of return.

In this blog, we’re going to tell you a few things you’re (probably) doing wrong with your initial sales emails. If you’re not, congratulations; you’re in the minority. Chances are, you’re not doing all of these things well.

The good news is you can fix it immediately. It just requires a little change in message or behavior.

In this blog, we’re going to use a non-SaaS scenario as an example. We’re doing that so you’re not focused on the content, as much as the message. If we use a SaaS as an example, too many readers will think about if it’s realistic or how they can use it. We want you to focus on the general skill, not the specific content.

So let’s jump right in!

“It’s all about me”

Dear Susan,

My name is John Doe. I’ve been the sales director at Acme Corporation for 12 years. 
We specialize in GPS and IoT devices. For over 15 years, our company has been on the leading edge of these technologies. 

Our design, the Viper, has received numerous awards and was featured in GPS magazine.
We’re ready to provide the best technology at a great price.

Please call me and let me know how we can help your company.

Sincerely,
John Doe

[email protected]

What is wrong with this email? Everything. It’s all about the author. There’s no mention of the buyer, her pain points, her needs, even her company name. 

Starting a business relationship is a bit like dating. If, on the first introduction, all you did was talk about yourself, your accomplishments, and how amazing you are, do you think your chances of getting a second date are any good?

Talk about them. Talk about their needs and how you can help.

Dear Susan,

Hope all is well at Sunshine Motors.
My name is John Doe from Fake GPS Company. 

Are you experiencing the same equipment shortages that your competitors are because the manufacturers are low on microchips?
I saw in the news where Sunshine had to scale back operations due to a lack of microprocessors. 

The article didn’t mention specifics, but if part of the hold-up is in your GPS tracking technology, Fake might be able to help. We have a massive supply of the chips we need to keep working and we have a contract with a manufacturer that places our needs at the head of the line if we need more.

Please reach out to me if it’s the GPS or IoT systems that are slowing your production. We might be able to help.

I will call next Tuesday to touch base as well to see if there’s anything I can help you with.

Take care.
John

212-555-1212

[email protected]

The difference is that the second email talks about Susan, her needs, and even refers to information John found about her company. In other words, it’s personal and attentive, not all about him and his accomplishments.

The Breathless Email

For this one, you won’t need an example. Open your spam folder and take a look at many of the emails there.

What we’re calling the Breathless Email is that introduction email that goes on for pages and pages. It gives you the history of the company, the author, every product they offer, how their children are doing in school, and the recipe for what they had for lunch last Thursday. 

The Breathless Email is sent in the hopes that the recipient will read it and be so impressed that they’ll call or write back. The author tries to list every selling point they can think of in a single email.

Don’t do this. First of all, the average time that someone will spend reading an email is 13 seconds.
Let’s do a little math:

238 words are the average that an adult can read in one minute.
238/60 = 3.97 the average number of words in second (round that off to 4)
4 x 13 = 52. Multiply the average time someone spends reading email times the average number of words per second and you get 52. You have 52 words to say what you need to say.

Subtract 3 for the greeting and 3 for the closing and you have 46 words.

To say what you need to in 46 words means you have to hone your message to an “elevator speech,” a speech that explains your offering in less than 13 seconds or the time you might get someone’s attention in an elevator.
It’s not very much. 

The paragraph in italics is 46 words. That’s it. That’s what you have to sell your products and services in most cases.

If you scroll back up and look at the email to Susan, you’ll see the text in blue. That’s 54 words.
John has introduced himself, his company, greeted her politely and brought up her major pain point. If she’s even remotely interested in finding someone to solve the problem, she’ll keep reading.

Note: By the time the 13 seconds are over, she knows exactly why John’s writing to her and why she should keep reading.

Follow-Through

Many salespeople send out one message and hope it will work. There are companies out there that will do “email blasts” to 5 million people and tell you they get as many as 25 sales in a single day. 

Do that math. 25 / 5,000,000 = .000005. That’s a terrible rate of return.

Don’t send a single breathless email blast. Instead, follow up with your recipients.
For example, for a cold email series, you should hit different pain points in separate messages. 

Let’s look at a series from John to Susan about her automotive GPS systems. The major themes might go like this:

1. Lack of microchips
2. Reliable partner
3. About Fake GPS and their accomplishments
4. Great prices
5. Delivery in 48 hours
6. Request to schedule a call

In the Breathless Email mentioned above, the authors try to shove all of that in a single email.

A good SaaS sales team will send multiple emails (and make calls, send SMS messages, and mail a greeting card), each one hitting a pain point. And none of them over 100 words.

In a legendary study from years ago, Microsoft published that it took 13 touches to make a sale.
(Source: Microsoft)

Since then, many people have said it’s 6 to 8, 8 to 12, 19 to 25. In other words, everyone is getting their own numbers.

One thing is clear: you have to contact your prospects many times to get the sale!
Don’t stop with an email or voicemail. Keep reaching out. And do it like a human. Don’t use a robocaller, like those auto warranty people. Does anyone really fall for that?

Stay Awesome!

That’s it for now. There’s a lot more we can highlight, but those are the major points that most SaaS teams are doing wrong in their initial sales emails.

Stay awesome! Use some of this advice. Stay tuned here for more advice on how to make sales better and faster for your SaaS.