Currently, most software providers deliver applications as Software as a Service. In fact, SaaS sales represent over three-fourths of all SaaS delivery models because customers want choices of methods to consume software applications. If you are considering this model for your business, here are seven of the most important reasons to move toward SaaS-based sales processes.
1. Marketing to new customers
Traditionally, software delivery models involved customers buying hardware, implementing it on-site, and then deploying the software. That type of conventional environment adds expenses and complexity that many consumers prefer to avoid. Utilizing software as a service offers a simpler financial model. Instead of a large investment to purchase dedicated hardware, customers can pay a monthly fee that aligns with their operational budget. Software providers offering SaaS sales can reach a wider base of customers.
2. Shortened deployment times
SaaS reduces implementation time by standardizing the launch of a software solution. Technical environments vary between customers, particularly when deploying an on-site software program, resulting in the software provider inheriting and needing to resolve the unique problems. Cloud deployment standardizes the environment, making implementation a routine process. Automation and orchestration technologies can also be leveraged to increase customer satisfaction, drive down consumption times, and further streamline deployment. Products can also be delivered faster and more affordably than with more traditional go-to-market approaches.
3. Risk mitigation
Reducing risks is one of the most important factors of a successful business. Selecting an experienced cloud partner with a proven track record in SaaS delivery avoids many mistakes in hosting the software. It can also significantly reduce the overall risks of the business while still enabling the provider to provide SaaS sales to customers who are not interested in purchasing on-site hardware.
4. Capturing new revenue streams
With SaaS sales models, a larger single payment is split into steady and ongoing monthly annuity rates instead of one large payment. When software providers include infrastructure services in the initial sale, they profit from the overall IT landscape.
5. Partnering with change management, monitoring, and ITSM
Many vendors provide just the cloud infrastructure, but producing a genuine solution entails more than building a software environment. It also means scaling and managing that context by supporting and managing customers alongside their SLAs. An experienced customer service partner can identify the problem quickly whether it’s an operating system or database backup, an outage that requires failover, or a restore issue.
6. Selling security
Customers want assurances that solutions are secure. By selecting SaaS deployment partners who meet end users’ compliance and security requirements, you can provide an audited and safe environment that opens doors to clients with regulatory concerns.
7. Offering flexibility
Customers want options, but offering all the options they demand is expensive and inevitably leads software providers to drive clients toward models they produce, even those that aren’t in the customer’s best interest. Create a go-to-market plan that includes SaaS strategies and managed, hosted appliances and then trust qualified partners to provide seamlessly the items you can’t affordably offer your clients.
Software as a service is transforming the way businesses across all industries utilize software, and SaaS sales offer excellent potential at a decreased risk.
This blog is first published on LinkedIN
