Selling SaaS is a complex process, and it is important to have the right team in place to ensure that you are successfully converting as many sales as possible. This comes down to creating the perfect SaaS sales team structure.
There are many ways to do this, and there is no one size fits all structure. The structure you go for will depend on your software product, your organization, the target audience, and more. It might also take a bit of trial and error to figure out what works best for your sales.
This article provides a guide on the importance of the SaaS sales team structure, how they differ, and how to build the best structure for you.
Why is the SaaS Sales Team Structure Important?
A SaaS sales team structure is incredibly important because successful sales depend on the grouping and operational systems of the teams in place.
For optimum coordination, each member of the team should have a distinct and valuable role that comes together to form a well-oiled sales machine. A structure also allows the organization to bring in new team members as and when needed, and recruit them by searching for specific skills to match the available role. This makes the onboarding process easier, too, as the individual will know exactly where they fit in without too much adjustment for the others in the team.
Are All SaaS Sales Team Structures the Same?
Organizations, products, and clients differ, which means that a sales team structure is not a one-size-fits-all model. There are many different ways to shape your SaaS sales team structure, and the key is finding what works best for your environment and needs.
If you have a big SaaS sales team with many team members, one of the best ways to structure them is to divide them up and place them at each point of the sales process, based on their skills and experience.
For example, some may be well-suited to engaging with potential clients, while others may have the charisma to maintain relationships with existing clients. You might also have team members who enjoy doing presentations, while others may excel in general marketing. Find the sector where each team member thrives, and place them there.
If your organization is smaller, with a more compact SaaS sales team, then you may need to tweak the structure. Instead of having different team members at varying sales process points, you can have each member working on a sale from start to finish.
They will be responsible for finding potential clients, presenting the product, and converting the lead to a sale. This works better with smaller teams, as they may not be enough people to spread out to various sectors. The major upside to this model is that it creates a more personalized experience for the client, as they deal with the same person throughout.
If your team falls somewhere in between with numbers, you can make either of the mentioned models work, or you can go for a hybrid third option: create smaller teams, with each focusing on a particular sale.
This can be small teams of 2-4 people who work together to create a sale. They can divvy up responsibilities within the team, depending on how many they are, or keep the roles fluid. This allows the individuals within a team to focus solely on their clients while providing a helpful and supportive structure in which to work.
This still maintains a level of personal care, as the clients will only deal with a few people during the sales cycle.
The Best SaaS Sales Team Structure
Appoint a Leader
At the helm of any good team is a strong and motivated leader who can guide the rest of the team to success. The sales process can be challenging, so you need someone who can push the team to keep going and convert leads in any scenario.
There can be a leader role in any type of structure that you use in your SaaS sales team, whether they are at the head of a sales department, a small task team, or the entire SaaS sales team.
The ideal individual for this type of role should be able to manage the team and their responsibilities, listen and communicate with team members, handle conflicts within the team, liaise with the clients, and more. A leader also ensures that each step of the sales process is being overseen and managed.
Assign Sales Reps
Having talented sales reps within your SaaS sales team structure is important, but dotting them around the team without consideration to where they are best suited becomes a waste.
You need to make sure that every one of them is placed in the right role to suit their skills and experience. This ensures that you optimize the sales reps and what they can offer.
The sales reps that you hire will depend on the SaaS sales team structure you are building. For example, if you are looking to divide the team into specific steps of the process, you want sales reps with specified skills, like marketing or presenting. However, if you are building a smaller structure whereby each rep will be responsible for the whole sales process, then you need individuals who have a wide range of skills to do this.
It is also important to have a diverse sales team, based on their backgrounds and experience. This helps the team itself, as it maintains an environment with new ideas constantly flowing and different perspectives bringing levity to the process. It can also be beneficial when dealing with a diverse portfolio of clients, and there will be understanding within the team.
Reward Good Performance
The sales process can be long and challenging, so there needs to be incentivization in place to keep employees motivated and working towards the end goal.
For each individual, team, or department in your SaaS sales team structure, there should be clear goals or milestones outlined for each project or client. This allows them to have a vision of what they need to achieve, by when, and to what quality. You could place small rewards at each step, like a team lunch or a small gift for each member, depending on your budget and the scale of the project.
The most common form of reward will be for converting a sale, as this is the most important step. You could provide a gift or experience, or contribute to bonus payouts based on the sale. Good commission rates also work well for this purpose.
Provide Training and Feedback
Hiring a talented SaaS sales team and then leaving them to go on with their roles indefinitely is not sufficient. There needs to be ongoing training and feedback provided to keep the team working at an optimal level.
Regular training is an important part of the growth and development of the team. The sales and product environment is constantly changing, and you cannot expect your team to adapt without the necessary assistance. This ensures that your team maintains a competitive edge over other companies, and is always prepared to deal with any scenario in the process.
Feedback is a crucial part of any operation. It provides each team member with honest insight into what they are doing well, and what needs to be improved. This allows them to make necessary changes to perform their role as well as possible.
Analyze Metrics
To know the extent of your SaaS sales team performance, you need to track every step using data and analytics that you can then look back on.
This can be looking at sales conversions versus failed conversions, the number of sales done per team or individual, profits, and much more. This allows you to track any gaps in the process, which teams or individuals are excelling or failing, and what needs to be done for improvement.
Compare the data with previous years, as well as competitor numbers, to get a broad idea of the success of the team.
This is also important to evaluate whether your sales structure is working for you. You may find that you need to downsize or upsize and shift the whole SaaS sales team structure to yield better results.
Conclusion
When building a SaaS sales team structure, you need to consider several factors such as your product, your organization size, potential clients, and more. This can help you to choose the structure that will work best for you.
There are several model templates you can follow, and you can tweak these as much as you need to fit your organization. Whatever you go for, it should be a structure that optimizes the skills and experience of each member to yield sales conversions.
To assist you with the best possible sales process, you need a good sales demo platform. Saleo provides a platform for you to create and present the very best SaaS demos to impress clients and convert leads.
