SaaS sales differ from traditional, physical sales, and marketing aficionados in the SaaS industry have to utilize a very different playbook.
SaaS sales executives are one of those marketing spearheads. It’s a challenging but rewarding position that has a lot of influence on a company’s growth and revenue.
Whether you’re considering a career change or hiring a sales executive to boost SaaS sales, here’s everything you need to know about being a SaaS sales executive.
What is a SaaS Sales Executive?
A SaaS (software as a service) sales executive is responsible for finding leads and converting them to paying customers. A SaaS sales executive has a deep understanding of the SaaS sales cycle and knows how to engage both individuals’ and companies’ pain points in their pitches.
Beyond generating leads, a SaaS sales executive’s duties include managing customer accounts, negotiating contracts, working as a proxy to close deals, and handling existing clients. They are key drivers of revenue and brand growth and a critical addition for SaaS brands with big software-as-a-service goals.
SaaS Sales Executive Core Responsibilities
A SaaS sales executive role is an important one, with a lot of core responsibilities.
- Find Clients: A SaaS sales executive is responsible for finding leads through various online channels. They employ SaaS sales tips and tricks and product demos to showcase how the software can improve the prospect’s pain points.
- Communicate Software Features: SaaS sales executives simplify IT jargon into everyday language. They effectively communicate the software features in clear and simple terms clients can understand.
- Collaborate With Internal Teams: The sales executive works with marketing and IT teams to learn more about the software, improve marketing, and relay customer experiences to improve its function.
- Negotiate Contracts: From individuals to large corporations, SaaS sales executives are responsible for negotiating contracts that maximize the company’s earning potential.
- Maintain Customer Relationships: Lastly, a SaaS sales executive provides consistent customer support to clients. Their job is to maintain a good relationship, troubleshoot issues, and upsell more advanced features.
The key duties of a SaaS sales executive will differ from software company to software company. The size of the company, the number of SaaS salespersons on the team, and the software niche can all influence these responsibilities.
Preferred Skillset and Education
Here are the preferred skills and qualifications for SaaS sales executives.
Skills
These skills are integral for a good SaaS sales executive.
Communication
First and foremost, a SaaS sales executive must have very good written and verbal communication skills. From setting up marketing campaigns to appealing to customer pain points, sales executives must know how to use language to their advantage.
This includes negotiating. A good SaaS sales executive knows how to negotiate deals that make customers happy and bring in the maximum revenue for their company.
Marketing
One of the core responsibilities of a sales executive is marketing. There are many modern types of marketing, like cold calling, email marketing, social media marketing, etc., and SaaS sales executives must be well-versed in all of them. That includes setting up marketing campaigns and targeting prospects smartly.
Collaboration
SaaS sales executives are constantly moving between the IT team, who are responsible for making and upgrading the software features, and the marketing team, who are responsible for conveying these features to the public.
Part of their duties is streamlining collaboration between these different groups and breaking complicated jargon down into understandable terms for both teams. This requires a collaborative skill and the ability to work with and understand varying perspectives.
Basic Software Knowledge
This ties into the previous point. A sales executive is constantly working with IT and customers who don’t understand software lingo. Having a basic understanding of programming, software, and other technical terms will make communicating with both parties much easier.
Time Management
SaaS sales executives are usually juggling clients, contracts, and customer acquisition campaigns. Time management and organizational skills are a must to ensure no missed opportunities and timely replies.
Learning Appetite
Software trends and capabilities are constantly changing. Customer demands tend to follow. A SaaS sales executive understands this and keeps a finger on the industry pulse.
Having an insatiable appetite for industry trends and customers’ needs, and having the drive to learn independently, is a key marker of a great SaaS sales executive and a necessary skill.
Qualifications
Like duties, requirements for SaaS sales executives differ from company to company. However, having these qualifications will be a great benefit.
Bachelor’s Degree
While not a must, a bachelor’s in business or marketing can be a great help when applying for a SaaS sales executive position. For SaaS hiring managers, a bachelor’s degree, especially in marketing, is a great way to check whether a candidate understands marketing and marketing psychology.
Software Certifications/ Experience
SaaS sales executives often use CRM software, like Salesforce, to manage customer relationships. Productivity, sales intelligence, and demo tools are also common. Prior knowledge of these tools is a great benefit.
SaaS Sales Executive Benefits
Now that you know what a SaaS sales executive is, what their core duties are, and what skills and qualifications they have, let’s take a look at the benefits of a great SaaS sales executive.
We’ll examine the benefits from 2 perspectives: as the employee and employer.
Being a SaaS Sales Executive
First, let’s look at the benefits of becoming a SaaS sales executive.
- Earning Potential: The SaaS sales industry is large with an earning potential to match. SaaS sales professionals make almost three times more than the average US salary median. Even entry-level jobs offer promising paychecks.
- Stimulating Career: Being a SaaS sales executive is never boring. You’re constantly working with people and finding solutions for marketing and software challenges.
- Job Growth: SaaS sales jobs are projected to grow by 5% between now and 2032, faster than most other industries. Your SaaS sales skills are also highly transferable. There are a lot of software sales opportunities for growth.
Working With a SaaS Sales Executive
Now, let’s take a look at why you should hire a SaaS sales executive for your software company.
- Increased Revenue: SaaS sales executives are critical for software companies, especially ones aiming to increase their client base significantly. Expert opinions and a sales executive who can close deals are revenue game changers.
- Better Marketing: SaaS sales executives have a deep understanding of marketing, SaaS sales cycles, and human psychology. A good sales executive will audit and overhaul your marketing plans if they’re not working and constantly improve on them as trends change.
- Improved Software Function: SaaS sales executives are both client and dev-facing agents. They’re constantly relaying feature information between these two groups. Having a sales executive relay customer wants, needs, and complaints to your dev team will help your company continuously improve the software features.
Conclusion
The SaaS industry continues its upward trajectory, creating dozens of new jobs with exciting prospects. One of the most sought after – by employees and employees – is the position of a SaaS sales executive.
Responsible for sales, contracts, negotiations, project management, and marketing, the SaaS sales executive is a high-earning position integral to SaaS success. There are many fantastic benefits, both working with a SaaS sales executive and making a career shift into one.
PASaaS sales executive’s duties include closing deals with clients, which is only possible after an unforgettable software demo.
Captivate your leads with Saleo, the first and only live demo experience platform. Request a Saleo demo for data complete demos guaranteed to bring in more SaaS sales for your business.
