As a sales organization, we’re always looking at ways to find new keys that will unlock a flood of leads and sales revenue. As a SaaS company whose customer profile includes SaaS providers, we also want to know what factors are important for our customers considering adoption of new sales management tools.
An Access Group report has found out that reliability, ease of use, and ease of integration are the top three requirements that managers look for when shopping for software and solutions.
Why should you focus on usability?
A team of researchers from the International Business Development (IBD) team at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley was tasked by Lucep to come up with a market research study. Their analysis found that the market is crowded, with little space left to claim as your own territory.
Almost all interviewees (close to 95%) used some type of CRM, marketing automation or lead qualification tool and there did not seem to be a great deal of clarity in terms of recognizing the nuanced differences among the services. In addition, separate reports have stated that 84% of U.S. companies that use CRM software have a lead scoring process in place, and 37% of B2B marketers are using marketing automation to generate leads.
This research is further supported by another survey, which also indicates a crowded market for SaaS lead response and qualification tools.
The above map illustrates the variety of sales management tools that customers are evaluating and the potential for confusion in the marketplace. Therefore, it’s highly advisable for the tool you buy to have a value proposition which is clear, unique and easily integrates with existing CRM software available today.
For most salespeople, seeing is believing and buying.
Sales managers want hard evidence that a management solution works and is a good fit for their own organization, before they even consider buying. This usually means a demo, followed by a free trial. If it does work, then they are willing to spend a premium on the service.
Over 25% of salespeople surveyed by the IBD team noted that convenience and ease of use were important when considering adoption of a new sales management tool. Ease of use broadly covered a range of topics pertaining to reducing the friction associated with product trial: financial friction (free trial), implementation friction (easy integration) and new user friction (DIY user experience).
Reducing friction to trial was particularly critical because salespeople have to see the value themselves to see how it will help them hit their benchmarks. This need to see the “value” carries through to product pitches in which there was a desire to hear how such tools could positively impact their specific business rather than business in general.
Other important factors for adoption of sales management tools
Art Pazdan is a Customer Success Director for 130-person SaaS company Moovweb that sells mobile engagement solutions. He discussed the budget constraints a business owner has to face whenever you are considering adopting a new tool. Art told the IBD team that “Virtually all tools start at $25/seat; however, you still need to be wary because cost of various tools adds up and SMEs do not have large budgets. Integration and ease of setup are essential.”
Ashley Minnie from ExtraHop, who has rich experience in inside sales, working at SMEs and growing them, says “The key to tool adoption is going through inside sales manager and making sure tool is easy to set up.”
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