Here are several excerpts from an article I spotted a couple of days ago, To Sell Online Software, Firms Must Employ Old-School Tactics:

Many tech-industry watchers say online software will be the way most businesses prefer to buy software in the future. But to reach these customers, the upstarts that deliver software this way will have to adopt a sales strategy a lot like those of the traditional software companies they are trying to displace. That is because online software doesn’t just sell itself.

In order to get there, they can’t operate like an Internet start-up, letting their technology spread virally as end users hear about it. They need to sell to the same executives and information-technology professionals who made purchasing decisions before online software was an option. Businesses have a lot riding on the decision to use one product or another. And while having pockets of workers advocate for a particular piece of software is a plus, the execs who sign the big checks still want to see demos, vet the seller and do all the things they have always done when they buy software.

This article raises a number of valid points from an on-line software / SaaS company standpoint. But, let’s take a moment to look at things from the CRM buyer’s perspective.

I’ve noticed that many people looking for a CRM solution start off on the wrong foot; they start with a laundry list of functions and features and then try to find something that has everything they “need.”

Read the rest of this entry »

bookmark to: