Infographic: How B2B Sales Funnels for Saas Businesses Work. Created by the Sales4StartUps team.

1. SALESEDUCATIONFORSTARTUPS
©2012-2013,Sales4Startups.Allrightsreserved.
WhatCRMshouldIuse?
Salesforce.com
Headquarted:SanFrancisco,CA
ThisishowSalesforcedefinesthemselves:
“Customerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)software&cloudcomputingfrom
theleaderinCRMsolutionsforbusinesseslarge&small”.
SalesforceistheleaderinCRMorsalesautomationsoftwareacrosscompaniesof
allsizes.Itisnotthecheapestortheeasiesttoconfiguresolutiononthemarketallsizes.Itisnotthecheapestortheeasiesttoconfiguresolutiononthemarket
howeveristhemostcompleteandwillscaleasyoudo.Itisthesafechoiceand
althoughit’snotthemostintelligentsolutionandhasalessthaninnovativeuser
interface,itdoesthetrickbetterthananyothersolutioninitscategory.
AnotherpluswhenusingSalesforceisthatitintegratesintoeverythingacross
allorganizationswitinacompany.Whichisespeciallyimportantasyourcompany
growsandrequiresintegratedsystems.Salesforcealsoasa3rdpartyapp
marketplacethatprovidesanecosystemofplug-insandothertechologytosupportmarketplacethatprovidesanecosystemofplug-insandothertechologytosupport
mostofyourneeds.
Pipedrive.com
Headquarted:SiliconValley,CA
ThisishowPipedrivedefinesthemselves:
“Salespipelinesoftwarethatgetsyouorganized.Helpsyoufocusontherightdeals,
soeasytousethatsalespeoplejustloveit.Greatforsmallteams.”.
Pipedrivewasdesignedandisoperatedbyrealsalesexpertswhounderstandhow
tobreakdownasalesengagmentintoimportantphases.tobreakdownasalesengagmentintoimportantphases.AlthoughPipedrive’s
leadmanagementcapabilitieswillneedtoimproveastheyareusedbymorecomplex
salesandmarketingorganizations,ifyouareasmalltomediumsizedcompany,this
isoneofthebestsolutionswehaveseenonthemarkettoday.Ithasaintelligent
userinterfacewhichpromotesbestpracticesandhelpsyoustayfocusedonthe
importanttasks.
RelateIQ.com
Headquarted:PaloAlto,CA
ThisishowRelateIQdefinesthemselves:
“TheBeginningofDataScienceinDecisionMaking.Follow-upsthatset
prioritiesbasedonyouremailsandinteractions..”.
WebelievethatRelateIQcanbecometheCRMsystemthatfinallyeffectively
competesagainstSalesforce.com.Thatsaid,theyarestillanearlystage,competesagainstSalesforce.com.Thatsaid,theyarestillanearlystage,
venturebackedprivatecompany.
WhatwelikeaboutRelateIQisthatitfeelslikeanintelligentspreadsheet--
whichissomethingwehavedyingforaverylongtime.salespeopleloves
spreadsheetsbutmanagementallowthemtobethestandardduetolackof
transparency,reporting,collaboration,etc.RelateIQlookslikeithasfixedthis.
CRM(customerrelationshipmanagementsoftware).
Yoursalesfunnelis
managedandtracked
withinacustomer
relationshipmanagement
(CRM)system.
*Lookbelowfordetails.
Recommendation:
Closingismerelythestepinasales
engagementwhichrequiresacontract
tobeexecuted.
Thisisnotrocketscience.Thereareno
magictrickshere.Iftheengagementis
managedreasonablywelland
yourcompanyyourcompany’sofferingisultimately
alignedwithyourprospect’sneeds,
thisshouldbeaformality.
*Feelfreetocontactustogetdetailed
contentregardingclosing.
TechnicalTip:Closing
$
Today,leadscomefrom multiplesources:
WebForms Social
Signups
Blog ColdCalling
ListDatabases OtherOutreach
Events/Conferences
WhitepapersWebinars
InboundLeads OutboundLeads
??
Asalesfunnelalsoreferredtoasasalespipelineorevensometimessalesprocess,is
simplythestateswithinasalesengagementwhichallowyoutoorganizeyourself.
TopoftheFunnel:
WorkingPipeline:
CRMRecommendations
Leads,Prospects
Deals,Opportunities
Youwillalwayshaveahighervolumeofleadsatthe
topofthefunnel,whichwillslowlybecurateddowntoa
muchsmallersetofdeals.
WhenmanagingInboundLeads,yourfirsttask
istoqualifytheleadordeterminewhetherthere
isalegitimateopportunitytodobusinesstogether.
HowdoyouqualifyInboundLeads?HowdoyouqualifyInboundLeads?
Youlookatitemslikecompanysize,vertical,
ranking(iOS,Androidmarketplaces),and
otherattributesbasedonyourbusiness
andobjectives.
WhenworkingOutboundLeads,yourfirsttask
istoidentifythencontactthemvia
phone,email,social,etc.phone,email,social,etc.
Whenaleadhasbeenqualified
andthesalespersonhas
determinedthattheprospect
isworthyofpursuing,they
willnowlogintotheirCRM
systemandconvertthestate
oftheprospectfromaleadoftheprospectfromalead
toadeal.Thedealstate
isoftenreferredtoas
anopportunity.
Thisisacommon
workflowwithin
sales.
TheobjectiveTheobjective
nowisto
closethedeal.
B2BSALESFUNNELS
HOW
FORSAASBUSINESSESWORK
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LEADS
DEALS
ClosedDeals