Enterprise sales may be an area your brand is passionate about breaking into, but your sales approach must shift to meet the expectations of this customer segment. Between an increase in the number of stakeholders and constantly evolving needs, solutions like demo automation have become an essential part of the SaaS enterprise-sales toolbelt.
Transitioning from selling to small and medium-sized businesses to enterprise-level customers involves a considerable learning curve, as this new audience comes with unique challenges. Identifying these roadblocks can help you determine next steps, what tools you need, and how to implement your new enterprise strategy.
Challenges of Enterprise Sales
Higher Risk
One of the most significant differences in selling to enterprise customers is the impact of failure. Each enterprise deal is worth significantly more money than a standard sale and requires a higher level of dedicated resources to close. This means if a deal falls through it can more significantly impact your bottom line through both sunk costs and lost revenue.
Longer Sales Cycles
According to Gartner, the average enterprise sales group involves 6 to 10 stakeholders, compared to the typical one or two seen in small business deals. The elevated number of involved parties in enterprise sales can lengthen a sales cycle from a sprint into a marathon — with the average enterprise sales cycle lasting six or more months versus the average 60-day SMB deal. This makes using tools that can shorten sales cycles particularly useful.
More Opportunities for Denial
Each stakeholder in an enterprise buyer group will have their own opinion, and even one vocal, unconvinced customer can lead to a total failure for your deal. More stakeholders per deal means more voices that can dissent against your product. Having a solution that can help you address each stakeholder’s needs individually will mitigate this risk.
Increased Research Needs
Enterprise deals also require more research; as the value of each deal increases, so does the level of information required to succeed. Your team must identify each stakeholder, their specific needs, and address them to convince the entire buying group of your product’s value and get them to agree to a high-value contract.
This makes discovery an essential part of enterprise sales, as the information uncovered during this process could be the key to winning over a high-value customer. Investing in tools that can help your team gather precise customer insights early in the process will set you up for a better payday at the end of your sales cycle.
The Evolution of the Modern Enterprise Customer
The world is moving at a faster pace than ever, and enterprise customers are no exception. Modern customers want SaaS sales teams to be flexible, easy to interact with, and proactive in their sales strategy.
Enterprise customers, in particular, have the luxury of choosing from a wider range of suitors compared to small businesses. This means if your sales team can’t meet their expectations, they won’t hesitate to move on to the next available option.
This is why your sales team can no longer rely on traditional sales methods. Modern customers require modern solutions, and adding assets like demo automation to your sales process can generate a significant return on your investment.
How Demo Automation Supercharges Enterprise Sales
Demo automation is specialized sales software offering your buyers access to personalized interactive video demos that adapt to fit their needs, and are accessible on their schedules.
Solutions like Consensus allow your team to work more efficiently to match the elevated expectations of enterprise sales. From increased flexibility to enhanced customization, demo automation will prepare your sales team to take on the next level of buyers.
Demo Flexibility
Enterprise customers need sales teams to match their schedule, not the other way around. With demo automation, your team can engage buying group stakeholders with product information at their convenience.
30% of interactive demos are viewed outside of regular business hours. By providing on-demand demos, your team can get your product in front of crucial stakeholders who can’t make a live meeting (like a CEO whose only free moment to watch a demo is at 11:00PM in a cab home from the airport, or a CFO who doesn’t have a free slot on their schedule for the next 2 months.)
When a buyer requests a demo, they are sent a personalized link and can then walk through, rewind, and skip around this demo at their own pace, ensuring maximum value for their time.
Internal Sharing Capabilities
The shareability of automated video demos optimizes the effectiveness of a single demo within an enterprise organization. After viewing it, stakeholders are prompted to send your demo to others in their buyer group. This increases the effectiveness of your demo process while minimizes the man-hours your team must spend preparing demos for large buyer groups.
Shorter Sales Cycles
Because they’re shareable, automated demos cut down on the number of demos required to make an enterprise sale, which can mean a 30% shorter sales cycle. These demos also create more informed customers, which require less time to convert, as they are closer to making a decision by the time your team gets involved.
Stakeholder Insights and Advanced Analytics
Automating your demo process also allows your team to gather vital information about your stakeholders that can inform hands-on sales tactics. Rather than relying on manual discovery, demo automation collects specific buyer insights to help your team identify key value propositions for each unique stakeholder.
Using advanced features like Consensus Demolytics, you can collect performance data to help organize stakeholders in your enterprise buyer groups by likelihood of success. This allows your sales team to pinpoint internal champions and use them to influence others toward a sale. These analytics also offer internal performance insights that help your team identify areas of improvement, pinpoint effective strategies, and optimize your demos.
Customized Content
Modern enterprise customers prioritize personalization. They don’t want to see the same standardized sales content offered to every other customer; they want sales content molded to their exact needs.
Automated demos provide exactly that. The interactive element of demo automation allows enterprise customers to shape their demo by picking the features they find most relevant. In turn, your team avoids manually customizing each demo beforehand.
Prepare Your Team for Enterprise Sales with Consensus
Employing solutions like demo automation is just part of the puzzle when it comes to enterprise SaaS sales. Watch a Demo to learn how Consensus can help your team sell anywhere, anytime with a product-led buying experience.
