3 Stage Sales SaaS Procurement Readiness Test: Take it Now
3 Stage Sales SaaS Procurement Readiness Test: Take It Now
Things we know: SaaS companies are big and getting bigger. The fastest-growing SaaS companies grow their teams by 56% each year.
The SaaS technology market is expected to double by 2026, making its projected worth $307.3 Billion.
What do more reps, seeking more sales, and SaaS selling on an even grander scale mean for you as you add to your SaaS stack? That you’re going to need to think smart even before you enter the vendor marketplace.
Making sure you know exactly what you’re in the market for AND that you’ve done the prep work in the background to ensure its adoption is going to be ever more vital in this growing and hungry sales space.
So get Sales SaaS procurement ready: read on for our test containing the questions you should be asking – and the people you should be asking them to.
Before you dip even a toe in the Sales SaaS market, you’re going to want to read this – and take it to your teams.
Prepare before you Procure
Software is only as good as the strategy it’s anchored to.
No single piece of tech can compensate for an absence of processes and strategies, poorly defined processes or strategy – or stakeholders unaligned to processes and strategies.
So, before you leap to procurement, setting your house in order around these fundamentals is paramount:
- Do we have well-defined processes and strategies?
- Do we have alignment between our stakeholders when it comes to our processes and strategies?
Sure, if the answers to the above are ‘no’ the timeline for your new tech selection has lengthened considerably. But, given that Forbes estimated that 84% of digital transformations fail, believe us when we say, investing in strategic planning and systemisation is worth it compared to the risk of wasted investment in unwanted or unused software – and stalled growth AND disengaged teams.
Our recent webinar covers more on the challenges of DX – worth a watch for our panelists’ thoughts on the solutions.
No single piece of tech can compensate for an absence of processes and strategies, poorly defined processes or strategy - or stakeholders unaligned to processes and strategies.
Checklist: are you ready for tech?
As we’ve established, sales SaaS needs to sit on robust systems and processes. The following questions will give you insight into what this means in terms of your organization’s readiness for procurement and implementation.
Record your score for each section for a total which delivers our advice on your next step. Dive in now.
Checklist
Part 1: Is it worth looking for tech?
- Process: How is it (whatever “it” is) done now? (And with what technology)
Score: From low=1 (no idea) to high=3 (fully documented)
- Process: How much of “it” is done? (Frequency)
Score: From low=1 (not very often) to high=3 (often)
- Process: How much revenue can “it” be tied too?
Score: From low=1 (not much) to high=3 (lots)
- Process: How much does “it” cost per transaction? (Tech, people)
Score: From low=1 (not much) to high=3 (lots)
Score:
<4: Don’t bother.
5-9: Maybe, if frequency, cost or value is increasing quickly.
>10: Go to Part 2.
Part 2: How complex is it?
- How much of the “it” can be automated? (Repeatable, programmatic)
Bad=1 (Most steps require a human decision) to Good=3 (Most steps can be scored or binary yes no to automatically proceed to next step) - How many departments/groups are involved in the process?
Lots=1 (Crosses sales and two more other groups such as HR, marketing, product management, etc.) to Few=3 (All within sales) - How much integration with other applications is required?
Hard=1 (Requires automated data feeds from other applications and/or outputs to other applications.) Easy’3 (Not much, might be nice if it was available as a tab in my CRM) - How much does IT need to be involved?
Bad=1 (Need to build customization, use SDKs, build APIs) to Good=3 (Not much integration, no direct impact on in house or other production SaaS)
Score:
<4: Don’t bother.
5-9: Maybe, the potential value is high.
>10: Go to Part 3.
Part 3: Readiness
- Are stakeholders defined?
Low=1 (Crosses groups/departments, not known) to High=3 (Stakeholders and relationships defined, most or all on board.) - Are internal resources defined and available for implementing, customizing, on-boarding users, and administering?
Low=1 (Have not defined and/or not in place) to High=3 (Resources available, existing processes for using new technologies.) - Is there budget available?
Low=1 (Need to build business case, go through budgeting cycle) to High=3 (Budget for discretionary projects exists.) - Does this tech fit with current culture or require a broad transformation or disruption of the current environment?
Low=1 (Major change to culture, processes) to High=3 (Automates current activities, fits with current culture)
Score:
<4= Evaluate timelines and needs.
5-9= Evaluate value vs soft and hard dollar costs.
>10 Go for detailed investigation, building requirements and engaging with vendors.
Download PDF Version
To enable ease of collaboration and review we wanted to make our Sales SaaS ‘test’ downloadable for use offline.
Next Steps
If your score suggests you’re ready to engage with vendors – we can be your bridge to market, handling the procurement process for you with neutrality and experience.
Equally, if your strategic foundations need development before you jump into procurement, we can offer consultancy to help you get to where you need to be, working with your teams and on your side.
If only 16% of transformations succeed, there’s a clear argument for careful planning and honest assessment of how and IF tech is the solution. As leading business coach Dr Corrie Block states: “Humans are the problem. And the solution. DX is 80% soft skills, 20% technology.”
We’re here for the next step you need to take – to support SaaS procurement, or to help align your people around its implementation.
Reach out to our team and let Vendor Neutral deliver insight and impact for your organization.