How to scale your SaaS sales

How to scale your SaaS sales

Founded in 2005, LucidEra was a SaaS startup offering analysis of CRM and ERP data. The company went out of business in 2009, after running into problems with longer sales cycles and its go-to market strategy. The customer base they focused on was sales departments, and the company relied on Salesforce's CRM data, for the most part. However, they did not combine it with data from marketing and finance departments. Like LucidEra, several other SaaS companies have collapsed after inflows of VC funding and failed to scale as a result. Any SaaS startup needs to be confident of their services and pricing, and target the right audience. Once you have a killer product, all you need are a few clear cut sales strategies to aim high. 


 1. Sales and marketing go hand in hand. 

One common mistake most startups make is cold calling just about anybody on their lead list. This not only wastes a lot of time on the sales rep's part, but is also highly inefficient. Generating leads through marketing webinars, conferences, seminars, and social media can help drive sales drastically. Make sure to invest in your marketing strategy, as much as in sales and development.


 

 2. Choose your battles wisely. 

 

Not all deals necessarily generate a profit. Suppose a lead requires you to travel a lot or drags on for ages, taking up valuable time and resources of your sales representative, and it turns out it isn't really worth it. Don't just take any deal that comes your way. Define a set of guidelines for your organization's sales strategy, and stick to it.

 

  3. Customer retention is key.

 

While closing new deals is imperative to scale sales, it's second only to customer retention. Imagine you've closed a deal a couple of years ago worth 10 grand. You've been struggling to close a new deal with a similar amount for the past six months. But that customer from a couple of years back was not properly onboarded, doesn't really have in-depth knowledge of the product, and receives the same impersonal message from support every time. The customer is not satisfied and moves on to a new product. You on the other hand win your new deal, after having spent 6 months of resources. So how have you profited from this exchange?

Scale your support alongside your sales, and you might just hit that balance.

 

 

4. Scale up, don't shave off. 

 

What makes more sense: promoting a few of your experienced sales reps to sales managers, or sticking your rep in the same job for years and paying someone new a ton of money to do the same work? The former leads to greater employee satisfaction and more productivity because they are motivated to put forth their best effort. Instead of starting from scratch with a whole new team, fill the manager positions in-house with the most experienced sales reps.  Then hire one new rep to fill their shoes 

 


5. Give credit where credit is due. 

 

Now this happens in a lot of firms. The superstar of the sales team is the person who bagged a deal worth a hundred grand. Another rep who spends all week closing 10 deals of 10 grand each isn't given the same credit. Laud every employee to what they're due. 


 

6. Go freemium! 

 

Most companies boast stellar prices for their product first and hike it up after a while. Fix your product's price and stick to it. If you think your product is worth the price tag, don't worry that it's on the higher end. Offer a free subscription for the first 15-30 days, and, if it's worth it, your prospect will take the bait. Or you can offer a freemium model indefinitely, with basic features limiting the number of users. Once your user has gotten comfortable and hits their limit or sees the need for more features, they can pay for an upgraded version. A way to stave off users who unsubscribe after a few months is by offering a lower budgeted annual subscription, as opposed to the slightly pricier monthly subscription. 


 

7. Integrate with other products.

 

Let's face it. Your product might be great, but there's always a product out there that has a feature yours doesn't. Facilitating integrations and plugins can really boost your sales. Build a marketplace for your product before you pitch anything to your prospect. 


 

8. You can't do everything yourself. 

 

If you want to go international, you're going to need some help. If you're just starting your business, there's no way you'll be able to set up offices all over the globe. Instead, forge partnerships and get resellers for markets away from home. It's a win-win situation for both parties, and you'll be cutting costs phenomenally. 


 

9. Get listed and reviewed. 

You need a bit of publicity, if you want to climb up the ladder. Get yourself listed on sites such as producthunt.com and capterra.com for ratings and reviews of products, and leverage your product to customers. 

 

10. Network, network, network. 

 

Want valid prospects? Attend tradeshows, meetups, and seminars. Or even better, hold your own meetups, seminars, and workshops for your product, after due marketing research, of course, and gain prospects. This kind of networking allows you to give prosepcts a hands-on experience and interact with them one on one, improving your credibility and your chances of making a sale. 

 

Every Fortune 500 company out there will tell you that there's no simple shortcut to scale your sales. But perhaps with the right sales & marketing strategy, you could bypass roadblocks along the way and get there a few times bigger and stronger than you were before. Not because sales might be the backbone of SaaS businesses, but because it works hand in hand with every other aspect of your organization. 



      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • Sticky Posts

          • As Sales Person, Here are my New Year Resolutions. What are Yours?

            Being a salesperson, I keep learning from my mistakes and have noted a few changes that I need to make in my approach. I take these resolutions going into 2021, hoping to keep it going for as long as possible :) 1. I will not say "Yes, our product has
          • Once Upon a Sales Meeting!

            It was an awkward silence in the meeting room "Uproar." John Kowalski, the new sales manager, was not happy with the team's performance. After scribbling something in the notepad, he decided to break the silence, John: I cannot believe you guys have been working like this. No reports, delusional forecasting, random targets, and no eye on the ball. Kevin: We followed Richard's orders. John: Well, Richard is not here anymore, is he? John walked up to the whiteboard, and wrote in big bold letters: "TARGET

          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ








                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Spam is Being Forwarded

                                    I am filtering a certain sender directly to the Trash folder. Those messages are still being forwarded. Is this supposed to happen?
                                  • IMAP Block

                                    My two accounts have been blocked and I am not able to unblocked them myself. Please respond to email, I am traveling and this is urgent.
                                  • "DKIM not configured"

                                    Hello. I have been attempting get the DKIM verified but Toolkit keeps sending the message that it is not configured, but both Namecheap and Zoho show it as configured properly. What am I missing?
                                  • Zoho mail with custom domain not receiving email

                                    i registered zoho mail with my own domain. I can login and access the mail app. I tried to send email from an outlook email account and an icloud email account. Both emails were not received. My plan is free. I also tried to send email from this zoho
                                  • Set connection link name from variable in invokeurl

                                    Hi, guys. How to set in parameter "connection" a variable, instead of a string. connectionLinkName = manager.get('connectionLinkName').toString(); response = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.googleapis.com/calendar/v3/freeBusy" type :POST parameters:requestParams.toString()
                                  • Waterfall Chart

                                    Hello, I would like to create a waterfall chart on Zoho analytics which shows the movement in changes of budget throughout a few months, on a weekly basis. Should look something like the picture below. Does anyone know how to?
                                  • Help Center and SEO: Any Benefit to My Domain-Mapped Website Ranking?

                                    First of, I love the Help Center which I've just decided to integrate into my website to replace its old-fashioned FAQs. So much more to achieve there now! Lots of new benefits to the site visitors and to me in terms of organizing and delivering all the
                                  • Issue with Importing Notes against Leads

                                    Hi, I am attempting to import some Notes into Zoho CRM which need to be assigned to various Leads. I have created a csv file which I am testing that contains just one record. This csv file contains the following columns: Note Id Parent Id       (I have
                                  • Trigger a Workflow Function if an Attachment (Related List) has been added

                                    Hello, I have a Case Module with a related list which is Attachment. I want to trigger a workflow if I added an attachment. I've seen some topics about this in zoho community that was posted few months ago and based on the answers, there is no trigger
                                  • Creator Add Records through API - Workflows not triggered ?

                                    Hi Everyone, I am trying to add records to my Creator application through a third party app that I am developing. Currently, I am testing this through Postman. The records I need to add have a lot of workflows to run to populate dropdowns, fields, use
                                  • Zoho Error: This Operation has been restricted. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

                                    Hello There, l tried to verify my domain (florindagoreti.com.br) and its shows this error: This Operation has been restricted. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details. Screenshot Given Below -  please check what went wrong. Thanks
                                  • Important Update: Changes to Google Translate Support in Zoho SalesIQ

                                    We’re updating our default chat translation options across all Zoho SalesIQ data centres to offer a more secure, in-house solution for your translation needs. What’s changing? We will be offering Zoho Translate (our in-house tool) as the default translation
                                  • FSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data

                                    I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the Import
                                  • Zoho CRM Community Digest - July P1 | 2025

                                    Hey everyone, The start of July 2025 marked a special milestone: 200 posts in our Kaizen series! For those new here, Kaizen is a go-to series for Zoho CRM developers, where we regularly share best practices, tips, and expert insights to help you build
                                  • Join our BI & Analytics Workshop at Zoholics UK 🇬🇧

                                    Hello users, We are thrilled to announce a hands-on workshop at Zoholics UK, 2025, led by Ashwinth and Alan, our Product Experts. This session is designed for anyone who wants to move beyond raw data and truly understand their business performance using
                                  • What’s New in Zoho Expense (April – July 2025)

                                    Hello users, We're happy to bring you the latest updates and enhancements we've made to Zoho Expense over the past three months, which include introducing the Trip Expense Summary report in Analytics, extending Chatbot support to more editions, rolling
                                  • Weekly Tips: Insert frequently used phrases in a jiffy using Hotkeys

                                    You often find yourself using similar phrases in an email —like confirming appointments or providing standard information. Constantly switching between the mouse and keyboard interrupts your flow and slows you down.Instead of typing the same phrases over
                                  • Undo Command in Notebook

                                    It would be handy to have an Undo in the row of icons at the bottom of the notes.
                                  • Improved UI for a Seamless User Experience - Calls, Tasks, and Meetings

                                    Hello all, We are making UI unification across CRM so that the UI experience is seamless across the product. As part of that effort, we have made changes to the details page of activity-based module records—Meetings, Calls, and Tasks. Let's look at these
                                  • New Customization options in the module builder: Quick Create and Detail view

                                    Hello everyone, We have introduced two new components to the module builder: Quick create and Detail view. The Quick Create Component It is a mini form used to create a record and associate it to the parent record from a lookup field. For example, if you have a Deals lookup in the Contacts module, then you can associate existing deals or create a deal and associate it with the contact. You can customize this Quick Create form by adding standard as well as custom fields. There is no limit to the number
                                  • Cross References Do Not Update Correctly

                                    I am using cross references to reference Figures and current am just using the label and number, i.e. Figure #. As seen here: When I need to update the field, I use the update field button. But it will change the cross reference to no longer only including
                                  • Add multiple users to a task

                                    When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesman
                                  • Narrative 9: GC—Meaningful conversations that benefit your customers

                                    Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system - BTS Series Narrative 9: GC—Meaningful conversations that benefit your customers Customers often seek immediate solutions, which is why self-service options are essential. Guided Conversations provides
                                  • FSM App Oddity

                                    We recently rolled out FSM to our technicians, and only one technician is having an issue. He's using an iPhone with iOS 18.6 installed. When he goes to service appointments using the calendar icon at the bottom of the app, he gets a list view only. Typically,
                                  • Cliq Not Working !

                                    Zoho Cliq has been experiencing connectivity issues since this morning. The app is unable to establish a connection with the server.
                                  • Injecting CSS into ZML pages

                                    Is there a way to inject CSS into ZML pages? Use case: 1. Dashboard displays 'Recent Activities' card displaying a list of newly added records 2. Each item in list links to the record onClick 3. When a user points the cursor over an item in the list,
                                  • Power of Automation :: Automated Weekly Notifications for Unapproved Timesheets

                                    Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate
                                  • Extracting Data from Sitelink APIs

                                    Hi All, I'm working to pull data on Sitelink using API calls but i can't seem to extract it. If you click expand, you will see it has a lot of data in it. I tried extracting from the map but it's not giving me anything. Is there a workaround on this or
                                  • Export a list of fields for all modules in a spreadsheet with specific field data

                                    Many of my clients are using spreadsheets to create lists of fields for all modules when starting a new implementation or when updating an existing setup. This is a useful process but also a very time consuming one. It would be good a list of fields could
                                  • [Important announcement] Zoho Writer will mandate DKIM configuration for automation users

                                    Hi all, Effective Dec. 31, 2024, configuring DKIM for From addresses will be mandatory to send emails via Zoho Writer. DKIM configuration allows recipient email servers to identify your emails as valid and not spam. Emails sent from domains without DKIM
                                  • 【Zoho Backstage】2025年7月のアップデート紹介

                                    本投稿は、本社のZoho Desk コミュニティに投稿された以下の記事を翻訳し、一部抜粋したものです。 What's New - July 2025 | Zoho Backstage ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 本投稿では、Zoho Backstage の直近のアップデートを3点抜粋して、ご紹介します。 目次 1.参加可否の確認:RSVP 2.証明書作成ツール:Certificate Builder 3.登録の承認 :Registration Approval 1.参加可否の確認:RSVP
                                  • Option to select location?

                                    As a business coach, I meet with clients at various public locations. I have two or three pre-determined locations that I meet at. I would like the client to choose the location when booking an appointment. Is there a way to do that with a single service, or is the best way to accomplish this by creating one service for each location offered?
                                  • Can we have Backorder Management ?

                                    Can we have Backorder Management ?
                                  • Display a field of an Account on the Ticket view

                                    Hi there, We would like to display of the Account of the user submitting a ticket on the ticket view. See for example: How can this be achieved? It doesn't really matter where it will be placed as long as it is shown there. Thanks, Snir
                                  • Two factor authentication for helpdesk users

                                    The company i work for wants use the helpdesk site in Zoho desk, as a place for their distribution partners to ask question and look for information about our product. The things there is suppose to go up there is somewhat confidential between my company
                                  • Remove "Invalid entries found. Rectify and submit again" modal

                                    Following up on a post from a few years back, but can the Zoho team consider either removing the 'Invalid entries found. Rectify and submit again' modal that displays for empty mandatory fields OR allow an admin to change it? I've built a custom error
                                  • Insurance Agencies

                                    I am reaching out to see if anyone has any experience in the Insurance Agency world with using Zoho exclusively for the CRM and commissions side of things. Lots of strong features like drip campaigns, meeting, calendars, emails, can all be found in here.
                                  • Problem with Egyptian internet ISP

                                    Dears,  We have problem with our ADSL internet SP, That your site not working with. So, we contact them and they asking us to contact you to solve this problem.  The problem that when we are connecting to Tedata ADSL your website not working (Business Email).  BR,, Mohamed Omar 
                                  • Emails not being received from a particular domain

                                    Cannot receive any emails sent from atco.com Domain is in the spam whitelist so should be no reason for it not to be coming through. Have filed a ticket and besides a generic response of we are looking at it - it seems there is no actual support workers
                                  • Mail Not Showing In Inbox or Sent Box

                                    Hi, there are mails that are not displaying in both my inbox and sent box. I just tried the iPad app and it is the same but there is a blank field where a mail should be and it refers to a server error. Please fix this.
                                  • Next Page