“Overcoming Client Objections to SaaS”

I’ll be speaking at an accounting conference in late May on “Overcoming Client Objections to SaaS.”  Sounds like something a bunch of nerds would discuss, doesn’t it?

But overcoming objections to SaaS, or Software as a Service, is a very important concept (see this blog post on a software model in the clouds we deploy for clients – don’t forget to read the comments).  The term comes from an article back from February 2001 (if wikipedia.org is correct) and defines a huge shift in how we consume software use.  It can be defined in many different ways, but here are a few points I tend to make about this model of software use:

1. Purchasing software. You purchase software kind of like you would a service… that is, you pay for it when you need it.  Most models make you pay for it monthly (though some models start out with free versions).
2. Cloud based. You don’t look for the software you need anymore, order the discs online and have them mailed to you.  Using software in the clouds (that is, on the internet), is a mainstay to SaaS and actually allows the software to be delivered to you monthly (see point # 1).  No more installing anything on your computer.
3. Changes to your business process. Implementing SaaS in your company (whether large or small) is not something you do to be cool.  The ultimate effect is efficiency, elimination of human redundancy and solidification of business processes.  When you “move to the clouds” things happen you didn’t know were going to happen.  And those things can change the face of your business forever.

I want to give you a run down of a few things I’ll be talking about at the Scaling New Heights Conference:

• I’m going to tell them that helping clients surmount the objections to SaaS starts in your own firm.  If you ain’t living it, then don’t be preaching it.  Implementing SaaS models in your own firm will highlight your inefficient processes and cause you to make great changes to your own internal systems.
• At first, selling SaaS models to most clients is a big job.  Certain generations tend to view most business processes from the perspective of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  That will make your initial sales job difficult.  The resulting benefits will be the major enhancements to the client’s internal business processes.  But they won’t see those improvements until they actually implement the SaaS model of new software use.  Good luck!
• Don’t sell the SaaS model first!  Sell the fact that you can (a) take away their manual processes, (b) take them paperless with little effort, (c) help them eliminate staff, (d) give them total software access from anywhere in the world at any time, etc.  Show them where they have failing internal processes and them give them the solution.
• I’ll be talking about the future of SaaS models in the clouds.  The future looks bright.  As software moves into the clouds in a SaaS model, business processes become what I call “disrupted business processes.”  That is, all of the processes that typically run inside of a business are being separated from one another in very definable ways.  Software development in a SaaS model is becoming more niche-focused.  Some developers will build a cloud-based software to handle your receivables, some will handle your payables, some will handle your customer relationship management, some will handle your project management and some will handle your document management for you (because, of course, you are paperless in the clouds!).  And then all of these link together with smartly built APIs so you can see them on your phone!  Freakin’ sweet.

What do you think?  Any thoughts as to what I can talk about at the conference?  Leave in the comments above, dang it.

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