SaaStr Annual 2024: How to Win over Procurement and Buyers to Shorten your Sales Cycle and to Meet your ARR/GRR Goals with Talkdesk

SaaStr Annual 2024: How to Win over Procurement and Buyers to Shorten your Sales Cycle and to Meet your ARR/GRR Goals with Talkdesk

1. How to Win Over Procurement and Buyers to meet your ARR and GRR Goals! Zai Mohammed Head of Global Procurement Talkdesk Inc.

2. 2020 Dynamics and its Effect on the SaaS Industry Shift to Remote work forced business to accelerate the Digital Transformations, while sourcing for SaaS platforms to meet their operational and strategic needs Cash was Easy to come by and we saw a plethora of Startups and SaaS providers gunning for Market Share providing competitive Pricing Multi-Year terms were much easier to come by due to the unforeseen impact of 2020 at the time Headcount Growth was tremendous due to the need for talent as well to support Tech, E-commerce, Retail and various other industries that pivoted during that time period. BUYING WAS at near highs due to the Digital Transformation needs: cloud-based collaboration tools, video conferencing software, digital workspaces, Cloud/Data Security, and other remote work solutions.

3. Post 2020 Realization WE OVERBOUGHT! WE DIDN’T GROW!

4. Cash Burn is to high Buyers have lost Confidence Revenue is Stagnant Churn is High NRR/GRR Rates are low NPS is LOW etc…

5. Buying Behavior Changes No Auto-Renewals No Multi-Years 6 Month Renewals Going backwards from Volume Based Discounting More Threats of Churn More RFPs Longer Sales Cycles Third Party Negotiators etc.. LACK OF CONFIDENCE AND FEAR!

6. HERE COMES PROCUREMENT TO THE RESCUE! How to reduce Spend and Limit Exposure to Risk and Lockdown.

7. Procurement Impact: The Hottest Commodity in the Market Partnered with the CIO and Terminated 47 SaaS tools Obtained a budget Savings $4M+ Cost Avoidance of over $25M Over 50 SaaS Suppliers on Quarterly Billing to aid in Cash Flow Done by ROI Analysis What is the Value? What's the Utilization? How is this impacting day-day or efficiency? How is it driving revenue? etc.. Over 144 SaaS Renewals Last year and 156 for this year Supplier Management

8. Majority of SaaS Products are PPL or based on HeadCount… From a Buyers perspective what Are the RISKS with this model?

9. FOR FOUNDERS: Consider a Model NOT DEPENDENT on Headcount!

10. HOW TO WIN OVER PROCUREMENT FOR PRE-SALES UNDERSTAND you are ONE supplier Out of a potentially Large Supplier Base!

11. Time to Value What is the Time to Value? If I do a 1-year deal and TTV is 6 months, I am objectively paying for 6 months of potential value. Argument: Do a Multi-Year. I don’t know the value of the platform but we are suppose to believe you. Most Value cases are missed which is why NRR is going down BE MINDFUL AND BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR PRODUCT AND VALUE. PROVE IT OUT ALONGSIDE WITH PROCUREMENT TO WIN!

12. ENGAGE PROCUREMENT PROACTIVELY AND EARLIER!

13. ENGAGE PROCUREMENT EARLIER NOT IN LATER STAGES Do your research and see if your Prospect has Procurement (Linkedin) Traditionally Procurement and Sign off is the last step Procurement is an ADVISOR to the Organization and can help advise you for deal closure. Next Steps, Processes, Security, Legal Etc. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL PROPOSALS TO DISCUSSIONS! Bring them in at much earlier stages preferably DEMO. Procurement wants a Seat at the table… SO MAKE THEM ONE! Do NOT be Transactional with Procurement! WE Hear PITCHES AND DEMO’s ALL THE TIME, be Organic and different in your approach to separate yourselves from other “SUPPLIERS” IF YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE TO SELL, HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO SUPPORT!

14. I am tired of Procurement Coming in Last MINUTE Your pushing for signatures but Procurement Comes in to Stonewall and ask for more discounts what do you do? HOLD YOUR GROUND! Procurement is NOT A DECISION MAKER Re-Engage your champion to help put internal pressure on Procurement Be ready to take the deal off the Table Be prepared to change the deal if the timeline is not met IF you show weakness and keep punting the deal, Procurement/Buyers will not feel the need to move the deal along. Take Leverage away from Buyers and Procurement by removing EMPHASIS on EOM/EOQ/FY Deals.

15. STORY TIME!: The Sales Engagement SAGA!

16. WINNING TO GROW NRR/GRR

17. Threat of Churn, 1-Year Renewals, No-Auto Renewals What do we do?! Its okay to Say NO! FInd Creative language to offset risk (Product Swaps, Downturn clauses etc.) Have a STRONG regiment for (Quarterly Business Reviews) QBR’s and Different Tones You are 1 supplier out of a large Supplier Base Work your QBR’s with your customers and Procurements. Get USE to the Threat of CHURN! Even if you have proven value, this will shift the position of strength to the Buyer UNLESS you are confident in knowing that you have done all that you can. IF VALUE HAS NOT BEEN RECOGNIZED and NO TRUE ROI, Don’t be surprised. Diagnose your Renewals a minimum of 6-months in Advance alongside Procurement if Possible. Understand Renewal Processes: RFP’s, Customer Processes etc.

18. Everything is going Fantastic YET Procurement is being difficult, how do we navigate. HOLD YOUR GROUND! There is still a lot of old school tactics such as QTR END, EOM, FY END, and icing until the last minute to get a deal. DO NOT BE DESPERATE! Leverage your relationships with Champions and Exec’s to push back internally on Procurement No Signature, No Platform, Delays on GO-Live etc.. Be Prepared for a Take it or Leave it Loss of Access to Platform Ensure your leverage points are captured Relationships, EBR’s/QBR, Executive Alignment, Payment history, adoption etc.

19. Key Takeaways #1 ENGAGE Procurement much earlier in your Sales Cycle preferably at the Demonstration Stage #2 Procurement sees EVERYTHING in the Business and can be a valuable Partner to obtain information from Secret: Procurement is not a Decision Maker #3 All Procurement is not the same, pay attention to the Size of the ORG and their Company Stage.