Most B2B SaaS platforms offer a freemium service. Maybe it's a free version, a free trial of a paid version, or, at the extreme edge, an entire sandbox. Though we attach the label “free,” they are anything but free. They all cost to some degree—think about the cost of setup. And that’s before you add all the sales efforts that immediately spring from them. These are all considerable additions to your cost of acquisition. Of course, one needs to manage those costs, yes. But are you getting the most value from them?
I’m not going to discuss the merits of a freemium or free trial offering. No. That’s a debate above my pay grade and, candidly, outside my remit. My job is to ensure that when a customer engages with our solution, we maximize the customer experience and sales value. That’s how we maximize the strategy ROI. Stepping back from the full-press sales pitch, being more consultative, and mining MEDDIC can help prevent resource waste and set up your sales cycle for superior success.
Guide Them
Leaving your customer to explore and review your solution unguided is dangerous and not successful. We all know the importance of guiding your customer to those features and functions they are most interested in understanding. To get there may mean getting acquainted with the UI and other functions. Don’t lose me because I can’t get there. Guide me. No one hands the keys to a driving student and says, “Go figure it out!” Offer to walk them through the platform first. Show them around, like showing a home. Use that conversation to get a better sense of their use case and why they’re exploring your solution. Give them pre-seeded use cases that will give them a better understanding. These steps will help your customer get the most from their initial contact with your solution. It will create momentum into the sales cycle and remove unnecessary complexity from the conversation.
Mine the MEDDIC
While you’re guiding them or even before they engage with your solution, dig for that MEDDIC. Explore the challenges and identify the pain associated with their current processes and technologies. Discuss the capabilities and functions they are most interested in seeing. Find out why. Are these capabilities that will be decision criteria for a purchase? Push to expand the trial experience to additional stakeholders. This will help uncover potential champions and economic buyers.
Qualify Your Efforts
Leveraging trial engagements to collect MEDDIC will help you qualify them. You’ll get a better sense of the resources and efforts to dedicate at this early stage. This can be incredibly important in qualifying a lead before passing it to account executives. How the customer reacts to outreach and offers to guide can mean the difference between someone educating themselves versus an organization seeking to solve big problems. Make sure you know which one before incurring that cost.
Every organization is different in how they execute a free/trial version offering. Some provide a frictionless experience to engage with the solution while others require a conversation with an SDR first. Don’t let your freemium strategy be a drag on your acquisition costs. Regardless of the process, make sure the moment that engagement starts, you are:
Maximizing the customer's experience by guiding them through that initial solution interaction
Maximizing the sales experience by gathering and documenting MEDDIC early
Minimizing resource costs by qualifying the customer or individual early
🎬 Take Action |
|
MEDDIC offers a structured approach to identifying and addressing technical and business pain points. Understanding the difference and connecting these pains empowers presales professionals to offer compelling solutions and drive successful sales engagements.
Get in touch. Let us show you how to implement MEDDIC more effectively and ensure the greatest value beyond simple qualification.
Comments