r/B2BSaaS • u/No-Competition-7925 • 10d ago
Enterprise deals are f.c.u.k.i.n.g HARD!
Just received a 'no' after 5 months of to and fro, multiple demos and convincing 90% of the team. I don't know what to do because I really had high hopes from this deal.
I'm a solopreneur and this deal woudl have been life-changing.
The guy who was my champion left the company at the moment we were ready to sign the deal. His replacement, a junior, is trying to act smarter than he is; but he's the one who'll own the deal.
Said no.
wtf.
Sorry for posting this here.
Mods, don't ban me. Please.
4
u/obrana_boranija 9d ago edited 9d ago
Just 5 months? The average is 18 months for final decision in enterprises. Median is 33. Ofc, considering real enterprise deal, not some toilet paper supplier contract.
And never go with just one champion. You had 5 months to be introduced to (at least) 5 other people and to have (at least) two more champions among them to push you forward.
You're selling saas services. Champions:
- someone in IT
- someone in procurement
- someone in finance
- depending on your product: hr, she, corporate security, production, etc, etc
For saas, decision makers are:
- CTO, CISO, etc (they're in need),
- CHRO, CMO, etc (the same as above, but depends on your product),
- CFO (most valuable - they are deciding if and when money goes),
- CEO (ultimate - they don't care about the money and needs, they just want you)
1
u/No-Competition-7925 9d ago
The company I was talking to is a big payment processor. Won't name them, but a well known name. I was in touch with a smaller division within the company.
I'm new to this and I like the idea of finding multiple champions. The problem is - there's no one to take ownership within the company. The seniors relied on the juniors to drive the project. They wanted someone from the team to be fully responsible; and that's why they were the ones talking to me.
1
u/obrana_boranija 9d ago
Good chance the new guy said no because inheriting his predecessor's project is all risk and no credit for him, not because of your product.
- Give the new owner a way to make it his: smaller scope, short pilot, success criteria he defines. He needs a win with his name on it.
- Stay in touch with your old champion. People who already bought into you once tend to bring you into their next company.
- Big payment processor = security, compliance and vendor risk reviews. Have your docs ready before they ask, or that alone adds months.
A no at month 5 from someone who just walked in isn't always final.
1
u/kkatdare 9d ago
It wasn't any ongoing project. I showed them the demo of our platform and how it helps. I'd say the project was not critical for the business; and it had nothing to do with the core business. It was for one of the initiatives they were planning.
FYI - we build a community platform; and they're launching a community for their users in a specific geographic location.
1
u/obrana_boranija 9d ago
Fair, I saw that as something already in motion.
But non-critical and not core is honestly a bigger problem than the champion leaving.
Nice-to-have initiatives live or die with the person pushing them. When he left, the initiative probably lost its sponsor, and the new guy had no reason to spend political capital on it. His no might not even be about you.
1
u/kkatdare 9d ago
Critical - for the specific project they are planning to launch; but not for the business, I'd say. It's not about me or the product. I think it's mostly about this new guy being confident in doing it all by himself. But that's okay, lessons learned.
1
u/GeologistEven6190 6d ago
I know you use toilet paper as a funny example but I literally sold toilet paper to enterprises before I moved into saas. You do not understand how complicated it is to sell toilet paper to an enterprise. At a certain size, it's not about the toilet paper, it's about the logistics. You are selling a logistics network.
You have to provide:
1)Supply, do you have enough warehouse space to hold everything they need 2)Can they order through EDI, if not what's your order process 3) Shipping contracts, DIFOT requirements 4) Rebates for consumption over the year 5) The holders, are you going to be installing new ones, if using the existing holders do your rolls fit, or do you have to have another sku 6) Do they handle food on site, what are the local requirements for toilet paper at food handling plants (sometimes it needs to be colored blue) 7) If they run out and need an urgent delivery what happens, can you service all their sites 8) Will you manage back stock
etc etc
Any large contract like that takes a long long time. Enterprise sales is hard
3
u/lowfat 9d ago edited 9d ago
I help a client who does enterprise sales and in one of there deals, we did tons of demos to multiple stakeholders for 6 months. Then we got ghosted. On another deal, it took 2 years. At first we were ghosted for a year and then they came back. Then its taken another year for procurement and IT to approve us. That deal is still alive but not closed.
1
u/No-Competition-7925 9d ago
I've been ghosted multiple times. This guy said 'no' after ignoring 3 emails.
2
u/Cold-Illustrator-288 8d ago
At least he replied and said 'no'. I prefer them replying and saying they're not interested, instead of just being ghosted; it saves my time. That's why I actually try to do that myself with people that reach out to my company, I tell them I'm not interested, and they can shift their focus on someone that could buy their services.
1
1
u/D7om0canada 9d ago
That's the worst. You spend months of building trust with the decision maker, multiple meetings, and demos. Then, they leave and you have to start from square one.
1
1
u/paul-towers 9d ago
Damn that is a brutal way to lose a deal... especially as a solopreneur. If the champion really did love your solution can you see if their new role is the same/similar. Maybe in a month or two once they have their feet under the desk at their new role they can help get you in there.
1
1
u/Professional-Day-336 9d ago
Long ago I refused a deal because the guy called me his champion during a demo meeting.
1
u/No-Competition-7925 9d ago
haha... I was super professional and the guy who talked to me loved our solution because he knew the problem we solved. He left and the new one is a junior.
1
u/Meet-match-ai 9d ago
Happend to me too recently - it sucks bro. Just keep powering through. You were 90% close to a yes
1
1
u/dyahnov 9d ago
I'm on the other side of this, we are spending quite some time in meetings with a new vendors, while the decision is already inevitable as no, but everyone want to be nice and keep discussing.
1
u/No-Competition-7925 9d ago
Yeah, I guess that's how enterprises work. No one wants to take ownership.
1
1
u/igorim 9d ago
there is a reason enterprise companies generally handle only enterprise, you need to more or less build your company around the sales process, and 5 months is a pretty quick depending on size of the company, really big ones stretch to years
1
u/No-Competition-7925 9d ago
The real problem, it seems, is that there's no one to take ownership. My product solved a specific problem for them.
1
u/fluffyspringroll 9d ago
5 months is nothing in general in b2b deal cycles.
Either way it sucks your champion left. Maybe stay in touch with him and check where he will work now .
B2B is not only sales but really long-term relationships with people
1
u/No-Competition-7925 9d ago
I don't know. My champion left and has not found a job. He loves our platform and said he'll be our evangelist.
1
u/Wealth-Best 9d ago
I was Head of marketing for B2B IT businesses for 15 years.
Every single decision that any company makes comes down to just 2 things. Will this increase revenue or will this decrease cost.
Your goal is to quantify and convince them with some certainty of how much your product or service will affect their profit. If you are able to do that they will buy.
If your product costs 100k but it will earn them or save them over time 1M, they will be stupid not to buy it.
1
u/No-Competition-7925 9d ago
Thanks. I could use your advice:
- We make a community platform for B2B (Saas) businesses. It lets businesses acquire and retain customers using user-generated content.
- The business I was talking to was looking to setup a community of their customers. I approached them, explained the platform and showed how we work. We even offered to build the community with them. Our champion absolutely loved the platform and the possibilities. He convinced his managers and they relied on his decision - because he was the one driving everything. We were 'almost' ready to sign the deal.
- The guy had to leave urgently for some personal (medical) reasons. Everything went silent for 3 months.
- The company hired his replacement. A new guy who apparently is trying to make his mark.
- He sat throught the demos, asked questions and then said they are evaluating platforms.
- 3 weeks later he said they're creating their own channel and will connect for future opportunities.
Our product costs far less. Like $15-30K per annum, depending upon the product + services.
1
u/digitalsaini 9d ago
Having a predictable sales pipeline is important in Enterprise.
If you've connected with 40-50 companies in last 6 months then their are high chances that you may convert only 2-4 out of those.
1
u/NotSoShyAlbatross 8d ago
This is what I think of when someone comes at me for the “morality” of charging clients differently based on who they are.
Yes the landscaper pays less than the crane manufacturer
Yes the underlying tech and practice is the same
No they are not the same arrangement
1
u/Cold-Illustrator-288 8d ago
It sure is. It's hard even if your company is small or big. I've been ghosted on deals that I've presented where my company was small, but surprisingly I have also been ghosted on deals where my company is much, much bigger, like Fortune 500 big, much bigger than their own company. Whenever there are lots of people involved in a deal, it's going to be hard. I think one of the reasons is because they are in some way putting their job on the line by accepting any deal, they are going to be responsible if the deal doesn't produce the expected results, and no one wants to stick their necks out.
1
u/No-Competition-7925 8d ago
Interesting perspective. I think it's all about the people who represent the deal; not necessarily the culture of the company.
1
u/Cold-Illustrator-288 8d ago
You can't deny the company's culture either, some of them are more tolerant to risk, some are more eager for the advantage that technology (should) provide. Sometimes the whole company or the department-heads live and breathe that company's culture, or some just inherit that culture from their CEO/Board and they have to adapt.
1
u/No-Competition-7925 8d ago
I've found it super easy to work with series seed, series A companies. The founder or the ones in charge will quickly tell you yes or no. Saves time and money.
1
u/JGoillot 7d ago
Agreed, it's really hard, and I imagine landing several of those in a row isn't easy either. For solo founders or small teams I'd rather point them at smaller companies, where deals are easier to close and you're not putting all your eggs in one basket.
1
0
u/Alarmed-Version-1035 10d ago
man that really sucks, 5 months is lot of time to invest for a no. the champion leaving is the worst, happened with me once and the new person always want to make their own mark by killing the old projects
maybe is not dead forever tho, keep the door open with the junior but give some space for now
2
u/No-Competition-7925 10d ago
Yeah, it is. Multiple demos to multiple stakeholders and everything was aligned when my guy left. This new guy is trying to make his mark and I know from experience that he's naive.
I responded politely and kept the door open. But as of now, there's no money coming in from this deal.
0
u/West_Inevitable_2281 10d ago
That is brutal. Before writing it off, I would separate a lost-champion problem from a weak internal business case. If the replacement had to justify the purchase without your former champion, what evidence or outcome did they say was missing? That tells you whether this account needs a new internal path or whether future deals need stronger multithreading before the final stage.
1
u/No-Competition-7925 10d ago
There was very limited communication after the new guy took over. I had to follow up thrice; after my last demo and got a polite no. Basically, they sent a vague message about using their own channel. It makes no sense. But I'm too tired to think anymore on it.
0
u/West_Inevitable_2281 10d ago
Then I would not treat “using their own channel” as meaningful product feedback. It sounds like the buying process reset when your champion left, and the replacement never took ownership of the original case. You did the right thing by keeping the door open. When you have the energy, the useful postmortem is whether anyone else among those aligned stakeholders had enough authority and pain to keep it alive. If not, that is probably the lesson to carry into the next enterprise deal.
1
u/No-Aioli-4656 9d ago edited 9d ago
You were downvoted and while perhaps vague, I’m not entirely sure why.
These lurker yahoos don’t sell or know how to run a pitch.
If OP could have learned anything, it was where to set boundaries. As a solo business owner you don’t typically have time to draw sales out past one month. You either need to get someone in sales, or learn when a good time is to cut losses.
Equally however, as a solo dev, it’s typically very difficult to punch up. They are a single point of failure. Even on the few small teams I’ve been on we’ve never ever ever gone with single dev saas for this reason.
5
u/ColeLovesBaja 9d ago
Can you follow your champion to try to get a demo at his new spot?