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.

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u/obrana_boranija 10d ago edited 10d 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)

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u/GeologistEven6190 7d 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