What are the key features to highlight when selling SaaS products?

Selling software as a service (SaaS) products can be challenging, especially in a competitive and dynamic market. You need to convince potential customers that your solution is worth their time, money, and trust. How do you do that? By highlighting the key features that make your SaaS product stand out from the rest. In this article, we will discuss what are the key features to highlight when selling SaaS products and how to present them effectively.

1 Benefits over features

One of the most common mistakes that SaaS salespeople make is to focus too much on the features of their product, rather than the benefits that they provide to the customer. Features are the technical aspects of your product, such as the functionality, design, or integration. Benefits are the outcomes or results that your product delivers, such as the value, convenience, or satisfaction. Customers are more interested in how your product can solve their problems, improve their situation, or achieve their goals, than in how your product works. Therefore, you should always frame your features in terms of benefits, and use stories, examples, or testimonials to illustrate them.

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Onur Çağdaş Atuğ (He/Him)

Senior Enterprise Account Manager @ ContactOut | Driving Sales Growth
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Selling software is a business that requires sharp questioning skills. Often, sellers focus too much on features rather than the customer's pain points. A genuine SaaS seller needs to be more curious than average sellers. First, you need to identify the problem that your customer is facing, and then you need to create your value proposition related to that problem. This will help you establish an immediate rapport with your customer.

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Alex White

I clearly articulate how enterprise technology impacts a business
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Always tried and true sales advice here. To try and come at it from a different angle one could say this depends on the technical aptitude of your audience. If you find a fellow nerd and can actually go deep into the product you will be seen as a trusted sales person who actually knows what he's selling.

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Nick Buxton

📈 Founder of Committed to Growth - I help founders realise their revenue potential and write about it
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Way before you get into benefits and later features, a really effective pitch establishes the universal truth, pain point and concept of your solution. Think about it as showing the location and outside of a house before going inside - if you rush into the tour of the rooms you are disrupting the buyer journey and some key buying points.

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Mahmoud Aboraid, PMP

Sales Leader | B2B Software Sales Expert | Leading Teams to Growth Revenue, Business analyst Skilled in Data Analysis Reporting, Driving Business Growth specialist in Telecom Payment Solutions
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unctionality: Clearly explain what your product does and how it can solve the customer’s problems. Usability: Demonstrate ease of use and intuitive design. Customization: Show how your product can be tailored to meet specific needs. Integration: Highlight how your product integrates with other tools and systems. Security: Assure customers of the security measures in place to protect their data.

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2 Scalability and flexibility

Another key feature to highlight when selling SaaS products is their scalability and flexibility. Scalability means that your product can handle the growth and changes in your customer's needs, without compromising the performance, security, or reliability. Flexibility means that your product can adapt to your customer's preferences, requirements, or feedback, without requiring complex or costly customization. Customers want to know that your product can support their current and future needs, and that they can adjust it to their specific situation. Therefore, you should demonstrate how your product can scale up or down, how it can integrate with other tools or platforms, and how it can be configured or modified.

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Onur Çağdaş Atuğ (He/Him)

Senior Enterprise Account Manager @ ContactOut | Driving Sales Growth
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Many companies struggle with low utilization of acquired software systems, making it difficult to achieve a positive return on investment. SaaS (Software as a Service) can help address this problem by offering subscription-based models that allow for more consistent usage. Another challenge that companies face with their software investments is scalability. To ensure that the tech stack you acquire for your company can meet your growth needs, SaaS can be an ideal solution. With SaaS, you won't have to worry about investing in additional users or server upgrades as your needs change over time.

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3 Pricing and value

A third key feature to highlight when selling SaaS products is their pricing and value. Pricing is the amount of money that your customer pays for your product, either as a one-time fee, a subscription, or a usage-based model. Value is the amount of benefits that your customer receives from your product, in relation to the cost. Customers want to know that your product is worth their investment, and that they are getting a fair and transparent deal. Therefore, you should explain how your product's pricing works, how it compares to other alternatives, and how it delivers a positive return on investment.

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4 Security and compliance

A fourth key feature to highlight when selling SaaS products is their security and compliance. Security is the protection of your customer's data, privacy, and assets from unauthorized access, theft, or damage. Compliance is the adherence of your product to the relevant laws, regulations, and standards that apply to your customer's industry, location, or operations. Customers want to know that your product is safe, trustworthy, and legal. Therefore, you should showcase how your product's security features work, how they are verified and updated, and how they comply with the best practices and policies.

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Onur Çağdaş Atuğ (He/Him)

Senior Enterprise Account Manager @ ContactOut | Driving Sales Growth
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Companies consider security as a crucial factor when it comes to storing their data on on-premise solutions. By using SaaS, companies can store their data at world-class data centers, thus saving a lot of time and energy Certifications and security tests consume company resources, but SaaS solves this issue as well.

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5 Support and service

A fifth key feature to highlight when selling SaaS products is their support and service. Support is the assistance that you provide to your customer before, during, and after the sale, such as the training, documentation, or troubleshooting. Service is the quality and consistency of your product's performance, availability, and maintenance. Customers want to know that your product is reliable, easy to use, and well-supported. Therefore, you should highlight how your product's support and service features work, how they are accessible and responsive, and how they enhance the customer experience.

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6 Differentiation and innovation

A sixth and final key feature to highlight when selling SaaS products is their differentiation and innovation. Differentiation is the uniqueness and superiority of your product, compared to your competitors. Innovation is the novelty and improvement of your product, compared to your previous versions. Customers want to know that your product is the best option in the market, and that it is constantly evolving and advancing. Therefore, you should emphasize how your product's differentiation and innovation features work, how they are based on research and feedback, and how they create value and advantage.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Nick Buxton

📈 Founder of Committed to Growth - I help founders realise their revenue potential and write about it
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I'd also make space further up the Sales pitch to sell a case study where a customer has used your solution to achieve a prospects desired outcome. This can be prescriptive using slides, or a set of logo's where you can narrate the story. Unless you can demonstrate that a buyer in the same position as your prospect made the same decision and it massively paid off, they are going to feel like it's a risk at some level

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What are the key features to highlight when selling SaaS products?

1

2

3

4

5

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1 Benefits over features

2 Scalability and flexibility

3 Pricing and value

4 Security and compliance

5 Support and service

6 Differentiation and innovation

7 Here’s what else to consider

Technical Sales

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What are the key features to highlight when selling SaaS products?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Benefits over features

2 Scalability and flexibility

3 Pricing and value

4 Security and compliance

5 Support and service

6 Differentiation and innovation

7 Here’s what else to consider

Technical Sales

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