SlanginHCSaaS

Enterprise Sales Executive

Personal Narrative

Average deal size in Enterprise sales?

I had an interview yesterday with a CRO of a healthcare SaaS company.

Background: I'm currently employed and not looking to leave my current gig, but the tech is interesting and the comp is damn good, so I took the meeting at the urging of the recruiter. Plus, it's good to exercise that interview muscle now and again...

Anyway, the subject of average deal size came up and I was asked what my average deal size has been in my last few enterprise sales gigs. I said ~$250k ARR. At the conclusion of the interview, the CRO said the only thing about me that gave him reason for concern was my "low" average deal size. He said theirs is ~$600k ARR, so he was unsure if I could handle the added complexity of "bigger" deals.

My question to the War Room is...at that level, who cares? Selling to hospitals and health systems is already complex, regardless of the price tag. I understand the difference between MM and Enterprise, but at this level, does the difference between $250k/yr and $600k/yr really matter?

In the future, should I just pad the number to avoid the objection?

Price tag for Enterprise deals?

Attached poll

$250k/yr...$600k/yr...we're splitting hairs. It's all Enterprise. Different ballpark. $250k deals are no where near as complex as +$600k deals.

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

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19 comments

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Justatitle

Big Shot

9

Account Executive

Every company defines it differently there’s no right answer. If you’re selling 250k deals then 600k deals aren’t a crazy jump

jefe

Arsonist

8

🍁

This is the thing. There's no true answer.

It varies wildly.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

8

🦊

Anyone worth a shit knows that ENT is ENT. ARR or even ADS is gonna vary. This dude sounds like they need some training.

jefe

Arsonist

6

🍁

You're assuming these clowns are worth a shit, Foxy. BIG mistake.

oldcloser

Arsonist

4

💀

Imma translate this. Size don’t matter if you know how to use your mouf. Shit. Can I post that?

SlanginHCSaaS

Executive

3

Enterprise Sales Executive

I think you just did.

Pachacuti

Politicker

6

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

It can be all over the place. I have dealt with enterprise deals under 100k and over 10m.

You need to refocus on the conversation on sales strategy and not deal size competency.

oldcloser

Arsonist

2

💀

Bing! ☝️

BigShrimpin

Catalyst

6

Account executive

complexity can be self imposed as well, assuming you have a process you stick to and hold the customer to the complexity is entirely decided by the process itself some prospects require more than others

oldcloser

Arsonist

2

💀

This is a tenured perspective. From disco to demo to deal terms. Why eryone gotsta make it so complicated?

BigShrimpin

Catalyst

1

Account executive

Byproduct of not enforcing your sales process, more than likely that CRO comes from the school of show up and throw up til someone says yes.

The power of no can simplify your sales process real quick

medhardwaredr

Opinionated

4

Director of Sales NA

Pad

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

2

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

They are all different, and selling to different groups of people/departments. The amount someone would pay for a CRM is different than a Banking Core, and is also completely different than their cloud.

SalesBeast

Politicker

2

Sales Director

A 250k deal vs 600k deal typically requires a bit more executive sponsorship and approvals. But they are somewhat similar. If you told them you had sold a few deals over 500k then they should have been cool with it. But if you didn’t mention closing any high 6 figure or 7 figure deals, then I can understand their hesitancy. You’re right it’s not huge difference, but mega deals require different strategies and planning of attack.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Did you address that objection when he voiced it?

SlanginHCSaaS

Executive

1

Enterprise Sales Executive

I did. I mentioned that I'm very process driven, that in my experience the steps and tactics necessary to get a deal over the finish line in HC (specifically in non-profit or academic health centers) are the same whether the ARR is $150k or $1M. Find a champion, get an exec sponsor, find out the buying/paper process, get through IT assessment, deal with purchasing/procurement, etc. He seemed to respond favorably to my answer.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Well done! You showed that you can address an objection. I hope it works out for you. Best of luck!

Revenue_Rambo

Politicker

2

Director, Revenue Enablement

I’ve seen emerging SMB reps drop $300k deals and ENT reps struggle to close $10k.

Average deal size is a vanity metric that a lot of ignorant leaders put on a pedestal. Doesn’t mean a damn thing but give them an irrational point of bias.

If they are poo pooing you because you’ve only done $250k deals then you should look elsewhere.

ARRisLife

Politicker

0

Account Executive

I was going to say it’s the difference of a 0, but it’s actually not… it’s marginal. I think you could easily dissolve that objection/concern by outlining a typical sales process you go through , various stakeholders , C level execs that you need to sell to.

The bigger flag here is that concern coming from a CRO… telling that he’s not a big picture guy. Arguably could be different if he was like our deals are multimillion dollars and 2 year cycles.. but it’s ours are mid half million to your quarter… idk just my 2cents

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