Pedrocastenada

Account Executive

How to identify if the software you're about to be selling is actually GOOD?

I'm not talking about Glassdoor Reviews telling me leadership is nice.

I'm trying to find a way to keep up with B2B software companies going places. Revolutionizing things. Changing things for the better. Companies solving something interesting and being absolute badasses at doing it.

The reason being is that I am thinking of doing a pivot soon. And I want to be a part of something amazing.

I can do my research on leadership via LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and the interview process.

But finding a great, highly reviewed, highly competitive product that almost sells itself is more difficult.

What are some of the best ways to keep up with trending B2B software companies?

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braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

The 3 F's:
1) Founders. Find smart people who have done it before. Or done big things within innovative orgs.
2) Funding. Who's getting money, and from whom.
3) Fortune. When you find a company, look at how many of the F500 use their tech. If the logos are a bunch of companies you've never heard of, not a great sign.

buckets1

Politicker

I’m a big fan of SaaStr and chances are if SaaStr’s written about the company they’re probably good. +1 on @braintank F500 company logos point. These companies tend to have extensive procurement processes and require a pilot/POC. Hard to get a shitty piece of software through that process I’d imagine.

AnotherOldSalesGuy

Director of Sales

Hahahahahah.. no. It's really not. F500's buy some good stuff and some truly terrible stuff. The two big sources of bad buys i've seen in large enterrpises are decision making by committee, and C levels enforcing procurement from existing suppliers, even when those suppliers other products are dogshit.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

Repvue for info on quota attainment/salary etc. Then I would look up the company on g2 and see how its reviewed by end users.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

G2 is rife with companies that pay for exposure on the platform. I manage the listing for our software, I wouldn't say it's the most reliable metric. Though it is probably better than nothing.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Yeah, good point. Any review site has to be taken with a lot of skepticism. I used to think that being targeted and used by professionals made a difference (as in, it's not that cesspool Yelp) but then look what happened at LinkedIn, where people began to think other professionals cared about their political affiliations and views.

youngsmoky

Celebrated Contributor

Senior Account Executive

I would ask a lot of questions in the interview. Who's your biggest competition? How are you different than them? In head-to-head trials, who usually wins the contract? Make them sell YOU the product.

And of course do your own research on the product and market.

ColdCall

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

A few other questions to ask:
1) How long do customer's stay/what is the churn (people cancelling) rate?
2) How long does a customer need to stay to be profitable?
3) Average tenure of a customer?

If you have a product that people use everyday and it becomes a part of their day to day, can be profitable within 1 month/year and they stay for 5-10 years- i'd say its a good tool.

If you have more people leaving than joining the software, need to stay for 3+ years and average out 1/2 years then you have an issue.

The enterprise software and logos are great, of course- but not all SaaS start/scale ups have big logos or well known companies!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

We've used G2 Reviews - companies rate software and you can go read the reviews to see what the customers are saying about it. Everything from big to small. It could be a touchpoint for discovering some decent companies to look into.

Upper_Class_SaaS

Politicker

Account Executive

I think you also have to factor in the market opportunity if they are a smaller start up with a new twist. Who is their main competitors and what is their logo wall looking like. Then if the company has some decent logos you might be in a good place

Upper_Class_SaaS

Politicker

Account Executive

I judge all companies on their LinkedIn Logo, if it sucks I won't even apply

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

Professional Day Ruiner

Research the background of the founders. What companies have they played key roles in before and have they ever held a C level title at any of them.
Backing. Are they backed by any major investment firms? Any other software companies have a stake in them?
Reviews. See what current customers are saying about their products on 3rd party services, not on the companies website.
Questions. Ask a lot of questions in the interview process about company growth, goals, etc as well as your own growth path within the company. If they give you direct answers it’s a good sign, if they give you the run around, run away.
Just a few things I’ve picked up on over the years

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

G2 reviews? Other than that Braintank nailed it.

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Pedrocastenada

How to identify if the software you're about to be selling is actually GOOD?

13 comments

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