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Massive long shot but here goes...
At work we have developed a system for a client and they are very happy with it - bought as a bespoke application only. They have recommended to their parent organisation that they change to our system but the parent organisation doesn't see us as 'database' developers and won't trust us (despite the recommendation). Anyway, we have confidence that it is far superior to the system they currently use so need to convince then.
Thing is, we have never sold SaaS before so have no idea of cost models etc. if adopted, it would be for apprix 10,000 users, all paying around £150(per year) to be members of the organisation.
So - can anyone offer any advice ? Please!
With the greatest respect - you are asking and expecting this advice for free? There's many that's help you make a profit , but you'll need to offer a slice of it.
Fair do's, just thought someone nay like to help. After four years of needing tax credits and using an inheritance to keep my company alive I was thinking it was about time for a positive break though.
Btw, we wouldn't get 10,000 x £150 PA (I could only dream of that) - we would get a fraction of that for providing the service to allow them to manage their members.
Who is in your competitive space? What are they offering/charging? What value does your solution offer - especially in terms of RIO et al?
Space monkey has it. This isn't a pricing issue at the moment because you haven't finished the sales process yet. You need to establish value based on what the client feels is important and you need to act to show why you think your solution is superior. There is a great opportunity here for you to act as an advisor and show them something they may be missing. If you can see why their current system is not performing offer to do some free consulting around that and use the data you gather to then structure your proposal including the price.
If you just try to sell on price then it won't matter how cheap or otherwise you are, they won't buy from you.
What are they paying now for this service? What is it costing them in problems like lost members? What savings will they make using your system? Then you can work out a charge that would give them a good payback. Only if your system enables that is it 'superior'. Basic CBA...
You have to consider what you can bring to the table with a saas offering that they can't do themselves internally.
If its a matter of building confidence in your product and company before they commit to a large cap ex spend in licencing (then I assume some kind of maintaiance contract) then I'm afraid what your looking for is a hosted trial rather than offering a saas product.
Without knowing what your product is its hard to know where the issues will be but 90% of your pain is likely to be in integration, if they already have an established middle ware solution and don't mind committing some dev time bite their arm off.
Not had a coffee yet, ugh.
Thank you for your advice so far - I especially like the comments around consulting - will give us plenty to work with next week.
We are currently researching competitor costs.
🙂