To the MDs out there: Best advice on how to originate deals/get clients?

Analyst 3+ in CorpFin

Hey man, sorry to hijack but i'm currently considering the switch from IB to SaaS sales for a variety of reasons. Assuming you made the switch or have a reference point in finance, how have you found the world of saas sales to be, and would you recommend it to someone who is more of a big picture thinker and struggles with the details in finance? Been told by a few people I would fit in well in SaaS, and now have the opportunity to do so but would like to get input from folk who have made the switch and/or can comment.

No worries, mate, happy to share thoughts and impressions:

First of all, cultural fit makes (as in most cases) almost make or break way forward. If your senior / head of sales has a clear goal / plan to execute and also numbers for the end of the year and every member (in terms of KPIs, growth, accounts etc) in mind, it’s so much more convenient (than stabbing in the dark and not knowing what your standing is). If you can rely on him and/or to colleagues to assist you and/or keep your back when you start off and/or things go south (mostly later on), another big make or break point in my view as it leads to a tight knit team structure and great corps spirit going forward. Key skill (internally and externally is communication; written and orally). However, not all of your colleagues will be as driven as you’re in banking and be going forward. Sure, they’ll put their effort in (don’t expect majority to work >60h, especially not customers. 3-4pm on a Friday and most drop the pen), but you might be on a faster lane then they’re and need to adjust your expectations (good luck pushing the data analytics department to have the workshop prepared, which you just settled 5 min ago for in 2 days as you saw their calendar is free)

As we did a lot of managed services / cloud (including internal software development if absolute necessary), it’s somewhat important to fully understand what the client wants (e.g. if client wants to raise debt, you won’t just smack a HY on the market with 10% coupon and a call it a day, but evaluate the firms situation first). There’s lots of background architecture to be discussed (on premise infrastructure, partially using cloud via Teams already etc), so you understand where they’re coming from and where they wanna go. Usually, I had 1-2 initial calls / talks where we discussed these things, tried to draw a picture of what’s to come, what’s existent, what does the budget look like (not always the case; some are open pockets, some neutral, some very cheap, which can and most likely will backfire in many ways later). Then it’s some internal discussion and project kick off, gathering resources, making a draft, meanwhile keeping customer updated and managing incoming requests (more rar, unless existing customers and some technical issues) and holding their hands along the way (for B2B it is). As many projects come at once, it’s in many ways similar to banking, also with some downtimes and more stressful periods, but people are generally way more laid back (worked some weeks fully from home, others in office as the quicker communication with head of abc department could shoot the information right away).

If you like the product or idea of working with it and selling it to someone, you can have an amazing time. Sure, up and downs, rejections part of it but generally, I enjoyed it a lot, also as you get to deal with various kinds of people, which I personally found useful.

Regarding differences for banking others here have posted tons of stuff and have better insights than me across the ranks, so will rather cut it short here. Though, I agree big picture thinking is healthy part, as when you have an idea / vision of what you wanna implement / sell / create a benefit and work along with the customer, it’s a great rewarding process going forward. Most of the detailed work will be done by the product / technical side but you need to know the basics and related ins/ outs of the product (e.g. Microsoft licensing universe is so crazy huge by now (some hundred excel lines), depending on the model you choose, but you should know what’s in a E3 license and what has the E5 additional (same for basic level, as I said in another post, it’s lots of collaboration internally but you don’t wanna burn yourself by selling it without knowing it)). So would say it’s fairly balanced, leaning more towards big picture (depending on project I’d argue).

Also, sales can have various sub groups; sales development representative, account executive, account manager, key account manager etc. first is lots of cold calling and grunt work, second goes more towards managing clients, while other 2 heavily emphasise on it (personal preference). Comp wise I’d check: what’s the structure like? Most common I’ve seen is 60/40 or 70/30 split (base/bonus), some make it vice versa, usually negotiable. Is the bonus capped or uncapped? Uncapped makes the hustle really shine, if you’re killing it, capped just hurts. Are the OTE (on target earnings) monthly or annually? Annually can be big make or break, as if there’s a min bar (e.g. 80%) and you miss it, you won’t see anything. While monthly makes you live by the sword and die by the sword, depending on structure again. Always ask for what’s their structure like, ask for it written and in your contract (had some bad experiences starting). What does the promotion track look like? Most firms have somewhat clear structure (either a la A2A like or by numbers; hit A, get promoted, hit B, get promoted etc. interviewed once with a rockstar in commodity sales, who made 3 promotions in 2y. Outlayer and not that common but you wanna know where the road goes.

Last but not least, if it’s a young firm (especially start ups), some try to cut you off by paying solely base and offering equity and want to pay bonus later (didn't specify when, nor had ever made a time line up internally - red flag for me, unless I’m super convinced of the firm). Had once with an B2B AI one, which has a great product, lean team but impressive partnerships. They didn’t offer bonus and only a small potion of equity (<1%), which would only realize if going public. Ended up declining due to high CoL city and forced relocate along low base / no bonus. Firm is still in the market, conservative expanding but stable, not sure how it’s nowadays but also a good way to make a career if you’re killing it. However, if things go south (especially with recession looming in my eyes), more firms might cut on SDRs/BDs first, also hire first again to ramp up. If they just had a financing round (for start ups) or are already quite some time in the market with backing / funding / cash on balance, you’ll be more in. As an account manager or related role, you’ll have to do lots of crisis work then (which is more intense but great as well due to this).

Depending on the product / contract, the great thing of SaaS is, many firms have implemented it either in a single department or across various ones but not only one. It’s not like your Windows license you buy and run all office applications with it (like the hammer in your toolbox), but there are various ones and exchanging one is usually a pain (enjoy data migration projects or implementing it in a larger firm). A good product is like a Netflix account, which no matter how much you use it, you’ll just keep it as it’s so convenient and your people are happy with it. If the customer is happy/convinced, they’ll throw the money at you (Orlando Bravo has some nice interviews Bloomberg regarding this, just as a side note).

Lastly, I personally think it’s great for mentioned reasons and can be a great journey, especially when you’re young(er) and share a common vision with the firm and are not afraid of “enemy contact” on the frontline. For exit opportunities: if established relationships with a client, can try to leverage this (some internally support this external move), some have sharp chinese walls like structures, others support internal laterals (like towards IR). Friend of mine said back then, if you’re good at sales itself, industry doesn’t matter, as you’ll kill it regardless. Might be true, am not too senior on this.

Sorry for the escalation, just wrote my thoughts down as they came in and tried to structure it somewhat. Hope it helps.