SaaS's Impact on the Inside Sales Model

Posted by Matt Bertuzzi on October 21, 2010

0 comments | 2170 reads

Is Inside Sales in a SaaS environment really all that different from Inside Sales in traditional / licensed sales model? Turns out - yes it is.

The most interesting findings from our SaaS / Inside Sales Metrics & Compensation report highlight these key differences. (Note: for comparison we used data from our Inside Sales Metrics report)

Here are 3 areas where SaaS Inside Sales organizations differ:

Rep ramp time to productivity
% of calls in response to inbound leads generated by Marketing
% of Reps in a group achieving quota

Let's take a look at some of these metrics:

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How long does it take for a new Rep to be fully productive?

Average Ramp Time

90 days

The average ramp times for Inside Sales Reps in a SaaS environment are significantly lower (approximately 30%) than for a license Inside Sales role (90 v. 135 days).

SaaS Rep Ramp

It is interesting to note that for license Inside Sales roles, 19% of companies had a ramp time of 6+ months where none of the SaaS companies surveyed reported similar experiences.

What is it about a SaaS environment that allows Reps to come up to speed that much more quickly?

---------
.

What % of calls are placed in response to inbound leads generated by Marketing?

Average Marketing-generated %

59%

SaaS Inside Sales groups report more than double the percentage of calls placed in response to Marketing-generated leads compared to license Inside Sales (59% v. 27%).

Note that:

Nearly 68% of respondents had a majority of Inside Sales activity sourced by Marketing
42% reported that greater than 75% of calls are placed in response to inbound leads generated by Marketing

SaaS Metrics

---------
.

What percentage of the group achieves quota?

In a given group, percentage of Reps making quota

70%

Inside Sales Reps in SaaS environments are making quota at a much higher rate than their license Inside Sales counterparts (70% v. 50% at quota).

41% of respondents reported more than 80% of their Reps at quota
Nearly 12% had greater than 95% at quota

SaaS Quota

-
.

The SaaS delivery model is certainly impacting the results these groups achieve (lower barriers to entry, month-to-month contracts, etc.) - not to mention quicker ramp time and significant inbound lead generation.

But what do you think? Does anything in the data particularly stand out to you?

Get the Full Report:
SaaS / Inside Sales Metrics & Compensation

Research Report: Focusing on Inside Sales in SaaS companies.

SaaS / Inside Sales Metrics, Compensation, KPIs & trends

Based on 2010 survey of 115+ B2B companies.

Matt Bertuzzi

Matt draws upon his experience in technology product management and direct sales to help Bridge Group clients better define their customer profiles and gain actionable feedback from their target market.

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