I started a small business with a couple of friends selling a SaaS product to SMEs. Right now, I’m in charge of marketing. The problem we’re facing is that our customer base isn’t growing fast enough to meet our profit targets. Our team is small, just 14 people in total, spread across 4 departments: R&D (6), Marketing & Sales (4), Finance (1), Technical Support (2), and Admin (1).
As the marketing leader, we’ve tried a bunch of approaches. One person has been working on SEO, another is building connections on LinkedIn, and one more is handling cold email outreach. But I can’t figure out where we went wrong and what led to this situation. We’ve received feedback from potential clients saying our product is great but too expensive compared to the competition. Some don’t see the value in switching from their current solutions. It feels like we’re stuck in a loop, trying to convince people who are just not buying in.
Now, our sales data for 2024 is pretty bad, and our cash reserves are shrinking fast. I’m honestly worried we might go bankrupt next year if things don’t change. This feels like our lowest point. Has anyone else been through something similar? What strategies have you used to get clients and manage cash flow at the same time? I would really appreciate any advice anyone has to offer.
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I completely understand what you’re going through. Don’t be too hard on yourself—you’re putting in a lot of effort already. This situation isn’t all on you. Take a moment to breathe, and keep pushing forward. Here are some things that might help:
Review your competitors’ product info, especially pricing and services. If your product is well-functioning but too expensive, consider offering tiered pricing or splitting the service into more affordable packages.
Leverage the leads you’ve already collected. Reach out to them with customized emails, new demos, or trial offers. Throw everything at them to close some deals.
Add lead generation tools and cold calling to your strategy. You can let the admin handle the cold calls. Tools like Apollo (a bit expensive, but widely used) or LeadsNavi (cheaper, with a 14-day trial) can help you target interested leads.
For cost management, consider cutting roles that lack specialized skills and have the remaining team take on those tasks.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more advice.
It’s important to keep testing and improving, but before making any more changes, you need to figure out what’s really causing the issue. If you’re getting leads but not closing, that’s a marketing problem. If you’re not even getting leads, then your marketing is falling short.
If you’re not closing deals, it’s a sign that something about your product or the way you’re selling it isn’t right. Maybe your product needs more features or better positioning. If the market’s already crowded, think about targeting a different audience or positioning yourself to serve an industry that’s willing to pay more.
You should identify the real issue, which will probably require talking to your team (sales, support, etc.) and your customers, including those who didn’t buy.
Also, some of your language in the post, like ‘we’re the market leader’ or ‘potential clients think our product is great’—that suggests you’re avoiding the truth. Maybe it’s just how I’m reading it, but try dropping that language. Be real about the problem. Good luck. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading Building a StoryBrand for better positioning and Extreme Ownership for taking control of business problems.
It seems like a typical startup challenge: great product, but struggling with sales and pricing. You need to find a way to either prove that your product is worth the extra cost or adjust your pricing to compete with others, all while being careful with your cash flow.
Honestly, you have too many people. Cut down to just five developers and one sales person. Have one developer handle any support requests, and let the sales person focus entirely on finding the right product-market fit.
Your customers are probably being polite when they say your product is good. The real question is whether they’ll pay for it. If not, that’s the issue you need to tackle.