As an entrepreneur or sales professional interested in building a white-label software business, knowing the common pitfalls that can derail your success is crucial. One of the most common hazards is based on your sales approach. For entrepreneurs or sales professionals with limited experience selling software, learning how to sell white-label software can have a bit of a learning curve.
In our latest textLIVING University ProTalks Session — What Sales Professionals Need to Know About Selling Software — we explored the common pitfalls to avoid and offered a few best practices that our team has learned from selling our software platform to thousands of businesses over the past decade. In this article, we’re taking a closer look at the stumbling blocks that prevent entrepreneurs from successfully selling white-label software.
3 Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Selling White-Label Software
Over the past decade, we’ve hired and trained many business development professionals at textLIVING. Many of them came in without any prior experience selling software. Here are some of the common pitfalls and challenges they experienced:
1. Believing that software sales is easy.
A common misconception is that selling software is easy. Experienced entrepreneurs or sales professionals often assume that a proven software product with excellent case studies will sell itself. However, the reality is quite different. Selling software demands the same persistence and resilience required in any sales environment. That’s why one of the most helpful questions to ask yourself before starting a white-label software business is, “Am I willing to dedicate significant time and effort to launch and grow my business?” You want to ensure you have the time and entrepreneurial spirit to stay disciplined and consistent.
Falling into this trap often leads to another pitfall: just because you have a great product with proven results doesn’t mean it will resonate with your prospect. Each pitch you make must be tailored to address your target audience’s unique pain points and preferences to drive successful sales.
2. Giving up on a prospect too early.
Another mistake that sales professionals make is prematurely abandoning potential customers. Success in this domain entails patience and persistence. Nurturing relationships and understanding the prospect’s needs can lead to fruitful conversions and long-term partnerships. Research reveals that it typically takes around eight touches to secure a sale.
Persistence is especially crucial when it comes to software sales. Numerous factors might impact a prospect’s ability to make a decision, such as gathering feedback from multiple stakeholders or assessing their budget. For example, it’s helpful for our white-label partners focused on selling our text marketing software to restaurants to recognize that owners and managers are incredibly busy — often putting out multiple fires in a given week. Staying engaged with these prospects is a skill learned through experience.
3. Focusing more on the product than the customer’s needs.
Another critical misstep is focusing more on the product than the customer’s needs. We encourage our white-label partners to remember that one of the keys to mastering a software demo is to keep the prospect as the hero of the story, not the software.
Successful sales should always start with understanding the customer’s pain points, challenges, and objectives. Engage in thoughtful questioning and genuinely work to understand the prospect’s pain points. This approach allows you to transcend the trap of pitching a solution before the prospect recognizes a need for it.
Rather than offering a generic software solution for every potential lead, you can craft a pitch that genuinely resonates with the customer. Tailored pitches lead to increased success in the dynamic world of software sales.
Watch Session One: What to Know About White-Label Software Sales
Our latest textLIVING University ProTalks are designed to help you learn how to leverage your skills and expertise in sales. When applied to a white-label SAAS, you can generate monthly recurring revenue and commissions to build a sustainable business.
You can watch What Software Professionals Need to Know About Selling Software for a deeper dive into insights we’ve learned over the years. Be sure to check out the Session Notes that provide additional insights and bonus materials.