Embracing Sales Automation and the Buy-It-Yourself Future

37% of recently surveyed SMB SaaS experts believe that small businesses are already self-purchasing or “buy-it-yourself” (BIY) their business software. Mono has worked with Localogy (formerly the LSA) to look into the prospects for BIY and sales automation and whether companies that sell advertising and software for local and small businesses believe in its future.

As a SaaS-based technology company, we work on a daily basis with our global partner channel to define the best sales channels to drive business, as well as effectively reach the thousands of diverse small businesses in their market that want and need a digital presence to succeed online. In the position as a B2B2SMB company, we’ve collaborated on this new report “Is the Buy-It-Yourself (BIY) Future Already Here?” with Sr. Analyst, Charles Laughlin, from the Localogy team to get a better understanding of how sales channels within the SMB SaaS space are evolving beyond the traditional field or tele-sales teams.

Is the Buy-It-Yourself Future Already Here?

In the past years, there’s been an inherent change in the profile of the small business customer - as we covered in our report “The New Small Business SaaS Customer”. Not only are business owners younger, they’re also more intelligent (researching more, cross comparing providers, pricing, etc.) and more independent (more tech savvy and looking to take some control of their digital presence). This new report looks at this development from strategic sales perspective and provides insight and consideration as to how digital service providers can broaden their reach and leverage sales automation as part of their inbound and acquisition-focused initiatives:

• 30% of small businesses have purchased cloud-based services directly from a company’s website, and an additional 19% via an online marketplace. That’s nearly 50% of the market purchasing online. In comparison, only 15% purchased from a sales rep. 
• 48% of surveyed SMB SaaS experts believe that small businesses will self-purchase or “BIY” in the future, yet only 25% of surveyed SMB SaaS professionals said they are currently automating the “Closing the sale” phase of the sales process
• And going back to the change in business owners, 85% believed that a generational change will drive a greater willingness to self-purchase

A seamless transition from DIY to DIWM

In previous blog posts, we’ve discussed different go-to-market models (check out the posts BIY, DIY, DIFM: Which Model Makes Sense and For Whom and The DIWM Opportunity) but the most important thing to note in the SMB space is that there is not a “One-Size-Fits-All”. And while a BIY or DIY model may overwhelmingly seem to be the ideal offering for acquisition, the importance of post-sale service or even an upsell to a fully service-based offering should not be underestimated. While younger business owners may be more intelligent and independent, the one aspect of running a business that transcends all ages is a lack of time. And that is where digital service providers today can not only differentiate, but also win on offering a seamless transition from BIY to do-it-yourself (DIY) to do-it-with-me (DIWM).

Download “Is The Buy-It-Yourself (BIY) Future Already Here?” Report

Want to read the full report? Get a copy of the full report to learn more about the prospects for BIY in SMB SaaS space and whether companies serving local, small businesses believe in its future. Stay tuned as we’ll also be hosting a live webinar with the Mono and Localogy teams on Thursday, February 27 to dig more into the details of this report!