Ryan Neu’s Post

Vendr’s Q1 SaaS Trends Report just dropped — it’s a doozy. -Purchase volume for the top 25 categories decreased by 23% year-over-year, serving as a bellwether for future price hikes — buyer beware. This decline also spurred increased category expansion as sellers attempt to capture market share from adjacent categories. Atlassian ranks in the top three for Project Management, Data Integration, and Team Collaboration, while LinkedIn leads in LMS, Job Marketplace, and Recruiting. -Competitive buying cycles spiked as Average Contract Value (ACV) increased by 35% quarter-over-quarter, prompting savvy buyers to leverage competitive bids in the buying cycle, achieving an 86% increase in savings. -Meanwhile, 1Password appears to be cranking on all cylinders. Check out Vendr's full Q1 trends report in the comments!

Anyone else concerned with the CAC payback trend? It takes 38 months, or 3.16 years, to recoup the costs of acquiring a customer, for the average public tech company. Even more surprising is the trend. Since 2021, CAC payback has increased by 72%, which means software sellers are significantly less efficient. Meanwhile, there are countless of *really good* sales tools designed to help companies sell more efficiently. Simply adding more sales tools is not the answer. Fixing CAC requires a new distribution channel. That's why Vendr exists.

Stop overpaying for procurement tools -- we've got you covered. Vendr's (free) procurement workflows are designed to delight your stakeholders, without the $100k price tag. -easy to build, on your own (or, we can show you how) -powerful, with conditional logic, parallel processes -accommodates all business spend, not just software Try 'em, you'll likely love them. Sign up, free: www.vendr.com

Chamath Palihapitiya predicted the future: 80% feature-complete software at 90% discounts. Vendr just did it for procurement. We offer 80% of the functionality of the leading procurement tech stack — from pricing benchmarks to approval workflows and renewal management — at a 90% discount. As software becomes easier and cheaper to build, we'll continue to get faster and better at delivering the best functionality for procurement teams at a fraction of the cost. Tell us the features you want, and we'll deliver. Starting now, procurement teams can start cooking with essential ingredients without sacrificing budget on non-essential extras.

Vendr saves companies $14,452 on each software purchase, on average. Now, new purchase negotiation services are 100% free. Every single new software purchase should start on Vendr. It's free and it's a proven way to save a ton of money.

Apologies for breaking LinkedIn today, with Vendr's free launch. Our bad! Free negotiations, free pricing benchmarks, free procurement platform -- sign up: www.vendr.com

Vendr is now free. Starting today, every company gets access to negotiation services, pricing data, and a delightful procurement platform. Here's why. Transparency, fairness, and speed are the key ingredients to fix how software is bought and sold. Transparency helps buyers make informed decisions, fairness ensures access to great prices, and speed enables quick decision-making. Buyers and sellers win, together. To truly revolutionize how companies buy and sell software, access to our platform must be universal. That's why we made Vendr free. Vendr is now open to everyone, with features including: -Transparency: Pricing benchmarks and buyer guides for 50+ leading software products. -Fairness: Negotiation support for all new purchases, at no cost. -Speed: Streamlined procurement approvals and renewal management for a quick and delightful procurement process. People have always described Vendr as a “no-brainer.” Now, it’s the ultimate one. Sign up for free, today.

Launch time. 🍿 When you buy and renew software, optionality is the quickest way to achieve a fair price. In procurement, this strategy is called "3 bids and a buy." It's simple: before making any purchase, secure 3 competitive alternatives. While simple, it takes forever, so companies oftentimes skip this step. We built Vendr Bids, a free tool for people who buy software, to get you the best prices, without lifting a finger. Check it out on Product Hunt today -- link in the comments.

Vendr's purpose is simple: we help people buy the best software products at the best prices. On Thursday, we are spotlighting 50 top software products, to demo their hottest stuff for 2024. Come check it out. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gvx8GBK8

Vendr went through Y Combinator in 2019 and it changed the trajectory of our business overnight. Now, once a year I go back to YC to talk with the current batch about founder-led sales. Here's what we talked about: Sales is simply storytelling. No one is as qualified as you to tell your story. You’re already a highly capable seller — it’s time to unleash it. Most people don’t buy — our job as sellers is to seek the no, so we can spend time with future yes's. Talk about why your pipeline isn’t going to close, not why it is. In the early days, throwing darts (eg: finding warm intros) is much more impactful than casting nets (blasting out sales sequences). Get really good at asking for intros and remember to do the work for the other person. Your customers are your best salespeople. To empower your customers to sell for you, make them crazy successful and leverage a social contract. Remember, if every customer brings you two more customers (n+2), you won’t ever need to hire salespeople. There are really only 3 reasons why people don’t buy: 1. they don't have the problem 2. the problem isn't worth solving 3. they don't believe you are qualified to solve it Don’t take it personally. Figure out the reason by asking the question directly, and then attempt to address the concern. If the prospect isn’t open to allowing you to address the concern, move on. Don’t be a salesperson — be a doctor. What does the doctor say when you walk in? Why’d you show up? What’s going on? How can I help? The demo is just a second qualification call, in disguise. If you’re unsure if your prospect is ready to buy, ask them. You have two jobs: helping people evaluate your product and helping people buy your product — which bucket is the prospect in? Take your no’s seriously. Learn from them, deeply. Find your own voice, be authentically you, and good things will happen.