SaaS is having its big moment. Start-ups are created almost every day, they receive Series A funding, and they’re off to a great start.
But the sales? That’s another question altogether. The competition for attention is so fierce that a SaaS organization’s core buyer has at least 10-15 options to choose from. And they have already made up their mind on which one they’ll choose.
The sales conversations go nowhere, and investors become skeptical. Eventually, doors have to be closed.
The issue here is a lack of high-quality leads. And this problem has become industry-wide; big companies and small face the same drought.
Is this a marketing problem? Or a sales one?
The answer is simple: It’s organizational. No single function of an organization can be pinpointed here because, believe it or not, lead generation requires the entire organization.
But it’s not happening right now, there’s too much noise and a lot of misinformation about what works. Let’s break that.
Why Lead Generation for SaaS
The SaaS market is enormous, and that’s an understatement. The size of the market is around $315.68 billion in 2025, and it’s poised to grow into $1,131.52 billion by 2032. That’s a CAGR of 20.00%.
These are gargantuan numbers. And they are undervalued, just think of this: AI is part of SaaS, and it will be valued at trillions in the coming decade.
But that means the competition will match this growth. Many start-ups, SMEs, and Enterprises will be vying for the same crown and for the same pool of buyers. Whom will the buyers choose?
- It’s the organizations they know and care about.
- Organizations with which they have built a relationship.
And this is facilitated by lead gen.
Lead gen isn’t about data, but acquiring the buyer’s interest, building a relationship with them, and influencing their decision in your favor.
The reason SaaS treats lead generation this way is simple: subscriptions are expensive and a recurring expense at that. Businesses must be frugal with their money, especially since leaders have become aware of the VUCA. This stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous, which is the current state of the world. It takes trust to nurture them.
Buyers need anchors to navigate the complexity, and lead gen gives SaaS companies leverage to be that anchor. But only if the quality of leads is good.
But what are good quality leads?
Okay, good is not subjective here. Good quality leads are essentially a cluster of people – your potential buyers- that have an active interest in what you do, care about the problem you solve, and know who you are.
This is usually the prerequisite of a good lead. If some part of it is missing, these aren’t leads but people who might buy similar products/services.
A good lead is someone who can say, “Hey, yeah, I know you.”
It’s a foot in the door. But to get here, the road is quite challenging.
SaaS companies struggle with consistent, high-quality leads.
Yeah, for anyone in SaaS, this challenge is intimate. It feels as if you’re the only one struggling with leads while businesses on LinkedIn are already generating $100 Million ARR.
But why is that? It’s because marketing efforts are all spent on closing rather than converting. Performance marketing, growth hacking, and everything else are done to drive sales rather than revenue.
Hey, we get it. Investors are constantly breathing down your necks to show sales and ROI through your efforts. Being a founder, especially in SaaS, is not easy. Not even close.
But it is a trap to get this quick win. And now the industry has finally caught up, buyers prefer to be self-directed, but there are no systems in place for vendors to provide this experience for them.
Many organizations still believe being self-directed means omnichannel experiences and creating self-buy options. It’s a part, yes. However, for them, being self-directed means being in control of where their money goes and for what period of time.
The Buying Committee and the Sales Cycle.
But that is from your side. What about the buyers? There are many elements involved in the buying cycle.
- The buying committee- a group of 8-11 people that collectively makes the decision to buy.
- The internal functions of the buying organization – essentially, all the processes they need to go through to buy something. This could be Finance & Procurement, Legal, Supply Chain logistics, etc.
You have no control over these things. It is with the buyer. And it’s at this step where many lead gen strategies falter. There’s no relation-building. And ties directly to the focus on short wins. Longer sales cycles mean more deliberation and many voices involved- how will your buyer maintain interest?
Their own processes are risk-averse and resistant to change. One of the most vital challenges of improving lead generation is for your buyers to care about what you do.
And that begins with the buyers themselves.
SaaS Lead-Generation Strategies
Let’s discuss strategies. But not some actionable framework that you will never use. But something more concrete.
In 1973, Shell’s upper management predicted the oil crisis, but they didn’t hire an oracle; all they did was present its leaders with different possible scenarios, and they did the rest.
Strategy has always been about doing unique things and anticipating likely scenarios.
1. Brand Building- Scenario
Exit Five is one of the fastest-growing B2B brands. They have built a tight-knit community around the brand, and just to make a point, here we are giving them a shoutout. That’s brand-building.
But how? The B2B community trusts Dave Gerhardt, the CEO of the brand. Just look at this post above; it has nothing to do with the brand, but there are many people appreciating him for his authenticity. And that’s how he built the brand, by making people care about what he does.
And providing value.
SaaS is moving from benefit-driven to value and trust-driven. And brands will build themselves here by
- Providing tangible value
- Aligning with a philosophy
- Displaying that philosophy through action
Marketing and lead generation have become relationship-based. And a great lead gen strategy means the buyers will come to you, too. Not just through your outreach.
2. The 95/5% Rule- Scenario
The second is for marketing. The answer to the long sales cycle is the 95/5% rule. Basically, it says 5% of your buyers are in-market to buy and 95% are out. But the creators of this stat advise organizations to focus on the 95%, too.
To build relationships and increase the brand’s awareness. However, that’s just the visible part. The real reason is to get into the vendor’s list.
It’s an exclusive list of maybe 5-7 vendors that have been pre-decided by the buyers after careful consideration. Think about it, no one is going to hear your sales pitch and think: Right, this is what I was missing.
It takes time for buyers to understand what your SaaS product does for them and what it will do after it has been integrated.
3. Organizational Alignment- Scenario
As you can see, all scenarios point towards building relationships. And that is the crux of lead gen. While lead-generation has been misconstrued as data collection, in reality, it is a method to find the right buyer and build on that.
But how can an organization build that relationship without explaining what the tool does and how? This can be done by people in product and in engineering.
Often, marketing messages talk about sales and marketing alignment. But that’s incomplete; alignment happens between many teams first, then the message is crafted, the problem is keenly identified, and the copy is created.
It’s this copy that the buyers connect with because it talks to them.
It’s the answer to why they should choose you. Marketing refines the message, but organizational behavior provides it in the first place.
Metrics Measuring SaaS Lead Gen Success
1. Lead-to-Customer Conversion Ratio
This one will be the most straightforward. How many leads did you get, and how many of those converted into paying customers?
That’s it. The final metric you need to keep track of.
2. Lead-to-Customer Conversion Cost
The other vital one is this. Since revenue for SaaS is monthly, the lead-to-customer conversion cost needs a lot of focus. If the costs outweigh the revenue, it’s time to look at the funnel for any friction.
3. Brand Mentions
Do people talk about your brand in the way you intend them to?
Are there conversations?
What is the number of inbound enquiries?
How much are you still spending on outreach even after you have good brand mentions and communications with the leads?
4. Time-to-Sell and Sales Velocity
What does the timeline look like? Once you have generated the leads, how long does it take them to become paying customers?
5. Real-World Example
Gong embodies all the principles we have outlined.
First, they became obsessed with their buyers- they understood what made their buyers tick. Not just their pain points, but psychological profiles too.
They then created content solely to help salespeople get better at their job, and they, the sales leaders and reps (their ICP), started to take notice of it. They hammered it home: they cared about the problem salespeople were dealing with, becoming a major player in the sales-tech world.
This built trust with their audience.
Here’s the entire case study in Devin Reed’s own words: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/95-5-rule-gong
So, What Now? The Right Lead Generation Partner
Lead gen isn’t easy, and that’s why agencies exist. To improve your conversion rates and increase your lead-to-sales velocity.
However, traditional agencies don’t want to understand your customer or build your brand. They treat lead generation as handing off data.
For them, leads are metrics. Not people.
It’s this chain of thinking that marketing agencies must break, and that’s what we’re trying to do at Ciente. Elevate the lead generation service process.