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The most important part: Finding a customer category that regularly spends money on the kind of software you're intending to build can make it signficantly eas

The most important part: Finding a customer category that regularly spends money on the kind of software you're intending to build can make it signficantly easier to actually sell them software. Go to Capterra or G2 and read what actual paying customers say about your competitors and other SaaS products. It's eye-opening.

enraged_camel 5y ago
Not really. Most of those reviews are paid reviews these days, and you can't tell the real ones from the fake ones. I know because at my previous job the marketing team was responsible for "encouraging" customers to leave positive reviews by offering them various incentives and discounts. Resulting reviews were often times the total opposite of reality.
- macando 5y ago
  Partially true. It takes some time to learn how to spot genuine reviews. However, even in the "encouraged" reviews you can still discover what problems people solve with certain class of tools and how much money they're ready to pay for them.
  - tiltrus 5y ago
    Doubt it. I've worked for a SAAS company in the past that practices the incentivized review behaviour. Genuine (organic) reviews were indistinguishable from incentivized reviews. Poor reviews, which are the most valuable for this type of research, were always removed.
    - enraged_camel 5y ago
      I was looking at a competitor's reviews just now, out of curiosity. They're so funny. The best one goes like this: Pros: We love everything about this software! Especially A, B, C, D, E, F and G features! Cons: It's always so difficult to wait for the next monthly patch! But it's so worth it!
- jokethrowaway 5y ago
  Can confirm, I did a few paid reviews (until the reward was greater than the time spent). I wrote genuine thoughts on the product but given it has been offered to me and not someone else, there is a clear selection bias.
- new23d 5y ago
  FWIW, a few months ago we had a prospect ask, and I partially quote, "We don't see any reviews on the AWS marketplace,". We can see too that most of competitors' reviews are clearly inauthentic. Also, in the B2B space, a public endorsement is infrequently given for various reasons. Being in cybersecurity makes it an awkward ask too - especially after SolarWinds got a lot of flack for publishing their client list on the website [1]. However, it would have to be done - as that prospect has made it clear. We are sticking by our guns though and will get there eventually with genuine reviews. But TBH, the path is not clear. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack-client-list-russia-orion-it-compromised https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack...
cubicmeter 5y ago
good luck competing with 1000 other companies on that existing category
- dt3ft 5y ago
  I just added my SaaS there [1], have zero expectations but I'll be happy to report back if I notice any positive effects. https://pdf2qrcode.com https://pdf2qrcode.com
inthewoods 5y ago
I’m often amazed that anyone leaves an organic review given how many questions these companies want you to answer. My guess would be that 80% are incentivized but again it’s just a guess.
- semireg 5y ago
  I’m an indie solo dev selling label printer software. The niche force is strong with me... my business is basically selling the software equivalent of colonoscopies. I can only speak for my own experience, but Capterra offered me and my customers something like $20 gift cards for the first 100 reviewers and I sent 500 emails with this offer and maybe had 1 reviewer bite and then later said he never received a gift card. But my app has 15 reviews and I asked maybe half of those users to write a review after they first emailed me with a testimonial/praise. https://www.capterra.com/p/182776/Label-LIVE/ https://www.capterra.com/p/182776/Label-LIVE/
melomal 5y ago
Pinch of salt with these 2. I've worked with one on a full-scale, full year up front lead generation fee and it just didn't work. I knew it wouldn't based on SEO metrics but they insisted that it would. They were wrong. The other just keeps harassing my for leaving a review on a piece of software that I was working for at the time. Never got a gift card either.... IMO look at how many 'competitors' are in a category on those sites. Finding a category with <50 competitors can provide some great opportunities, probably niche though.

enraged_camel 5y ago

Not really. Most of those reviews are paid reviews these days, and you can't tell the real ones from the fake ones. I know because at my previous job the marketing team was responsible for "encouraging" customers to leave positive reviews by offering them various incentives and discounts. Resulting reviews were often times the total opposite of reality.

macando 5y ago
Partially true. It takes some time to learn how to spot genuine reviews. However, even in the "encouraged" reviews you can still discover what problems people solve with certain class of tools and how much money they're ready to pay for them.
- tiltrus 5y ago
  Doubt it. I've worked for a SAAS company in the past that practices the incentivized review behaviour. Genuine (organic) reviews were indistinguishable from incentivized reviews. Poor reviews, which are the most valuable for this type of research, were always removed.
  - enraged_camel 5y ago
    I was looking at a competitor's reviews just now, out of curiosity. They're so funny. The best one goes like this: Pros: We love everything about this software! Especially A, B, C, D, E, F and G features! Cons: It's always so difficult to wait for the next monthly patch! But it's so worth it!
jokethrowaway 5y ago
Can confirm, I did a few paid reviews (until the reward was greater than the time spent). I wrote genuine thoughts on the product but given it has been offered to me and not someone else, there is a clear selection bias.
new23d 5y ago
FWIW, a few months ago we had a prospect ask, and I partially quote, "We don't see any reviews on the AWS marketplace,". We can see too that most of competitors' reviews are clearly inauthentic. Also, in the B2B space, a public endorsement is infrequently given for various reasons. Being in cybersecurity makes it an awkward ask too - especially after SolarWinds got a lot of flack for publishing their client list on the website [1]. However, it would have to be done - as that prospect has made it clear. We are sticking by our guns though and will get there eventually with genuine reviews. But TBH, the path is not clear. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack-client-list-russia-orion-it-compromised https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack...

cubicmeter 5y ago

good luck competing with 1000 other companies on that existing category

dt3ft 5y ago
I just added my SaaS there [1], have zero expectations but I'll be happy to report back if I notice any positive effects. https://pdf2qrcode.com https://pdf2qrcode.com

inthewoods 5y ago

I’m often amazed that anyone leaves an organic review given how many questions these companies want you to answer. My guess would be that 80% are incentivized but again it’s just a guess.

semireg 5y ago
I’m an indie solo dev selling label printer software. The niche force is strong with me... my business is basically selling the software equivalent of colonoscopies. I can only speak for my own experience, but Capterra offered me and my customers something like $20 gift cards for the first 100 reviewers and I sent 500 emails with this offer and maybe had 1 reviewer bite and then later said he never received a gift card. But my app has 15 reviews and I asked maybe half of those users to write a review after they first emailed me with a testimonial/praise. https://www.capterra.com/p/182776/Label-LIVE/ https://www.capterra.com/p/182776/Label-LIVE/

melomal 5y ago

Pinch of salt with these 2. I've worked with one on a full-scale, full year up front lead generation fee and it just didn't work. I knew it wouldn't based on SEO metrics but they insisted that it would. They were wrong. The other just keeps harassing my for leaving a review on a piece of software that I was working for at the time. Never got a gift card either.... IMO look at how many 'competitors' are in a category on those sites. Finding a category with <50 competitors can provide some great opportunities, probably niche though.