SaaS Vendor quits browser to boost sales

Interesting win-back from the browser for WPF. Whats are the two take-aways for public sector developers and decision makers? First, user experience has a huge impact on adoption. This is an example of Software Plus Services at work. Its not something that Microsoft invented, its something that we noticed. iTunes? Desktop client application connecting to a cloud service. xBox Live? Client app connecting to a cloud service. Second, Windows Presentation Foundation is the best platform for developing immersive desktop applications.

Here are some interesting quotes:

It’s proving three times easier to close prospects on Rave than it was on the browser-based version, with two in every five prospects closed. The sales cycle is twice as fast, down to an average 11 days. Churn is down massively to low single figures. Win rates against Rave’s main competitors, Salesforce.com and ACT, are above 90%. And most tellingly of all, the direct marketing cost to acquire each customer is a stunning 82% lower, at less than $1,000. Not surprisingly, Rave has now overtaken the browser-based eSuite product as a percentage of new acquisitions.

If you are a public sector ISV:

Johnston ascribes a large part of Rave’s appeal to its downloadable client. “The smart client approach enables a SaaS distribution model you can’t replicate with a browser-only product because [with a browser-based product] there is nothing to ’ship’,” he explained. Entellium will exploit that advantage, using digital retailers as its core distribution channel for Rave.

It turns out that a client application is proving to be more flexible, not less.  

Conclusion: Software Plus Services drives adoption.

Link: SaaS vendor quits browser to boost sales

SaaS CRM vendor Entellium is phasing out its browser-based offerings in favor of a smart client version that it says sells faster, better and at one-fifth of the marketing costs of the old version.

-Keith