In today’s SaaS landscape, we’re all seeing the same trends: buyers are becoming more digital, they’re moving faster, expectations are higher, and yet, so many businesses are struggling to convert MQLs into SQLs.

Here are some thoughts and actionable insights from an action-packed webinar with over 150 attendees from the SaaS community by SaaStr.

Below are key takeaways but one thing is clear: the buyer journey is changing, and vendors need to adapt.

Here’s what stood out:

1. Lead Generation is Easy—Conversion is the Real Challenge
   AI can get us thousands of leads in seconds, but how many of those leads turn into meaningful conversations? Too often, we see MQLs don’t convert because the message doesn’t hit home. It’s time we think less about volume and more about relevance—building real connections with the right buyers, not just any buyers.
2. Onboarding Should Take Days, Not Weeks
   If we’re honest, buyers (especially SMBs) don’t have time for a long, drawn-out onboarding process. That’s the same thing another enterprise sales executive mentioned in an interview earlier this week. They need solutions that deliver value in under 15 days. Founders and product teams need to ensure they make that happen. Simplifying onboarding and automating the right touchpoints should be baked into our product strategy from the start.
3. Automation is Great, but Customers Need Control
   Automation is a powerful tool, but not every customer wants their business (or part of it) fully automated. They want flexibility. Allowing them to control and adjust as their business scales shouldn’t be just a feature—it’s a retention strategy.
4. Buyers Don’t Want the Same Old Sales Funnel
   Today’s buyers are different. They don’t want to sit through demo after demo. They want to explore products on their own terms, engage when they’re ready, and feel empowered in the decision-making process. Product teams need to build self-serve discovery tools that allow them to do just that—reducing friction at every stage of the journey, from discovery to purchase and adoption.
5. Alignment Between Product, Sales, and Marketing is Non-Negotiable
   A disconnect between these teams is costly. Product teams can’t afford to work in isolation. Product strategy must align with marketing and sales at every step, ensuring their message resonates and that they speak directly to buyers’ pain points. That’s how we get those MQLs to turn into SQLs, and ultimately, into long-term customers. Reduce the number of drop-off possibilities and implement best practices to keep buyers engaged through the whole cycle.

Here’s where product and sales leaders can make the biggest impact:

• Simplify onboarding to speed up time-to-value.
• Build automation with flexibility so customers control how they scale.
• Focus on lead quality, not quantity, to drive meaningful conversions.
• Invest in self-serve experiences that let buyers engage when they’re ready.
• Align product, marketing, and sales to create a unified buyer experience.

The SaaS buyer journey is evolving faster than ever, and SaaS sales professionals can’t afford to fall behind. By staying laser-focused on buyers’ needs, vendors can track engagement through the whole cycle.

This article first published on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clarityhq-ai_b2bsaas-saas-ai-activity-7250369573315645440-9zVu