Selling SaaS in Japan

Summary

Japan is one of the largest global markets for SaaS businesses. Yet selling software products there remains a little-understood process for many international founders and operators. In this post, we talk to Yuga Koda at Nihonium, a firm that helps SaaS companies enter and grow in the Japanese market, about what actually works, what fails, and how to approach Japan correctly. In one sentence, what’s the difference between selling SaaS in Japan vs. in other countries? The process is different. You just can’t treat sales and go-to-market as a whole in Japan the same as you would in North America or Europe. The SaaS sales process in Japan is structurally different from the U.S. and other Western markets, primarily in terms of pace, decision-making style, and buyer behavior. It’s not that Japanese companies are unwilling to try new software, but rather that they prefer to do significant research before engaging directly with a vendor. So, many successful SaaS companies in Japan structure their websites with two primary calls to action: 1) one for downloading product documentation and 2) another for booking a demo or starting a free trial. Most Japanese leads enter through the documentation path first. In the U.S., the typical flow is that a prospect visits a website, books a demo on their own, or drops off and is followed up aggressively by sales. A conversation happens quickly, a proof of concept or trial begins, and the deal either closes or the buyer moves on to a competitor. The cycle is fast and transactional. Buyers are comfortable testing tools, replacing them, and switching vendors if something does not work. In Japan, the process is slower and more deliberate. A company will usually download product materials first. The vendor then reaches out and begins a longer engagement process focused on education and relationship building. Rather than pushing for an immediate demo or trial, the goal is to support the buyer’s internal evaluation process. The lead will take...