How did you get your first B2B SaaS customers in a niche industry?
I’m currently building Offer Engine (The name hasn’t been finalized yet), a B2B software tool for freight forwarders and logistics companies.
The problem I’m trying to solve is that pricing and tender teams still receive rates in many different Excel, CSV and PDF formats. They then spend a lot of time manually analysing, comparing and transferring this data into customer-specific quotation templates.
Offer Engine is intended to automate this process: understand different rate-file structures, organise and compare the existing prices, and eventually transfer the relevant information into the required customer format. It does not calculate or invent prices—it processes the rates already provided.
My current customer acquisition approach is:
• identifying small and mid-sized freight forwarders
• finding people responsible for pricing, tenders or sales
• contacting them directly by email
• offering a short conversation or a small pilot based on synthetic or approved test files
The main problem is getting replies and finding companies willing to test an early-stage solution.
For those who have built a niche B2B SaaS product:
• How did you get your first customers or design partners?
• What outreach channel worked best?
• Did you lead with a demo, an interview, a free pilot or a paid pilot?
• What would you change if you had to start again?