The most important skill for B2B sales professionals is no longer persuasion; it’s mastering financial fluency. Yes, many sales veterans will read that line and laugh. But, as the adage goes, past performance does not guarantee future results.
And now more than ever, those results are reliant on an entirely new approach. More specifically, it’s a fintech mindset. Modern SaaS platforms require embedded finance as a fundamental component. B2B sellers need to understand business-to-business money movements. Sales dialogues now focus on revenue diversification, loyalty, CSAT, together with financial strategy and flexibility. The new standard of sales leadership is shifting toward CFOs and payments leads, together with fintech product architects who recognize embedded finance as a strategic business tool rather than an afterthought.
Vertical SaaS is leading the charge. Vertical SaaS companies are no longer just SaaS—they’re evolving into ecosystem-focused fintech hubs, embedding finance to deepen engagement, unlock new monetization paths, and simplify operations across industries. The restaurant management software provider Toast transformed from basic point-of-sale operations into a financial services platform that delivers payments, lending, and payroll solutions directly within its platform. The business transformation turned the company from a software vendor into a true financial partnership, from a reliable service to an indispensable and vital aspect that its clients could no longer succeed without. The financial services segment at Toast produced more than 80% of its total revenue by 2023, while software subscriptions generated less than 20%. This is just one example of SaaS platforms rethinking an approach, shifting from becoming a provider to an essential stakeholder, charting the course for long-term strategic growth.
The model continues to replicate across multiple industries. Platforms realize that embedding financial workflows strengthens their position at the core of user operations. For example:
- HR & Payroll: Rippling and Deel have expanded from workforce management into global payroll, spend controls, corporate cards, and vendor payments—becoming the financial backbone for distributed teams.
- E‑commerce: Shopify now offers integrated payments, merchant cash advances, card rewards, and automated tax tools, transforming from a storefront platform into a full financial ecosystem. In their 2023 annual report, Shopify disclosed that merchant solutions revenue grew 27% to $5.2 billion, driven primarily by Shopify Payments, and generated $1.1 billion in embedded finance revenue in 2023.
- Accounting: Xero’s recent acquisition of Melio underscores how accounting platforms are moving deeper into supplier payments, BNPL, and financing tied to earnings, mirroring similar trends at QuickBooks.
These companies understand that controlling financial workflows isn’t just an add-on—it makes their platforms indispensable. The platform gains revenue benefits from embedded finance through its flywheel effect. User engagement rises when customers can complete financial operations, including payments, working capital management, and cash flow management, from the same business application they use daily. Churn decreases. Monetization multiplies.
Last year, Juniper Research released a study that projected embedded finance revenue will increase 148%, from $92 billion last year to $228 billion in 2028. B2B sellers must adapt to this new market trend, which presents both obstacles and opportunities for growth.
Meet The New Buyer Personas
Fintech is no longer a back-office function. It’s at the heart of every strategic buying decision. Sellers who fail to understand how companies manage and move money risk becoming irrelevant, especially as new fintech-savvy buyer personas emerge and value is increasingly tied to monetization, efficiency, and financial control.
The buying persona has evolved with these changes. It’s not enough to win over IT or Ops anymore. You must win over payments architects, FinTech product leads, and CFOs – or risk being boxed out. Those very teams represent ~60% of SaaS buying committees in vertical SaaS and platforms.
The stakeholders that now determine purchasing choices focus on revenue-enhancing solutions and friction reduction as well as working capital optimization. The questions these decision-makers ask now include:
- How can I turn existing cost centers into revenue opportunities?
- How can I increase stickiness, repeat usage and higher purchase value?
- How can I improve my LTV/CAC?
Winning teams frame their value in terms of money movement, monetization potential, and how your solution can turn an existing cost center into a revenue opportunity. The failure to engage in these terms and identify your internal expert advocate will result in early elimination from the buying process.
B2B Sellers Must Adapt or Perish
Solution sellers now represent the top-performing sales teams in this business environment, having leapfrogged feature sellers. Sales representatives now enter meetings with financial models and business plans instead of relying on technical specifications. They grasp which financial elements matter most to their clients regarding ARR and CAC payback and margin enhancement and demonstrate their product as a solution to achieve these targets. The solution providers recognize how to show their solution’s alignment with corporate finance targets, instead of focusing solely on workflow optimization.
Companies need to establish proficiency in using financial terminology and system models as part of their development process. The finance jargon, which once belonged exclusively to accountants and bankers, has expanded to include interchange rates, along with revenue recognition, net retention, and acquisition cost. A persuasive sales narrative depends heavily on these essential components. The ability to explain how your product helps improve LTV/CAC—lifetime value over acquisition cost, along with decreasing payment processing costs by implementing a native solution, typically leads to a second meeting, significantly increasing your chances of closing.
Leaders in sales must transform their method of team enablement. Training programs need to expand beyond basic product feature education and objection response techniques. The training curriculum needs to feature lessons about embedded finance and partner ecosystem strategies, as well as financial buyer communication skills. Sales enablement resources need to demonstrate product functionality alongside the financial metric improvements the product enables. Vertical platforms require special attention because they handle large transactional data but lack internal financial service capabilities. Sellers who demonstrate their ability to convert usage data into underwriting signals, along with their expertise in using embedded payments for increased conversion rates, deliver a path to business growth rather than a standard product.
A fintech mindset has become essential for B2B sales operations. It’s table stakes. An inability to show customers how your solution impacts their bottom line, competitive advantage, and CSAT means you will lose both the present sale and future prospects.
The sellers who thrive in today’s market don’t just pitch solutions; they shape strategies. They position themselves as partners in growth and innovation, not just as vendors. The real innovators aren’t following trends, they’re helping their customers set them.
