10/04/2022

SaaS Customer Success in Times of Change

Insights

7 min remaining

SaaS products were easier to use and implement in a typical workplace because of the pandemic.

The SaaS ecosystem has grown in recent years, revealing that there are many SaaS products available and that end-users can choose which software they use and for how long. It is important to count the number of subscriptions.

Successful brands must pay more attention to providing continuous value to customers throughout their lifecycle to engage with the subscription model. This is why customer success is so important for business growth.

Establishing long-term relationships with customers can increase lifetime value and decrease churn rates. Acquiring new customers can be 25X more costly and complex than retaining existing customers.

Research has shown that increasing retention rates by just 5% can increase your profits by 25% up to 90%. Your customers should feel at ease using your SaaS products. This opens up the possibility of cross-selling, upselling, and referrals.

This is a great way of building customer loyalty within your company. But, it is important to consider the possibility of ‘change’.

Context of Change in SaaS

Change Management Definition is the traditional meaning of how companies manage modifications. This includes the implementation and improvement of existing processes and shifts in the organizational hierarchy.

End-users need to understand the implications of any SaaS app update and how it affects existing features. This is critical for customer success.

Customer success requires a proactive approach to helping customers navigate this new environment. If you want customers to adopt your SaaS product, and continue using it, they must be prepared for any questions or challenges that may arise.

This type of change management requires that you provide solutions early on to these problems and then educate your customers on how to use your product to their advantage. Your customer success efforts should be focused on helping customers achieve the desired outcomes.

7 Steps to Enable SaaS Customer Success

Here are seven steps to help you create a SaaS customer success strategy that works for your business.

1. Create a customer success team dedicated to your customers

It is a great way to show customers you care about their success by being available to provide personalized support. Only a dedicated customer support team can help you provide a high-touch, focused presence.

This approach should result in the best possible client interaction. Each customer should be understood by your team.

It will increase product adoption and make customers feel supported as they travel. You don’t have to put together a dedicated team if that is impossible for you. Instead, prioritize high-value customers and allocate resources to them.

2. Your efforts can be analyzed using customer success metrics

Your customer success plans should be based on your needs. You must establish benchmarks and track your progress using well-defined KPIs. These are the key metrics that you should track:

  • Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who unsubscribe or stop paying within a specified period, usually a month or 30-day rolling window.
  • Monthly Recurring Income (MRR), The average monthly revenue.
  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), The amount of revenue that you can expect to earn over the lifetime of a customer with you.
  • Customer Satisfaction and Net Promoter Score (NPS: This survey will assess the customer’s expectations and sentiments about your product.

These KPIs will help you ensure that your customer success initiatives align with your strategy, and allow you to better meet customer needs.

3. A customer success plan that covers all aspects of customer service is a great tool to equip your team

Organizations of any size need to be successful with customers. To empower your team to achieve the desired results, you must create a comprehensive strategy. If necessary, train them.

Visual workflows help you map out your customer journey and create a customer success plan tailored to each customer’s needs. Your existing customers and other stakeholders can help you to strengthen your roadmap.

Analyze customer insights and identify their pain points to help you better serve them. Take inspiration from your competitors to improve your strategy. These points will help you deliver a great customer experience.

4. Start an onboarding process

Customers must be engaged by your customer success teams. The first step is to help them sign up and use your product. How you help customers gain value from your product is key to the success of your onboarding process.

SaaS companies often automate their onboarding process. Automated emails allow them to share product walkthroughs and other resources. To increase customer engagement, you can send personalized emails to customers at different stages of their onboarding journey.

For high-value customers, some companies might choose to have a dedicated onboarding manager. This manager will provide a customized onboarding and setup process. A reliable person increases customer trust and retention.

5. Also, plan the offboarding

Customer churn is inevitable, no matter how hard you work. You must be prepared for it. Your customers will be happy to return and not feel frustrated by the process of offboarding.

These are the essential elements of a well-planned onboarding process:

  • It’s easy and quick to cancel.
  • The customer must not be impacted by the discontinuance of your SaaS product.
  • They can access customer data and analytics after they cancel their SaaS subscription.
  • It is possible to give them access to the free version of your SaaS products. This increases their likelihood of subscribing at a later stage.

6. Customer feedback can be collected and used

To understand your customers’ priorities and needs, gather feedback. You can gain insight into your customer’s experiences with your product by conducting periodic surveys. In-app surveys can be used, as well as asking for reviews online. You can also send out survey emails.

How to Manage Customer Feedback

To analyze the feedback and draw actionable conclusions, you can use a spreadsheet or Trello. These customer insights must be used by your customer success team to identify trends and improve products and processes.

You can use the information to grow your business by conducting a deeper analysis and incorporating inputs from different team members. It can be used to develop better SaaS marketing strategies which will help you increase your bottom line.

7. Your customer success team should be readily available

When a customer has a problem with your product, your customer success team plays a critical role. If the customer service team is difficult to reach or unresponsive for a longer time, it can lead to increased frustration.

So that customers don’t have to wait, make sure your team is always available. Customers can connect with you in many ways. Make it easy to find contact information.

To connect with your team, you can use the following methods:

  • Access to the user community and forums
  • An email ID for customer success
  • Chat live on the app and the website
  • Their customer service manager’s the direct phone number
  • Here are links to an up-to-date knowledge base, including articles that explain product features and tips for using it efficiently, as well as other troubleshooting information.

Stay current with changing customer needs

SaaS companies are experiencing rapid growth due to changing customer requirements. Smaller organizations face the challenge of meeting customer expectations while offering minimal resources.

Companies are creating products that solve everyday business problems. The best way to ensure customer success is to focus your strategy on two things: retaining customers as loyal partners and listening to their needs. 

About the author

Kobe Digital is a unified team of performance marketing, design, and video production experts. Our mastery of these disciplines is what makes us effective. Our ability to integrate them seamlessly is what makes us unique.