If you sell enterprise software, you need to know how your customers are using your product. Monitoring and reporting software usage can help you optimize your pricing, support, and retention strategies. In this article, we will explain why software usage is important, how to collect and analyze usage data, and how to communicate usage reports to your customers.
Software usage is the measure of how often and how much your customers interact with your product, which can indicate their value, satisfaction, and loyalty. Tracking software usage can help you identify your most and least engaged customers, so that you can tailor your marketing, sales, and customer success efforts accordingly. It can also be used to adjust pricing and licensing models based on customer needs. Additionally, tracking software usage can detect potential issues such as bugs or errors, allowing you to proactively address them before they affect customers. Finally, it can demonstrate the value and impact of your product to customers and justify renewal and upsell proposals.
As a Salesforce Consultant, I have observed a significant shift in customer-company interaction with the rise of SaaS. Nowadays, companies prioritize customer satisfaction as the software handles most of the workload. I have noticed an exponential growth in the number of small companies adopting a CRM platform that offers a holistic seamless experience. This eliminates the need to depend on multiple platforms to manage their organization effectively.
To collect usage data, you need to implement a tracking system that captures and stores the relevant events and metrics from your product. Depending on your product type and architecture, you can embed code snippets or SDKs in your product that send usage data to a third-party analytics platform or your own database. You can also integrate with APIs or webhooks to access usage data from your product or other sources, such as CRM, billing, or support systems. Additionally, you can use log files or database queries to record usage data from your product or server. It's important to ensure that the usage data you collect is accurate, consistent, and secure. Moreover, you should comply with the privacy and data protection regulations and policies of your customers and your industry.
I have been working with a Solar company helping them migrate from their old software to Salesforce and it makes sense to answer the question with them being a perfect example. - Using enterprise-level software they are able to analyze usage data by implementing solar panel monitoring systems and data analytics tools. - Gathering data on solar panel energy production, weather conditions, and user behavior. And tracking them via their software - Use data visualization to track daily, monthly, and yearly sales, and operations patterns.
To analyze usage data, you need to define the key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect your product value and customer goals. Examples of KPIs for software usage include active users, usage frequency, duration, depth, and quality. There are various tools and techniques to analyze usage data, such as dashboards and reports that visualize data in charts or tables; segmentation and filtering that group data by attributes; cohort analysis and funnel analysis that track data over time; and statistical analysis and machine learning that identify patterns in data.
Data analysis is a part of your life and nothing can ever change that. Although we thrive on such data for us to forecast and provides more value with how things have been running across departments. Using the same example of my client, how they have been utilizing the capabilities of the Salesforce CRM is below, - Creating reports showcasing solar energy generation, savings, and environmental impact. - Use charts and graphs to illustrate energy production trends and cost savings. - Capabilities of sharing those reports with customers via email or a user-friendly online portal. - Encouraging teams to set goals and track progress through these reports.
To communicate usage reports to your customers, you need to present the data in a clear, relevant, and actionable way. You can use various formats and channels such as email or in-app messages, online portals or dashboards, PDF or Excel files, and presentations or meetings. The usage reports should be tailored to each customer and should include recommendations and feedback based on the usage data that align with their goals and expectations.
Every business has unique requirements when it comes to the data that is fed into the software. It all comes down to have relevant it is for them to have their reports align with their goals. Businesses are naive in terms of optimally using the software features and that is where the capabilities
Monitoring and reporting software usage is not enough; you must use the usage data to improve your product and customer experience. This can be done by testing and optimizing features and functions based on usage data and customer feedback, educating customers on how to use your product through tutorials, tips, or best practices, providing proactive support and service based on usage data and customer issues, and rewarding customers to use your product more and better through gamification, loyalty programs, or referrals. Ultimately, improving software usage will increase customer value, satisfaction, and retention while creating opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.
Collecting feedback is the most critical aspect and has to make sure that with the feedback you are able to have a more structured process for future usage. Optimizing software setup with best practices will reduce the chances of failed implementations but it is important to have the most out of the requirements from the clients. I have been working on the phase-wise strategies which have helped us immensely with our implementations
We have been implementing the enterprise software across industries and below are my key takeaways, - Make sure that the requirement gathering is on the point - Understand your client whether he is able to adapt the software well or will he needs more assistance. - Provide quality and don't over quote just because they are paying higher for the enterprise software - Have critical feedback in place and divide the implementation into phases.