If you're in SaaS, are you keeping your existing customers happy?

Focus on making your existing customers successful and happy can move the needle for you. In SaaS, over 30% of revenue comes from account expansion and upsell ...

Account expansion and up-selling is often the speedier path to revenue growth, especially in SaaS. In addition to the ease of selling to an existing customer, they also feel comfortable that they are taking an educated risk by spending more with you. Nevertheless, customer satisfaction coming out of a successful experience, is paramount in today’s competitive market. Much like any long-term relationship, proactive thinking and action can reap immense rewards. This could include upping the speed of your response time to solve a problem, offering access to under utilized features, or simply enabling them to use your product more effectively.

In SaaS, 30%? of revenue comes from existing customers , and therefore, the role of the sales and revenue team is as much about closing a deal with new customers? as it is about finding opportunities to grow existing accounts. The good part is, there are ways to make your? customers feel seen, heard, and understood:

Customer retention metrics:

This is a good indicator of how happy your customers are, and can determine how long they will stick around. According to Bain and Co., a 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75% (Source: Forbes) . Retention rate and customer lifetime value apart, you don't want to bombard your clients with surveys and polls for feedback either. Instead, keep a track of key performance indicators — repeat purchases, product usage metrics, feedback, and complaints, across various engagement portals. Improve your odds of retaining the account next year, by compounding the value of the high-performing metrics identified.

Responsiveness:

How long does it take for your team to get back on a query or feedback? The response time can make or break a growing dynamic with a potential long-term customer. Consider this – 78% of customers have bailed on an intended transaction because of a poor experience (Source: American Express) . Nothing is more frustrating to a customer than a long wait period, or an impersonal conversation with responses straight out of a manual. Another surprising stat we came across – employees only ask for the customer's name 21% of the time (Source: ContactPoint) It’s important to establish a connection like you would with a friend who is important to you, when you get on a call, as opposed to a faceless unit bringing in revenue. People need to feel seen and heard to feel significant.

Referral patterns:

Your best customers are also your best salespeople. And this is evident from glowing testimonials, five-star ratings, and passing on the word to coworkers, friends and even family about your service or products. Understandably, a large number of customer referrals indicates that customer satisfaction is high. The opposite could mean there is need for improvement. So it is crucial to track the referrals you are getting through regular surveys.

Onboarding and adoption collateral:

In 2015, Hubspot conducted a survey amongst users who had churned from a certain email tool within one week of signing up for the service. The survey found that a full 30% of churned users abandoned the tool simply because they didn’t understand the software. (Source: Hubspot) No matter how user-friendly your offering, when a new client signs on, it is important to provide a sense of direction on how they can use your product or service for seamless onboarding. Plus, you could make your customer feel clued in and valued with perks like hidden features, webinars, contests with aspirational prizes, and well-packaged nuggets of industry news.

Once you have ensured that they are comfortable in the user experience and entirely engaged, find opportunities to celebrate their wins. For example, new Duolingo users can complete a sample lesson—and see their progress—before actually signing up for the service. Milestones, big or small, keep your customer moving forward and more specifically, with you.

Leverage social media:

There was a time when people didn't want to consume information about brands on social media, because it felt a lot like advertising spam. But there has been a dynamic shift as companies have learned to interact with people in a way that they enjoy. Instead of a horde of strategic sales pitches driving home the end game of a sale, brands are now sharing content that is valuable, entertaining and informative. The accounts worth following on social media usually showcase a personality that feels more human, than a corporation.

Keep in mind, that once a product is integrated into a company’s operations, it’s very difficult to switch out of. To enable long-term client relationships, using your product/service needs to become a habit for its employees - a part of their life that’s difficult to dethrone. In other words, weave your offering into the fabric of the company culture. The price of your offering plays an important role here as well. If it’s too affordable, they will wonder what they're missing out on. If it’s too expensive, they will deal with the pain of migration to find alternatives. Find a sweet spot in the middle to ensure that you have a customer who is here to stay. One anecdotal expression about reaching pricing equilibrium was when a customer expresses discomfort about price yet renews their subscription. Not something we fully subscribe to because it comparatively reduces room for further growth.

Ultimately, retaining a customer is about more than continuing to want to receive their money. It is about being deserving of their money, and more of it over time, because they see greater success from using your products and services.

Keeping your current customers happy and successful tremendously levels up your game in the business. That is a win-win for everybody, something that we are learning at B2Brain Every.Single.Day.