See our full SaaS Retention Video Series.
Learning something new from scratch isn’t always easy.
It can often be demotivating if you struggle to quickly get up to speed and get value from a new software solution.
The key to success for a SaaS company is retaining users to get the most value out of acquisition costs and constantly build a foundation to scale the company.
We are focused on retention and one of the first strategies to improve retention and reduce churn rates is to have a great onboarding experience. Whether a large enterprise B2B software with a multiple month onboarding process or a game with only a few minutes of introduction.
Onboarding encompasses a lot more than just teaching your customer how to use the software. You will have to teach them how to use the software in an effective way so that they can achieve their goals. Remember, your client succeeding means that you’re succeeding, and there is no better reason than that to help them. Here are a few ways that you can make their journey a little easier.
In the world of providing software as a service, focusing on the features and presentation is a sure-fire way to bring in more customers. However, focusing too much on the features alone can be detrimental to the success of your software. Most customers don’t know much about software design, and couldn’t care less about how impressive it is. What they really want to know is if this software will help them achieve their goals.
While there is no doubt that software’s features are important, they should not be your primary focus. Educating users about the different ways they can benefit from your software is crucial. Explain how they can rely on your software to achieve their objective through a proper roadmap and consistent motivators.
While many think that customer onboarding starts when the customer makes their first purchase, this is far from the truth. Onboarding begins much earlier when the sales team is looking to bring in more customers. Your sales team shouldn’t oversell the product or service. You want to make sure that the client uses your software with reasonable expectations so that the product does not disappoint them.
A major reason that onboarding often steers off-course is the immense disconnect between customer expectations and reality. In order to eliminate the disconnect between reality and their expectations, sell them the product more carefully.
No one likes to be rushed, especially when they’re learning to effectively use new software. Therefore, be patient with your customers to make sure they properly understand the systems in your software. Remember, there is a real incentive in getting your clients to perform well, as that means better business for your company as well.
According to a report by RightNow, 73% of customers remain loyal to a brand because of friendly service reps.
With new customers coming in, it is obvious that giving time to each client will get much harder. In fact, you may have to cut into a client’s time, just to help another one. Although this should never happen in the first place, if it does come to it, prioritize new clients over old ones. Older clients are much more understanding of your company’s situation, and therefore will be more patient with you as well.
Your software’s success hinges on the fact that you are patient with the customer, and the customer is patient with you.
The best way to make the onboarding process better for the customer is by doing your research. Checking out their LinkedIn, going through their website in detail, and conducting an extensive search will help you teach them about the software in a unique way that can help them achieve their goals.
According to a press release by American Express, 42% of customers have had a very positive service experience thanks to a representative’s resourcefulness and knowledge.
The onboarding process can, at times, feel a little tedious with all of the constant handholding. However, with all of the handholding that you do at the beginning, you will be able to solidify clients for your SaaS. And with the help of our aforementioned tips, you will be able to make that onboarding process much better.