A Step-by-Step Guide for SaaS Start-ups to Execute Customer Success

Customer acquisition is important for a SaaS startup – there is no denying it.

But did you know that SaaS businesses can gain recurring profits by focusing on customer retention? And what is the most reliable way to retain customers? Focusing on CUSTOMER SUCCESS. 

Investing in customer success is not only a way to boost customer retention; it is also proven to reduce customer churn and set a company on par with its competitors. Thus, SaaS startups need to emphasize customer success.

But how do SaaS Startups execute customer success? Here is a step-by-step guide. 

What is customer success?

“Customer success is a relationship-focused client management tactic that aligns customers with business goals — triggering profitable results for all the parties involved.” = says Jim Webster, CEO of iDevAffiliate affiliate platform. Customer success strategies use a customer-centric approach to ensure that customers are satisfied at each point in their journey. As a result, customer success strategies lead to higher customer retention, reduced customer churn, better upsell opportunities, and lower acquisition costs.

The three core topics of customer success

1.         Onboarding

2.         Customer support

3.         Up-Sales 

1. Onboarding

Customer onboarding is usually the first point of contact that a user/ customer has with the product. It is the stage where the users get started with using the product. First login, integration and imports, and the sign-up process are a few examples of customer onboarding. 

To ensure that a customer has an enjoyable, hassle-free onboarding, CSMs can leverage technology and make the onboarding easier, more interactive, and more efficient. For instance, using in-app tutorials, interactive progress tracking, having on-page AI-powered assistants for additional support, etc. 

To do this, CSMs must deeply understand their customers and personalize the process to suit their tastes and needs. 

SaaS companies like Slack, Grammarly, and Ad Canva have impressive onboarding to get inspired from. 

2. Customer support

Customers seeking support is something inevitable! It could be about using a specific feature or some concern when performing a certain task. 

When they need support, customers expect two things:

1. Quick access to the support

2. Quick response 

In the face of a problem or a doubt, customers do not wish to wait for long to get connected to the customer support team. And as time goes by, there is a good chance of losing the customer. They appreciate it when they get to access support immediately. At the same time, they also expect a quick response from the support team. 

One of the best ways to address these requirements, according to CRMs, is through technology. Since the inception of the real-time chat via Chatbots, companies can connect to their customers via interactive dialogue exchanges. Chatbots are also known for their timely responsiveness and ability to scale. Thus, they provide better customer experiences which ultimately lead to customer success. 

Additionally, Chatbots also offer quick resolution and are available 24/7. Thus, they are more convenient. 

3. Up-Sales 

Upselling and renewals are ways to get going and grow in business. While most businesses see them as last-minute activities to generate additional income, customer-centric businesses have different approaches. Here, upsell efforts are fostered right from the beginning rather than as an endpoint in the transaction. 

One company PPC Ad Lab says their most successful upsell has been offering a yearly package for 20% off with a few bonuses. They say 10% or people upgrades and this doubles the cash collected every month. 

So, for a SaaS startup trying to execute customer success, it is important to emphasize building positive customer relations right from the start. For this to happen, the focus should be from sales events to customer nurturing. To develop such a customer-centric environment, the business needs to shape its practices so that every action it takes addresses the customers' needs. 

Once there is a healthy relationship with a customer, the customer can be reached out for upselling. This would be the best stage to use technology and automate upselling and renewal communications.

Before we  discuss the best practices for customer success strategies, we would recommend you to visit SmartKarrot’s podcast to get useful information about current happenings in the world of customer success..

We hope that the insights that you derive from the podcast will help you to divert your attention to the best practices for customer success strategies.

Best practices for customer success strategies

• Have a clear understanding of your customers and their needs and what would be an ideal way to achieve success. For this, you will have to research your customer segments and interact with them regularly.
• Make customer success a daily practice. This means you must ensure that the customer gets a good experience at every point of contact and has a satisfactory/ happy customer journey.
• Make sure that the customer service team is easily accessible. Your customers get frustrated when they cannot reach out to your team or if the responses are delayed. Ensure that your team is easily accessible and the customers don’t have to wait very long to get a response.

Finally, take help from a customer success platform. These platforms are a great way to ensure that the right CX strategies are executed to satisfy your customers.