What if I said there was something you were doing right now that was actively reducing your SaaS customer success?
What if that thing you’re doing was standing in the way of driving higher levels of engagement and was reducing the amount of expansion revenue you’re generating while potentially increasing churn?
What if I said there’s a very good chance you’re doing it right now and don’t even know it?
What if I said that it’s easy to fix if you just keep reading?
Eliminate ‘Dead Ends’ and Improve Engagement
Why do I think you’re doing this thing? Because every SaaS provider I’ve worked with has been guilty of creating “dead ends” for their customers… so you probably are, too.
Whether it was during the Free Trial, the on-boarding and engagement (first-use or first in-app experience) phase, or during regular use, “dead ends” were everywhere.
A “dead end” is anytime you tell a user something – a status update or a metric – but don’t tell them what to do next to improve or capitalize on what you told them.
+ You had 25 less views this week than last.
+ Your last campaign resulted in 19 unsubscribes from your mailing list.
+ You made 5 more sales this week than you did last week.
Okay, but now what?
Whether it’s good news or bad, don’t just tell them something happened… tell them what to do with the information you’re giving them so they can improve their position… even if their position is good.
Help them Improve Their Position
What if your email or in-app message said:
+ You made 5 more sales this week than you did last week.
==> Activate the XYZ module and double your sales next week
Even if they got a great result this week, that’s a pretty compelling next step (and up-sell opportunity; though only promise what you can deliver, obviously).
Actively Drive SaaS Customer Success
If you can help your customer achieve better results (they don’t have to be sick to get better), they’re more likely to continue to use – and expand their use of – your SaaS.
I originally sent this to my mailing list (you should sign-up and get exclusive SaaS Growth Strategies content before everyone else) and one of the SaaS providers on the list sent me this:
Great advice, as usual. What you wrote below really struck a chord so I had to drop you a note of thanks.
My team and I were just fawning over HelloBar’s performance update emails and considering the same approach – let customers know how they are doing.
As if it would be some sort of ‘crack’ that would make them want to do better and engage more with the Friendbuy platform. In light of the article below, our copycat strategy would have been a bit idiotic. Your version – to give customers some idea about what they could do with that information – is much more enlightened.
Dead ends hurt engagement and lack of engagement is the number one reason customers leave; eliminate dead ends and watch your business grow!
About Lincoln Murphy
