Overcoming SaaS Customer Service Roadblocks with Outsourcing

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies changed the game.

The SaaS industry revolutionized delivering digital products to the public.

However, doing so is not without its challenges.

In particular, providing excellent customer service can be challenging.

Luckily, outsourcing is a solution that SaaS companies leaders can explore to overcome the roadblocks to better serve their SaaS user base.

Why Customer Service Is Crucial For SaaS

In a SaaS business model, customer engagement occurs on the product. Having a well-developed product already lends itself to delivering a great user experience.

However, SaaS companies should expect that their customers will also need assistance, whether it is to guide them through various sections or deal with actual issues or bugs within the software or app.

That is where customer service teams come into play.

But providing assistance is not the only role of customer service teams.

Good customer service also plays a role in converting trial users into paying customers. It convinces free users that they will get adequate help, which would be worth the subscription fee.

Additionally, customer service helps with retention. According to business consultancy firm Gartner, high quality customer service can boost user renewals by as much as 82%.

When customers see that they get great customer service, they stick with the product further. It also increases adoption rates, as users will likely recommend it to their peers.

The Roadblocks SaaS Customer Service Teams Encounter

Due to their complex nature, SaaS businesses can encounter various roadblocks. These roadblocks can vary depending on the nature of the product.

The following are the most significant ones any SaaS company should prepare for.

Not Understanding The Customer

This first roadblock is common to all businesses.

Image from Call Center Helper.

It can be a big one for SaaS companies because the product development and lifecycle heavily depend on comprehensive customer knowledge and insights.

A lack of deeper customer insight can make it hard for SaaS companies to assist actual users with more complex issues.

Insufficient Customer Service

To ensure customer satisfaction, SaaS companies need to serve their users at every point of the journey.

The challenge lies in the fact that each customer has their own journey. They will have their preferred service approaches and touchpoints.

Trying to cater to all these customer service requirements can stretch SaaS customer service teams thin. As such, SaaS leaders might have to contend with issues of insufficient service.

Finding ways to overcome this insufficiency can be a challenge.

Difficulties In Onboarding

A particular challenge for SaaS customer service is onboarding. Studies reveal that poor onboarding is the third most common factor contributing to customer churn.

The fact is that each user utilizes the product differently. For instance, certain users might only focus on a specific product feature.

Thus, it will be challenging to create a one-size-fits-all onboarding process for all customers.

Customized onboarding will require more service resources than what was expected.

Adaptability And Scalability

As a SaaS product’s user base grows, the product can become more complex.

Each new user will have their preferences that leaders and developers need to account for. This added complexity can affect how well service teams engage each customer group.

Aside from a growing customer base, changing trends also impact SaaS customer service.

These trends can vary from shifting customer preferences to emerging tech. Adapting to these trends can sometimes be hard because they may require a considerable shift in service strategies.

What Outsourcing Brings In For SaaS Customer Service

To get past these challenges, a solution is needed to boost SaaS companies and their teams.

This is where outsourcing comes in.

It brings in several benefits for you and your team.

Expanded Customer Service

The first benefit outsourcing brings is that it makes it easier to expand teams.

SaaS company leaders don’t need a lengthy hiring process to find new members. Instead, outsourcing providers like Virtua will be ready to bring in these people as needed.They will help find the right agents easier and more effectively by handling the recruitment process. Companies can take advantage of their expertise to bring candidates that would best fit their respective teams

Creating A More Dedicated Onboarding Experience

SaaS users often want a more personalized onboarding experience to match the service to their needs.

Outsourcing helps deliver that experience to more user groups.

Outsourcing also helps in improving onboarding processes.

In particular, in-house team members can send out the more repetitive tasks in the onboarding process to the outsourced team. With these tasks out of the way, the in-house service team can focus on the actual onboarding engagement.

Improving Onboarding Support

SaaS customer onboarding relies heavily on other business processes to deliver a good experience to users. Outsourcing these tasks ensures that they function effectively and provide support.

One of these processes or tasks is knowledge management.

Through outsourcing, SaaS companies can better manage their resources users need and ensure they are up-to-date and working.

Outsourcing account management is also a common approach. In this approach, the outsourced team handles the more repetitive tasks like:

Usage tracking
Creating user reports
Serving as the initial point of contact for users

By sending out these tasks, in-house teams are freer to handle more complex account management tasks.

Outsourcing Right For SaaS Customer Service Success

To get the most out of outsourcing for your SaaS customers, there must be a strategy in place. Here are some essential things to follow.

Establishing The Outsourcing Scope Clearly

When defining the scope of a company’s outsourcing efforts, don’t just consider the business’s current needs.

SaaS customer service trends can change. Because of that, SaaS leaders may also want to account for future needs these changes may bring.

It requires considerable research to have a better picture of these future needs. Use this as an additional criteria when selecting providers – one who can easily pivot strategically. Once an outsourcing provider has been chosen, it’s crucial to work with them to create a growth strategy that builds on these future needs.

Bringing Together Outsourced And Internal Teams

Effective integration ensures that the outsourced team can best serve customers.

The first vital ingredient is effective communication between the outsourced team and the internal team. Establish a clear process and parameters on how the outsourced team can escalate a customer to the main team.

Create interaction opportunities between the teams so that each side will better feel and gauge how the other works.

Lastly, evaluate the outsourced team’s performance. Go beyond the quantitative metrics and see which approaches have worked for the team. Use your learnings here to work with the outsourcing provider to improve current strategies and create new ones.