Quick Silver Systems, Inc.’s Post

I was speaking with one of our clients who just sold his SaaS. He said that continuous product improvement was fundamental in selling the business. After hitting PMF he went all in on product and he told me something he once read, that struck him profoundly. 'Every customer service issue is a product failure'. If your product is doing it's job successfully, more customers are able to self-serve and resolve product friction they encounter. This founder scaled his business for 5 years but his customer support team didn't grow at all. It stayed the same size even when they had 10X the number of customers. Continuous product improvement should deliver more value to your customers but it should also reduce your customer support cost base. If your support team is fielding too many issues that your product should be solving (or not having in the first place) reach out to me. UserActive - the design team that have supported 3 SaaS businesses to a successful exit with continuous product improvements.

To receive your guidance on how to address challenges in real time, I would love to share with you every idea I have and my work experiences. 1. How do you ensure that you address every query customers have about the product, particularly in businesses that depend on SAAS products? 2. Project Knowledge: To what extent should an Implementation Consultant be knowledgeable about the product? 3. NPS: From what I've seen, NPS is usually considered in light of the client's most recent conversations, but not in the context of the larger picture. 4. Though the sales team promised the consumer something, it isn't actually included in the product?

RING. RING. (the line is connected) Customer Success Manager: How can we help you today? Customer: By not turning this call into a sales pitch halfway through! -Plight of SaaS Customer Ever notice how you (the customer) call with one problem, and by the end of the conversation, not only is your issue unresolved, but now you’re considering upgrading to a premium package that comes with even more problems? Like, sure, my account is broken, I can’t do anything so what I really needed was a feature product demo that I didn’t ask for!  Funny how we go from from “I need help” to “Do you have a budget for new features?” … and honestly its much faster than I can say “I’m switching providers”? -Confessed no SaaS Customer #TGIF #CustomerSuccess #CS #AccountManagement #AM #CSM

What is the ROI of a CS team? After 7+ years running customer success and sales teams at companies like Notion and Typeform, David Apple is convinced that nobody in SaaS knows the actual ROI of their CSMs. Or what ratio of CSM to customers is optimal for their business. David shares why this problem exists and shares a different approach to thinking about the optimal CSM headcount. Check it out to help you build a more effective Customer Success organization. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dEThMtq #CustomerSuccess

What's one secret ingredient to skyrocketing SaaS success? Hint: It's not just the product! A 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 (𝗖𝗦𝗠) is crucial for any SaaS product's success. Here are the four key roles they play: 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁: A CSM knows your product inside and out. They help customers use it effectively and get the most out of it. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿: They build strong relationships with customers, offering guidance and solutions tailored to their needs. This trust ensures long-term satisfaction. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: By understanding customer goals and expanding product usage, CSMs help drive growth and boost revenue. 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲: They ensure customers see the value in your product, leading to loyalty and continuous growth. In short, a great CSM is a blend of knowledge, trust, and strategy, all focused on helping customers succeed. How have your experiences been with CSMs? Share your thoughts below or DM me for a chat! #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #BusinessGrowth #ClientRelationships

Specific customer feedback matters most when you're a vertical SaaS product. I've seen horizontal products with internal experts thrive without it, but vertical products need it to get it right. Our top customers at Creativerse are niche vertical software companies, serving specific industries like freight management or estate onboarding. They need precise solutions, and minor mistakes can render features useless. To win in vertical SaaS, you must deeply understand customer needs and prioritize commercial viability. Collect feedback from sales, support, CS, and customers, organize it by product areas and features, and assess viability before building. That's the winning formula.

SaaS companies are customer success machines. You likely depend on retaining customers through great CX to survive as a business. That said, customer success (not support) teams can be a high-cost, blunt-force instrument that sometimes is too high-touch. More specific, direct, hands-on roles like support agents handling specific moments in the customer journey can bring a more positive impact. We aren’t alone in this hot take, and Jay Nathan took over the Next Matter newsletter yesterday to show you how you don’t necessarily depend on a huge CS budget, but rather on a smooth CX to scale your business, and the two of them don’t always go together.

Here's the reality of tech right now when it comes to Customer Success: 1. The C-suite views CS as a cost center so CS is scrambling to be a revenue center by taking on commercial activity. 😧 2. CS isn't proactive driving value, they ARE a cost center due to the fire-fighting that bad product, PMF and sales practices put them in. 😡 HOW DO YOU SOLVE FOR THIS?! It ain't hard, but it is hard work. A) Know thyself. Are you SMB, MM or Ent? All three? Segment the sh*t out of that book of business, know the MVP of what each segment needs, deliver that and only that. **If your customers need more, then something else is broken. Software shouldn't need a constant field guide.**. 🔄 2) The most important thing at launch for a new customer is onboarding. If onboarding includes empowering a customer to use your software, measure the results of your software, and know how to ask for help when needed, the CS game changes tremendously. ✅ Thing Three) If you've persevered through those first two things, now you can look at what a CSM should really do. Webinars to train on new features? ROI evaluation for champions to make them look like heroes? Best practices talks to executives to maximize their investment? All this now is lookin' like revenue: retention and expansion. 💸 Curious about your thoughts. #customersuccess #saas #revenue

The Importance of the First Customers in SaaS 🚀 Every SaaS founder knows the thrill of landing the first customers. But it's not just about revenue—it's about validation. 🌟 Proof of Concept: Your product isn't just an idea anymore. Someone believes in it enough to pay for it, which means your solution is solving a real problem. 📈 Building Trust: Your first customer sets the foundation for testimonials, case studies, and word-of-mouth referrals. Their feedback helps you iterate and improve. 🛠 Sharpening Processes: From onboarding to customer support, that first client gives you a real-world test of your operational workflows. It’s a crucial learning phase to fine-tune the entire customer journey. 💡 A Catalyst for Growth: When one person buys in, others will follow. The first client brings momentum, credibility, and the confidence to scale. Securing that first customers isn’t just a milestone—it’s the start of everything. 🚀

💡 My learnings of a SaaS #7 The Value of Customer Feedback: Your customers are your greatest source of insight. Listen to their feedback, both positive and negative, and use it to fuel your growth and innovation. After all, they're the ones who ultimately determine your success. Our journey has taught us that every piece of feedback, whether it's a praise or a critique, is a valuable gift. It's a roadmap guiding us towards better products, better services, and ultimately, better relationships with our customers. Embracing customer feedback isn't just about improving our business—it's about showing our customers that their voices matter, and that together, we can achieve extraordinary things. A peak behind our live chat. As much as I love talking to our users, customer service is not always an easy task. Kudos to everyone working within CS. Wish you all a nice weekend ahead.