Customer Onboarding often determines the success or failure of SaaS companies selling to SMEs. Look at onboarding as a strategic priority. Within your end to end sales and marketing process. Experiment and test to find the right tactics. Keep the need to generate sustainable LTV front of mind.
A Golden Opportunity
Another energetic and intelligent discussion in the SaaS Scotland Group two weeks ago. We focused on Customer Onboarding. The founders had a great selection of ideas and suggestions as you can see by looking at the ideas page. The session reinforced a key point. Customer Onboarding is a critical element of the SaaS end to end revenue process.
At this stage a SaaS company has a golden opportunity to do three things:
Onboarding and SaaS for SME Success
It is rare for companies to achieve this nirvana. Generating leads at low prices is still doable. People sign up for free trials en masse. But then the theory breaks down. Potential customers either don’t convert or don’t even bother using the free product. Those early sign up numbers evaporate before any revenue appears.
Soon the focus turns to onboarding. Startups ask questions like:
Or even, are we signing up the right customers?
The success of startups selling SaaS to SMEs is often determined at this stage of the recurring revenue model. Many entrepreneurs start out with a dream view of the whole process. Generate leads online. Sign people up for a free trial. Build automated onboarding processes. Convert triallists to paying customers at a sensible rate. Add up the numbers and SaaS looks like a great business.
SaaS Is Not That Easy
5 Strategic Priorities
These are valid and important questions. But they are questions of tactics. The answers will vary by company and by product. There is no repeatable formula for success. Remember some core strategic principles when addressing the challenge:
An Opportunity Not A Burden
In the course of my small business consulting I often hear startups that struggle with onboarding. Sometimes it sounds like teams see this as a burden. Onboarding is a great opportunity to engage direct with your customers. Often it will be the best chance you get. Take the wide view of sales & marketing. Treat onboarding as an equal priority with the rest of your sales and marketing process.
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AuthorKenny Fraser is the Director of Sunstone Communication and a personal investor in startups. Archives
September 2020
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