Creating and Sustaining Profitable SaaS Customer Relationships

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Calculating the Return on Customer Retention

Preliminary results from The SaaS & Support Project’s 2010 research show that some aspects of the software industry haven’t changed much despite the accelerating shift to SaaS. In the 1st survey for the year, Issues, TSSP participants are asked to rate the level of importance to a range of issues. “Managing Customer Relationships in a Cost-Effective Manner” is being overwhelmingly rated as of “Critical” concern both by all respondents and specifically by SaaS-only companies as well. When

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The SaaS & Support Project Research

As the Software As A Service business model continues its rapid advance, the inherent changes for both vendor and customer are both substantial and significant. But once again, Customer Support is in danger of getting shoved to a back burner. I’m sure you’ve heard the usual statements of “strategies:” “SaaS doesn’t need Support, it’s included in the subscription.” “We’re going to do it all via web self-service.” “The social networking community will take care of it for us.” And, of course,

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The SaaS & Support Project in 2010

Almost five years ago, Bill Gates warned Microsoft about the significant challenge to the company and industry posed by the advent of SaaS. While the new business model has yet to fully reach the gains predicted for it back then, the momentum is building. An ever-accelerating number of traditional perpetual-license software companies are readying SaaS products or have already quietly released them. In the process, a lot has been learned about the magnitude of the change that is SaaS. As comp

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SaaS & Professional Change

Awareness of the fundamental changes driven by the shift to SaaS to the profession and practice of Customer Support, both to external Support and internal IT Help Desks, is growing. The Help Desk Institute has asked me to write a two-part series on the subject for their SupportWorld magazine, drawing on the continuing research of The SaaS & Support Project (tm). The first article, on “SaaS, Cloud Computing and The Redefinition of Customer Support,” will focus on the changes to Support when

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Invitation: The “Must-Attend” SaaS/Cloud Conference

As the SaaS tsunami continues to roll out at a dizzying pace, staying current on developments is a considerable challenge for people in all sectors of the SaaS/Cloud community. One of the best sources I’ve found for vision, information and ideas throughout my career has been the quiet conversations that happen at well-run industry conferences. Yes, travel budgets are tight and the time is a concern -- but you hear things at those events long before they appear on the web or in other news outle

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A Time for Questions

TSSP print 300x150 Creating and Sustaining Profitable SaaS Customer Relationships

It’s unfortunate that many SaaS companies don’t accurately track their customer acquisition costs or determine the break-even point after which customer relationships may start to be profitable. But what about tracking and analyzing customer retention costs? Does your company have a designated owner for the ongoing customer relationship? Is there a box on the corporate organizational chart for a Customer Retention Manager? If so, how much of that individual’s time is dedicated to “fire-fighting,” the reactive work to save an at-risk relationship? Some companies have an individual Customer Success manager or a team chartered to address that goal. Is yours one? How about the ongoing costs for Support? Do you know what it actually cost your company to answer the support phone or to handle the incoming emails last month?

How is the performance of the individuals assigned to Support measured? What standards are applied to the group as a whole? In traditional software companies, where everything after the initial sale is a cost against its profit and therefore to be avoided, there are a variety of metrics used to reduce time spent on incidents. Is there a different picture for the Support team of a SaaS company, where the retention of customer relationships ought to be a priority?

Understanding the Answers

magnifying glass and calculator Creating and Sustaining Profitable SaaS Customer Relationships

A number of SaaS, traditional and “hybrid” companies have participated in the research so far; if you haven’t yet responded to the survey form, click here for more information. All participants who complete the survey will receive a free copy of the Report that will be published at the end of October. (All individual company data will be kept strictly confidential; only aggregate data will be used in the Report.) To augment the questions of the survey, individual interviews are being conducted to define best practices and lessons learned.

There will be a webinar presentation of preliminary results from the research on Wednesday, September 23rd beginning at 0900 PDT / noon EDT. To register for the free webinar, hosted by OpSource and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), please follow this link. There will also be a session dedicated to the findings on the first day of the upcoming SIIA On Demand conference to be held in San Jose on October 29th & 30th, 2009. For more information about the On Demand conference, click here.

You are welcome to join in the ongoing discussion of these issues and topics in The SaaS & Support Forum on LinkedIn. Here is a link to more information about the Forum.