As someone actively engaged in the software as a service industry, I can confirm that Archie Black's advice is spot on. I work for PayCycle, an online payroll company that embodies the SaaS model. Our customers don't make distinctions between the quality of our product and the quality of our service. Both must be excellent in order to produce a happy customer.
We answer our phones with a 70% in 20 second service level, resulting in stable 9 out of 10 scores for customer satisfaction over the past five years.
We used to answer emails more slowly, but have increased response time to same day, usually within two hours, to keep up with the speed of business. We also found that offering support over the weekend, when many business owners are still caring for and working on their businesses, was a great answer, producing high customer satisfaction and loyalty.
In a recent survey, over 40% of our customers were interested in contacting us via text chat, so we're making plans to offer this as an option.
Training is so important to both your employees and your customers. A big news flash is that employees actually like working for SaaS companies when they're doing things right; having happy customers makes for happier and longer tenured employees and training is the key to quality.
To add to Archie's savvy advice, don't just survey your customers once, create a customer contact plan, and move on to other things. Creating a customer responsive organization requires a continuous feedback loop, persistent dedication to meeting the customer's needs, and an ear to the ground for what is frustrating or not working well for both the employee and the customer. Stable top-box customer satisfaction scores are a reflection of an intimate, healthy connection between your front-line employees and your customers.
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