Self-service for SaaS (software as a service) companies can carry a high set-up cost, but it can be an effective tool for scaling. You have to be prepared to put in significant effort to make the customer journey work as it should.
At the same time, it is a prerequisite that the product has been confirmed as ready for the market it is meant for.
In the 2019 overview from The Factory you will find Enin among the swarm of promising fintech companies. New ventures with new technology and smart minds keep appearing. Competition is fierce.
Here you can read more about why we think self-service is one of the tools it takes for us to succeed, and why it is an advantage both for the company offering it and for the customer.
What is good for the customer?
1. Fast access
As we all get more and more automated services as consumers, we take it for granted that we also get easy access to what we want and to the information we need while we are at work. It becomes more natural for us to seek out the best services wherever they are. Local presence is not that important.
2. Suited to flexible working hours
With more home office working and a slightly changed "philosophy" in business life, the times at which we need various services will change.
We do not want to wait, we are impatient, and we expect answers to our questions at almost any hour of the day. So it is unfortunate if customer service closes at 3.30pm and that is the only place to get an answer.
3. You decide for yourself whether you want personal contact
You do not have to go through key account managers, switchboards or other obstacles that are annoying and steal your time.
If the same question keeps coming up, content can be created that answers it, and the service will get better and better over time. When customers can interact quickly whenever they need to, ideally inside the solution they are already using, it is perceived as a far higher level of service
4. The user gets instant access to value.
Offering self-service usually means the customer can test the product or service before paying.
Where possible, you should cater for different profiles and users. When the customer gets access to the parts of the service that create high value, curiosity and engagement follow. You should also offer useful information and advice, so the customer quickly gets a sense of what you can deliver.
Hopefully what you show them exceeds expectations, and you get a higher conversion rate than with other sales methods.
5. The price comes down
Naturally, customers should benefit when "production costs" come down. By cutting out unnecessary intermediaries, it becomes possible to offer products and services at a lower price.
What is good for the company offering self-service?
1. Everyone in the company gets involved
In a company that bases all or part of its revenue on self-service, everyone automatically becomes responsible for revenue and sales. Whether you work in product development, marketing, programming, user interfaces, design or sales, you have an important role in finding and engaging customers. That creates cohesion and a culture where everyone pulls in the same direction.
With fewer repetitive tasks, we believe everyone gets a more interesting working day and gets to do things that feel more meaningful. More people are challenged instead of solving the same problems over and over.
2. Revenue per employee goes up
By building products and services that scale easily, you will probably need fewer hands to serve customers than usual. Spending less time on support and delivery makes it possible to increase the margin per customer.
It can be a necessity, for instance in order to challenge established players, to fight for higher revenue per employee than what is "normal". As easily available new technology arrives, the need for manpower will probably fall. Where companies used to build a competitive advantage by outsourcing development to low-cost countries, that can now be achieved through the opportunities technology offers.
3. You get a high degree of interaction with your customers
Your customers expect and want you to follow the steps they take on your website and in your solution. That makes it easier to gather data and to give the people testing it relevant information. You can follow their rhythm and usage patterns naturally, and then contact with customers is perceived as necessary and helpful.
4. A faster sales cycle
If you have a good onboarding plan and a product the market wants, customers in the right target groups can reach value straight away. There is no need for long sales processes and follow-up from sales reps.
That means several of the steps in the sales cycle can move faster. Even if not every prospect goes all the way through the self-service journey you have set up, more of them will have been through parts of it and can ask the right questions.
Product qualified leads are the best ones!
5. Lower costs
As mentioned, there is less need for a large sales force and for the links in the chain where human error creeps in. It goes without saying that you then avoid the costs of putting those errors right, which can add up to considerable savings if incidents arise that affect several customers or product areas.
Support costs will naturally be lower too if you manage to build up content so that customers can find answers for themselves and interact directly when they need to.
Self-service can change the business model
Developing and maintaining a self-service solution is continuous work, but it is almost certainly worth it.
An overview from SuperOffice shows that a fast response time is the single most important factor in a good customer experience.
If self-service is not established practice in the industry you operate in, you can actually change the business model and the market.
One of our goals is to make it easier to buy company data. We are confident that we will get there. Many people agree with us on that goal; our industry is clearly ready for renewal.
Feel free to get in touch if you have questions, want to buy fantastic data on Norwegian business, or would like to work with us!
