Rising SaaS adoption across diverse sectors is a silver lining amid the economic slowdown and changing business landscape. Today, SaaS users have plenty of options to choose from according to their requirements, budget, and projected goals.

While the availability of multiple SaaS platforms is beneficial for users, it also poses various challenges to SaaS companies. The most significant one is to keep consumers engaged, which is only possible by optimizing the SaaS user experience. Hence, SaaS development agencies now take all possible steps to ensure new users buy a subscription after their trial period ends. Some of these steps include a successful onboarding experience and a special discount for the first 100 users.

In this article, we’ll discuss the top 5 ways companies can optimize their SaaS user experience and convert their free trials into a long-term collaboration.

So, let’s get started!

1. Improve New User Onboarding

A successful SaaS journey begins with an impressive onboarding that leaves a long-lasting impression on new users. The onboarding process is considered one of the most influential factors that compel customers to continue using SaaS products after the trial period ends. On the other hand, bad onboarding creates a negative impression and results in failure right from the start.

Hence, instead of an overwhelming and self-praising onboarding strategy that keeps talking about your product, try to grab the user’s attention gradually. Besides, make sure you seamlessly integrate into the professional needs of your clients and focus on benefits instead of features.

Other ways of improving the onboarding process include guiding users on the usage of the application, explaining the steps involved in account creation, and offering round-the-clock support.

2. Focus on Customer Feedback

Once you have successfully onboarded the new client, you have optimized most of the SaaS user experience. However, everything is not done yet and a lot of work still needs to do.

Based on your customers’ initial interaction with your SaaS product, ask for their feedback. Ask what did they like or dislike about your SaaS application and resolve their concerns as early as possible. Some of the best ways of collecting customer feedback include in-app surveys, long-form-based surveys, and phone call surveys.

After collecting customer feedback, it’s time to take action to optimize your SaaS user experience. Hence, use your data to identify your delighted clients and nurture them to win their loyalty. Similarly, implement customer feedback into your product roadmap for continuous improvement. Lastly, follow up on negative responses until you win back agitated users’ interest.

3. Provide Impeccable Customer Support

SaaS users don’t like waiting for extended periods to get their issues resolved. Instead, they want their voice to be heard and expect impeccable customer support from SaaS companies.

It is, therefore, essential for you to establish a system of consistent and round-the-clock customer support to optimize the SaaS user experience. Try to reduce the consumer response time and resolve the support topics in the minimum possible time.

Most importantly, hire a team of qualified customer support representatives who can handle users’ queries professionally. Don’t forget to follow up with users once their issue has been resolved to verify if they are satisfied. This will help you make them your loyal customers and establish long-term professional relationships.

4. Define Customer Success

Determining the end goal of SaaS users is essential to improve their experience. As a SaaS company, you have to define the specific milestones your customers want to achieve by using your product. This will help you optimize your SaaS user experience and assure them that they have made the right choice buying your solution.

While defining your SaaS user success, consider things like retention cost, repeat purchase rate, and customer satisfaction core. Similarly, devise your future marketing strategies based on that information and make necessary changes to achieve your desired goals.

5. Use Data-driven Insights For Maximum Efficiency

At this stage, you have gone through all stages of your customer’s journey. Hence, it’s time to make data-driven decisions based on the data you have collected so far regarding your SaaS user experience.

Hence, start analyzing the data regarding user behavior, identify key strengths and weaknesses, and classify the information into different categories. Similarly, highlight which areas need further improvement and build strategies that can please your customers. During this process, use advanced analytics tools that can provide you with detailed insights and help you make informed decisions.

Final Words

There has been a paradigm shift towards SaaS applications as businesses have started digitizing their operations. From HR and operations to marketing and workforce management, companies are using SaaS applications to bring operational efficiency to every department.

However, the availability of a wide range of SaaS options has made it difficult for SaaS companies to retain customers. To overcome this challenge, the focus has been to optimize the SaaS user experience to establish long-term relationships. Companies can achieve this goal by improving the onboarding experience for new users, focusing on customer feedback, and using omnichannel customer support.

Lastly, defining customer success and using data-driven insights are also essential to please customers and make them loyal customers.