Enterprise customers are large organizations with vast and nuanced needs. These kinds of customers bring a lot of revenue for B2B SaaS organizations. Needless to say, retaining them for the long run can play a pivotal role in the future of a company. However, reducing churn for enterprise SaaS customers is easier said than done. Teams have to make sure they listen to their grievances, engage with them personally, and deliver a customized solution.
In this article, let’s look at four effective methods that can help SaaS companies reduce churn for their enterprise customers.
Table of contents
1. Personalized Onboarding and Support
As we briefly touched upon earlier, enterprise customers have unique needs that are quite different from small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Their custom workflows and project needs often necessitate a hands-on learning approach.
SaaS companies can capitalize on this opportunity by onboarding these customers manually and providing them with personal support in the later stages. This begins with understanding the objectives and pain points of the customers and educating them about software that addresses those concerns.
Consequently, enterprise users can immediately adopt the tool which decreases the time to value while ensuring a great user experience. Dedicated support takes this further where all the roadblocks and issues are promptly addressed.
Satisfied users who feel heard by the company are more likely to stay for longer periods. Not only can they see the value the SaaS tool brings effectively, but they also get professional help whenever they need it.
2. Dedicated Account Manager
An account manager is a direct point of contact for enterprise customers who solve their problems and challenges associated with the SaaS tool. This can include everything between technical issues and billing concerns.
Moreover, client managers ensure that enterprise customers receive constant and focused attention, making them feel valued. They coordinate with all the internal departments in the SaaS business, from developers to accounting to answer client questions and provide resolutions.
Dedicated account managers also oversee revenue lifecycle management, ensuring the users get the most value from their subscriptions. They can also identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities that align with the client’s goals.
A dedicated account manager’s proactive approach to problem-solving and strategic planning helps to address issues before they become significant problems. These benefits collectively reduce churn by ensuring that enterprise clients feel valued and supported.
3. In-Depth Customer Education to Reduce Churn
SaaS products continuously evolve based on market trends and customer needs. This requires companies to educate their users about the changing functionalities and interface through training. It can make it easier for enterprise SaaS customers to keep using the product effectively.
A common method to achieve this is customer education — a process where SaaS companies guide and train their users about their products.
The simplest and, arguably, most effective way is to build a knowledge base with in-depth how-to articles and explainer videos. Make sure that the articles come with annotated images (or GIFs) and that the videos are actionable and short.
Businesses can consider creating customized training modules, particularly for high-value SaaS enterprise customers to optimize time to value. For instance, if a client subscribes to a marketing reporting tool, a customized training video can speed up its adoption.
Effective customer education ensures that enterprise customers in SaaS have all the information they need to get the most value out of software. As a result, they are less likely to encounter friction while using the apps, leading to improved engagement and reduced churn.
4. Constant Impact Monitoring
Every enterprise client has specific, tangible expectations from a SaaS subscription. It could be improved operational efficiency, enhanced team productivity, or increased revenue. When a tool fails to live up to the promises, churn becomes inevitable.
SaaS businesses can prevent this by constantly monitoring the impact of their solution on their customers. Teams can immediately discover the deeper reasons why the client is unable to solve their problems or get a certain value and proactively address them.
It is crucial to understand these tangible expectations of SaaS enterprise customers during the initial demo call or strategy meeting. This is essential for setting up a customized onboarding workflow which plays a key role in client satisfaction.
Down the line, account managers can ask for updates and detailed feedback about whether they were successful in implementing the SaaS solution effectively. If there are areas of improvement, teams can get on top of them and iron them out before they get out of hand.
Apart from helping SaaS businesses deliver a great customer experience to their enterprise users, constant impact monitoring makes the clients feel heard and appreciated. On every level, this deepens the relationship and increases retention rates.
Wrapping Up
Enterprise customers in SaaS come with unique requirements and bigger paychecks. Businesses looking to reduce churn for the long term should focus on personalizing their experience with the product.
To deliver such a delightful experience, SaaS companies need to customize the onboarding process and offer customer support based on the client’s needs. Typically, this is possible with a dedicated account manager that coordinates with the users periodically for feedback.
As the product evolves, so should the help content in the knowledge base to reduce the time to value for the customers.
Finally, account managers should keep an eye on the tangible goals of the client to stay vigilant for any kind of issues and proactively resolve them before they start impacting the customer experience.
