{"id":76654,"date":"2020-05-22T20:27:34","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/?p=76654"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:42:11","slug":"saas-customer-support-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/saas-customer-support-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"SaaS customer support best practices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SaaS companies thrive on repeat buyers, who in turn thrive on good customer support.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It won\u2019t take more than one bad experience to compel 51% of users to cancel their subscription, according to NewVoiceMedia. And while 72% of customers will tell six or more people about a pleasant experience, poor support will have 13% of users telling 15 or more people who <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to buy software from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, one study by Slideshare found that a bad experience with customer service was the primary reason for a canceled subscription among 67% of respondents. So, even if you have the best software on the market, it\u2019s not going to keep people coming back if you can\u2019t provide the assistance they need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With this in mind, let\u2019s take a look at the best practices to offer superior SaaS customer support.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68_1 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/saas-customer-support-best-practices\/#Accessibility\" title=\"Accessibility\">Accessibility<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/saas-customer-support-best-practices\/#Self-Service\" title=\"Self-Service\">Self-Service<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Accessibility\"><\/span><b>Accessibility<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps a user is confused about certain changes made in a recent update. Maybe they\u2019re having compatibility issues. They could have found a bug that you weren\u2019t aware of. In any case, it shouldn\u2019t be difficult for them to let you know.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure that your support service is easy to reach. It\u2019s also important that customers can use a contact method that\u2019s convenient to them, be it email, live chat, or social media. Those details should be clear and visible wherever you\u2019re present &#8211; both on desktop and mobile devices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t forget to clearly state the times during which your team is available. Ideally, that would be 24\/7, or at the very least, during business hours. You don\u2019t want to keep customers waiting too long, which brings us to our next point.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Self-Service\"><\/span><b>Self-Service<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not every user wants or needs to talk to a support agent. Sometimes, they\u2019re just looking for a quick answer or solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Knowing the most common questions and problems that come your way, you can develop a knowledge base or FAQ for your website. This can significantly reduce the number of messages that your team receives while helping customers effortlessly find out what they need to know. Make sure that it\u2019s informative, responsive, and easy to navigate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can take this further by setting up a community forum where users can discuss and resolve issues amongst themselves. This is a good way to identify the biggest problems your customers face and send feedback to your development team accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Live Chat<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your users have high expectations when it comes to the quality and responsiveness of your customer support. Most of them are probably not willing to wait hours (and definitely not days) for a reply to their email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Providing a live chat service can help to remedy this problem. Users can have their questions answered and problems solved almost immediately, without having to take any additional steps after reaching your website. Most live chat services are far more affordable than a support hotline, while also being an effective way to onboard new users.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Staff<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the foundation of any effective customer support service is a good team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given the complexity of your product, it\u2019s important to have educated and knowledgeable staff who know what they\u2019re talking about. At the same time, they need to have adequate communication skills and an ability to build relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They need to know how to deal with stressed, rude, and angry users in a diplomatic manner that upholds the values of your company. Ensure that these qualities are present among the rest of your organisation as well, with a particular focus on those who are likely to interact with customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a good time to discern the difference between customer support and customer service. The former refers to staff who respond to queries, while customer service is responsible for improving engagement. Tasking certain employees with identifying trends in the messages your users send is a great way to reduce ticket numbers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Standards<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More on the above point, it would be a mistake to assume that all of your support agents have the same approach to their job. This is why it\u2019s important to have standards for how they treat customers. Here are some considerations:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Response times.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Refund discretions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Handling certain situations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Greeting and welcoming customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When and how to send follow-up messages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tracking requests and avoiding missed tickets.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Categorising issues and assigning them to the right department.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would be wise to have published service level agreements that users can see to gain peace of mind knowing that your company upholds certain standards when it comes to customer support. Here, you can provide a FAQ of sorts with answers to questions regarding issues such as how you deal with downtime and how fast you respond to requests.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Transparency<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being part of the \u2018big data\u2019 industry, SaaS companies tend to be perceived by customers with a certain level of weariness or suspicion. Some users think that they\u2019re being charged a high price for something that costs much less to provide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your support service is an ideal place to reduce this kind of scepticism. This is done by being transparent about your policies and pricing, with a particular focus on how you handle customer data. The following practices can help you keep your users at ease:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Downtime notifications.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advance notice of changes in terms or fees.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Information about how you spend customer money.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Making it easy for users to cancel their subscription.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Answering questions asked by prospective customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Staying in touch with your customers and monitoring what they say about your company on public channels such as forums and social media will help you identify and address any other sources of scepticism. This is key to maintaining a strong reputation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Central Platform<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One way to make your support team\u2019s job much easier is to stick to a central platform upon which you can handle all enquiries, whether they\u2019re sent via email, live chat or social media. There are several advantages to this approach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aside from saving time, it will spare your staff from having to log into numerous platforms to stay on top of their respective requests. Another benefit is being able to see how your team is performing. Regular analysis will help you identify room for improvement. Having a central platform also makes it easier to flag and escalate tickets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Feedback<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The customer support process doesn\u2019t end when you close the ticket. There\u2019s one more step, which is asking for feedback. This is key to finding out whether the support you provided is satisfactory and how you can make it better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customers will also appreciate the opportunity to send that feedback, especially if they weren\u2019t happy with the support they received. The data you collect can help you build a more comprehensive knowledge base and a better chatbot, which can reduce tickets and improve the morale of your support team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With enough information, you\u2019ll be able to automate routine functions and significantly lower the workload faced by your team. This will only become more important as you gain customers. There\u2019s always room for improvement and being open to any feedback that comes your way is key to identifying it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By following these practices, you can make leaps and bounds in providing the best possible support service any customer can hope to interact with. Be sure to spend some time on this, as the level of effort you put in can make-or-break the success of your SaaS company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SaaS companies thrive on repeat buyers, who in turn thrive on good customer support.\u00a0 It won\u2019t take more than one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2121],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[2215,2224,2223,2222,2221,2220,2219,2218,2217,2216,5,2214,1913,1509,843,723,450,373,329,309],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76654"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133471,"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76654\/revisions\/133471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76654"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligentbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=76654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}