Why do SaaS firms give such great service?

Get talking to any KashFlow customer about the benefits of our easy to use accounting software and it won’t be long before customer service is mentioned. We really kick arse when it comes to responding to support requests at odd hours and bending over backwards to keep the customer happy.

I’d love to claim that it sets us apart from the other SaaS companies – and I used to think that it did – but it doesn’t. Most of the other SaaS companies also provide remarkably high levels of customer service.

Why the marked difference to traditional software companies? The reason is actually quite simple.

At a typical traditional software company, you go along and pay over a few hundred pounds for a bit of software. You have the software and the company has made their money out of you. The transaction has been completed – they have no further interest in you other than to up sell you on support contracts and future upgrades.

With the SaaS business model it’s very different. Rather than paying a huge amount upfront, you instead pay a relatively small amount on a monthly basis. So we’re not going to make any money out of you if you leave after a couple of months because the service is crap. We need to keep you as a customer for at least x months in order to make a return on our marketing costs. And the easiest way to do that is to go the extra mile to keep you happy.

When using a SaaS vendor you’re not usually making an expensive or long term commitment. It’s an easy decision And it’s just as easy to walk away and become a customer of a competitor.

So that’s why SaaS companies give great service. As more and more software apps move to SaaS, expect better service all round.