Episode 747 | Evolving SaaS Customer Success Over 7 Years (with Jane Portman)
Jan 7, 2025
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In this discussion, Jane Portman, co-founder of Userlist, shares insights from her seven-year journey in SaaS customer success. She outlines the four stages of their evolution, revealing the challenges of onboarding complex products. Jane highlights the transition to 'done-for-you' services and the importance of leveraging customer feedback. The conversation also touches on the significance of insightful content creation in the SaaS space, emphasizing expertise over superficial articles.
Userlist's customer success journey evolved through four stages, highlighting the importance of a proactive support structure for complex onboarding.
The introduction of done-for-you services improved customer satisfaction and retention, demonstrating the value of blending software with personalized support.
Deep dives
Evolution of Customer Success Practices
The customer success process has developed in four distinct stages over the seven years of operating UserList. Initially, the approach was simplistic, characterized as 'young and naive,' where basic email templates and resources were provided to users without a thorough support system. The second stage involved hiring a dedicated support engineer to proactively assist customers during onboarding, fundamentally changing the company’s relationship with its clients. This shift towards a more hands-on approach revealed the complexities of the onboarding process, emphasizing the need for a deeper integration plan that included real-time user data to enhance user experience.
The Importance of Proactive Support
UserList faced significant challenges in retaining customers due to the product's complex nature, which necessitated a robust support structure. By hiring a customer support manager focused on proactive engagement, the company was able to better assist users during the critical early stages, making it easier for them to integrate and utilize the platform. This role proved essential, as it alleviated the burden on co-founders during user onboarding and enabled the team to gather insights into customer needs and pain points. The success of this model reinforced the idea that effective customer support is fundamental for the long-term success and retention of clients.
Transitioning to Done-for-You Services
Recognizing the struggle that customers faced with the product, UserList introduced done-for-you services as a solution to facilitate smoother onboarding and maximize customer satisfaction. Initial attempts at this model surprisingly met with success, as clients were eager to engage in done-for-you offerings, which provided immediate value that software alone did not. This approach helped bridge the gap in service delivery and allowed the team to better understand onboarding challenges, refining their strategies for success. Ultimately, this blended model of software and services offered a framework for addressing complex customer needs while maintaining a steady influx of revenue.
Creation of Proprietary Frameworks
Over time, UserList developed proprietary frameworks to simplify the customer journey and enhance user experiences based on patterns observed during the done-for-you service projects. This led to the emergence of structured methodologies for employing existing materials in user onboarding and segmentation processes. By formalizing these frameworks, the company established a clearer value proposition for clients, showcasing its expertise in SaaS email marketing automation. This innovative approach not only improved internal processes but also positioned UserList as a thought leader in its niche, allowing the team to share valuable insights with the broader community.
In episode 747, Rob Walling interviews Jane Portman, co-founder of Userlist, to discuss the evolution of their SaaS customer success strategy. Jane shares the four stages of Userlist’s customer success journey, from the early days of trial and error to implementing done-for-you services. They also discuss the challenges of customer onboarding for complex products.
Topics we cover:
(2:20) – How customer success works at Userlist
(5:27) – Dealing with upfront onboarding friction
(9:51) – Stage 1, “young and naive”
(12:16) – Stage 2, “hire someone”
(19:06) – Stage 3, “done for you services”
(25:47) – Leveraging the Userlist blog
(29:26) – Stage 4, “developing your own frameworks”
If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!