Month: August 2023

How to Use Case Studies to Convert More Leads

Posted on by Nick Mann

There are about 30,000 SaaS companies in 2023, and that number is quickly growing. By 2024, some experts believe that number will more than double to 72,000. This means competition is fierce, and customers have more choices than ever. While there are numerous ways to boost conversions and bring more leads to your company, one of the best pound-for-pound is using case studies to convert more leads.

In this post, I’ll show you just how big of an impact demonstrating customer success through case studies can have on SaaS sales and offer a real-life example for inspiration.

What Exactly is a Case Study?

First, let’s start with a clear definition. In the context of SaaS, it’s an in-depth study of a customer who used your product and the measurable outcome it had.

The specifics of a case study can vary, but there are five key elements you tend to see across the board.

First, there’s the introduction that explains who the customer is, the industry they’re in, and so on. Next, is the problem they were facing before using your SaaS product. Then comes the solution, which discusses why your product was a good fit. From there, a case study explains the result, ideally using concrete data to explain the quantifiable impact. And finally, it details where the customer was before and after using your SaaS solution.

Why Case Studies Are So Effective in SaaS

It’s simple. Using case studies to convert more leads works well because it’s the ultimate form of social proof.

While there are several other effective forms of social proof, with testimonials, reviews, and ratings being just a few examples, case studies break down the results an actual customer had after using your SaaS product. Rather than just saying, “Our SaaS product works great and can make your life easier, grow your business, etc.,” a case study takes a deep dive and shows firsthand what the impact has been using a real-life example.

And this is incredibly important in an age where 1) there’s so much competition and 2) many leads are skeptical of brands.

I like what HubSpot campaign manager Siobhan McGinty has to say about it.

“Do not underestimate the value of providing social proof at just the right time in order to add value and earn their business. Case studies are extremely effective in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey when they are actively comparing solutions and providers to solve a problem they’re experiencing.”

So when a lead is at the consideration stage, a case study can be the perfect form of content for connecting the dots and showing them why your SaaS solution is the best option.

Instead of merely taking your word for it, a lead can see how a similar customer benefited from your product and how they can as well.

Eye-Catching Statistics

At this point, you’re probably wondering just how big of an impact case studies can truly have. To answer that, here are a few compelling statistics that illustrate the value they can bring to a SaaS marketing campaign.

First, 2022 research by The Content Marketing Institute found that 73% of the most successful content marketers used case studies in their campaigns.

Next, of the top content assets that marketers used in the last 12 months, case studies ranked number four, just behind videos and virtual events, which shows the growing ubiquity of this content medium.

And third, research from Uplift Content found that case studies were ranked as the number one most effective marketing tactic for increasing SaaS sales, with 39% of marketers saying they were effective. For perspective, case studies ranked higher than SEO, general website content, email marketing, eBooks, social media, and blogging.

By these numbers, it’s clear that using case studies to convert more leads can be an excellent addition to a SaaS marketing campaign. So if it’s something you haven’t tried yet, now is the perfect time to do so.

A Real-Life Example

Now that we know what case studies are and why they work so well, let’s look at inbound lead conversion and scheduling app Chili Piper to see how they use case studies so effectively.

Chili Piper is a SaaS company that uses content as an integral part of their marketing campaign, with blogs, guides, and podcasts being a few key examples. But in my opinion, where they really succeed is with their case studies or “customer stories” as they call them.

Chili Piper even has an entire section of their website devoted solely to case studies.

One that I think is especially good is where they featured BambooHR and discussed how the company was able to increase qualified meetings by 40% after using Chili Piper.

In this case study, Chili Piper provides:

  • An introduction and overview of BambooHR
  • The inefficiencies of their previous system before using Chili Piper
  • The solution that was implemented with the app
  • The results (increasing qualified meetings by 40%)

They even provide a video featuring BambooHR company rep Mary Nelson who discusses exactly how Chili Piper helped make their meeting scheduling process far more efficient for a “straight from the horse’s mouth” perspective.

It’s a simple, straightforward format that perfectly showcases the power of this SaaS product and helps leads envision how it could help their company as well. You can see the case study for yourself here.

And if you’d like to see Chili Piper’s full library of case studies for more ideas, you can find them here.

Using Case Studies to Convert More Leads

If you’re looking for the ultimate “show, don’t tell” marketing strategy, it doesn’t get much better than case studies. And while they can work well for many industries, they pair perfectly with SaaS because they enable you to show leads firsthand how a similar company benefited from using your product.

That’s why I can’t recommend this strategy enough, and it’s one that can be a great addition to your SaaS marketing arsenal.

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How to Use Value-Based Selling in SaaS to Drive More Conversions

Posted on by Nick Mann

When many people think of traditional sales, they often envision aggressively pushing a product and landing the deal. While making conversions is obviously important, the old-school “going for the jugular” style often does more harm than good these days, and leads are less receptive to high-pressure sales tactics than they used to be. One form of selling that’s gaining in popularity and can be especially potent is value-based selling.

To quantify, “87% of high-growth sales organizations now take a value-based approach to sales.” And many experts have gone so far as to call value-based selling “the sales methodology of the future.”

Here’s how to use value-based selling in SaaS to boost conversions and take your sales team to the next level.

Transactional Selling vs. Consultative Selling

First, let me start off by saying that value-based selling takes a consultative approach to sales where you listen and educate a lead while building a relationship with them and highlighting the value your SaaS product offers. This differs from transactional selling that’s mainly focused on the features and specs of a product, “pushing” it on a lead and making a transaction.

For perspective, here’s a comparison of transactional selling vs. consultative selling (the camp value-based selling falls under).

Now that we have a basic understanding of these two different styles, here are the most integral techniques for using value-based selling to win over more prospects.

Research Each Lead’s Unique Needs

A critical part of succeeding with this approach is avoiding a “one-size-fits-all” mentality and treating every lead uniquely.

“When researching a prospect, aim to understand their company and industry, background, and current pain points,” explains HubSpot. “By understanding these pieces of information, you’ll have a solid grasp of how to serve them best.”

While this, admittedly, does take time, it’s an essential component of the process. To ensure you’re spending your time on the right prospects, I suggest using a lead scoring tool, ideally focusing on sales qualified leads (SQLs) rather than marketing qualified leads (MQLs).

By default, this will filter through your list of prospects and ensure you’re only spending time on those that are ultra-high-quality with a strong likelihood of converting. And for the MQLs that aren’t yet ready, you can send them to your marketing team for nurturing.

Build Authentic Rapport

The initial stage of the process of researching a lead’s unique needs will come into play here, as it will set the tone as you build rapport. As I mentioned earlier, an essential part of value-based selling is acting more as a consultant rather than a conventional salesperson. So the goal is to stay personable and “human,” getting to know each lead as an individual.

One area where many salespeople go wrong is jumping into the sales discussion too early. While converting is always the goal, value-based selling takes more of a “long game” approach where you first get to know a person and build an authentic relationship so you can deliver genuine value and address their specific needs.

Clearly Demonstrate the Value of Your SaaS Product

The first two steps in the process will set you up for the most important part of the journey — where you directly articulate exactly how your SaaS product will improve a lead’s situation.

For example, marketing, automation, and email platform Mailchimp offers very specific value for its customers.

This includes:

  • Helping them convert more customers at scale by “driving more traffic and sales by setting up automations that trigger emails based on customer behavior”
  • Using automation to create “pre-built journeys that help customers cross-sell their products, recover abandoned carts, re-engage existing customers, and win new ones”
  • “Delivering personalized emails based on customers’ buying behavior, survey responses, chat interactions, and support tickets to promote loyalty and growth

Mailchimp is an arbitrary example, but you get the idea. The key here is to convey precisely how your SaaS product can help while speaking to a lead’s individual needs and pain points. If you can do that effectively, you’re almost guaranteed to succeed at value-based selling.

Use Customer Success Stories

At this point, you’ve researched a prospect, built rapport, and articulated the specific value your SaaS product offers. Now it’s time to connect the dots and bring it all home. And one of the best ways to do that is by offering customer success stories where you tell a lead about real-life examples of customers that have actually used your SaaS product and experienced genuine results.

Going back to Mailchimp as an example, they have several case studies on their website that highlight customer success stories.

You can take a similar approach, using examples of your current or previous customers that have seen serious results and tailor them to address the unique needs and pain points of the lead at hand. By seeing the impact your SaaS product has had in a real-life situation, this can be just what you need to get a lead over the hump and commit to purchasing.

Winning at Value-Based Selling

Let’s recap. Rather than taking a transactional approach, which is often the basis of conventional selling, value-based selling goes the opposite direction. It’s more about thinking long-term rather than making the immediate sale and concentrates on consulting, educating, and relationship-building.

And while it’s probably not feasible to use value-based selling for every single lead (MQLs don’t likely make sense, for example), it can have a tremendous impact when you focus on high-quality SQLs. With most of today’s high-growth organizations already using it, value-based selling is something you should seriously consider implementing into your SaaS strategy.

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Preventing Lost Customers: SaaS Retention Strategies to Reduce Churn

Posted on by Nick Mann

Churn is an inevitable part of running a SaaS company. No matter how great your product is, how streamlined your onboarding, and how quality your customer service, a certain percentage of customers will inevitably leave. That said, churn is definitely something to keep in check, especially when you consider that US businesses lose around $1.6 trillion annually because of it. On that note, here are some of the most helpful SaaS retention strategies to keep churn as low as possible.

Start By Perfecting Your SaaS Onboarding

The exact percentage will vary depending on who you ask, but in most cases, poor onboarding is the number one reason for churn. In fact, a recent study found that poor onboarding accounts for nearly 23% of all churn.

For that reason, I suggest making SaaS onboarding a top priority and continually striving to make it as seamless as possible. After all, the quality (or lack thereof) of the onboarding experience will make a lasting impression on each new customer. So you want to make sure you’re getting them up-to-speed quickly and not creating unnecessary friction.

To learn the fundamentals of quality SaaS onboarding, I recommend reading this post from HubSpot and following this checklist.

Be Committed to Ongoing Product Improvement

According to the same study, the second biggest reason for churn is an underperforming product, with just under 20% of customers leaving because of this.

And this shouldn’t come as a shock. Obviously, if a customer is underwhelmed with a SaaS product, they probably won’t stick around for long.

That’s why it’s so important to take an endlessly iterative approach to product development and improvement. In fact, if you look at the most successful companies, nearly all are constantly looking to identify flaws, fix issues, and make adjustments to help their product reach its full potential.

In other words, don’t treat building your SaaS product as a one-off type of deal. Instead, be committed to ongoing product improvement.

Be Committed to Building Long-Term Relationships

Third on the list of top reasons for churn is ineffective relationship building, with over 15% of customers leaving because of this.

Just like poor onboarding and an underperforming product, ineffective relationship building is a fundamental element of the customer experience. And when it’s neglected, you’re likely to see a higher churn rate than you’d like.

So how exactly can you build stronger relationships with your SaaS customers? Here are some ideas.

  • Maintain regular communication
  • Make it simple to reach customer service through a variety of mediums (website, email, social, etc.)
  • Give customers updates on product improvements, new features, and upcoming releases
  • Ask for their feedback and ways you could improve the product and enhance the overall customer experience
  • Offer discounts and other perks to loyal customers

Practice Proactive Customer Service

Reactive customer service is when you wait for customers to come to you with their problems and questions. Proactive customer service, on the other hand, is when you anticipate problems and questions and actively engage customers to not only ensure there are no deal-breaking issues but that they’re highly satisfied.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of proactive versus reactive customer service.

Put yourself in the shoes of a SaaS customer for a second. Which type of customer service would you prefer?

It’s a no-brainer. In nearly every situation, customers will always opt for proactive customer service because it makes their lives easier, and they can get the absolute most from their investment.

That’s why I strongly suggest taking this approach if you’re not already. You can learn more about this topic in this guide from customer service software brand Tidio.

Offer Incentives for Customers to Hang Around

Getting customers to convert initially isn’t easy. But getting them to hang around for the long haul, especially when you’ve got competitors nipping at your heels is a whole other matter. One of the best SaaS retention strategies to fix this problem is to offer your loyal customers incentives to stick with you.

I like what Carly Stec of HubSpot has to say about this.

“Give customers a reason to stick around by offering them something special like a promo, discount, or loyalty program. This small effort can go a long way when it comes to showing your existing customers how much you value their business.”

If someone is happy with your SaaS product, they’ll be even happier. And if they were on the fence and potentially considering taking their business elsewhere, this can be just what you need to make them reconsider and remain a customer.

Figure Out Why Churn Happens

Finally, it’s incredibly important to understand what’s contributing to your churn because this will help you take the appropriate steps to lower it. Earlier, I mentioned that poor onboarding, poor product performance, and ineffective relationship building were the top three causes of SaaS churn across the board. But, of course, every situation is different, so you’ll want to know precisely what issues are the biggest contributors for your company.

A great starting point is to use exit surveys when customers leave, as this should provide you with a basic overview of the core causes. However, admittedly, only a certain percentage of customers will fill these out, and it won’t necessarily show the whole picture.

That’s where a retention analytics platform comes in. This is specifically designed to quantifiably measure churn to see why customers leave and what’s causing it. Further, this can also help you measure customer engagement so you can determine the behaviors that are leading to success.

There are numerous products on the market, but one of my personal favorites is Woopra which primarily focuses on the SaaS industry. For example, you can use it to determine how many users return after using a core product feature…

…or what your product retention is for mobile users.

Keeping More Customers with Winning SaaS Retention Strategies

It’s hard to stress enough the importance of minimizing churn. After all, it doesn’t matter how many new customers you gain if you can’t retain them. By using the right SaaS retention strategies, you should be able to tame your churn rate and build the foundation for a long-lasting brand.

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