Any business which provides a product or suite of solutions will be bolstered by a sale, whether it is an ecommerce enterprise or subscription-based service.
The moment that a prospect becomes a customer is an exciting one – but it isn’t the most effective way to grow as a business or to establish your business as a leader in its field.
To do this, customers need to become clients, with a service and value-based relationship instead of one focused on the transaction itself.
Why the distinction?
For Software as a Service (SaaS) providers such as Summa Tech, this is not just a prudent commercial move that can create a more productive and long-lasting client relationship – it is the core of what we do.
The ‘service’ element of SaaS providers is the most important, since it is what adds value and optimised usage to the ‘software’ element.
Without that, clients are not fully benefitting from the potential of their chosen software.
In short, customers make a purchase, while clients make an investment.
It’s all about the value
We find that clients approach us because we can offer them something that they can’t find elsewhere.
That is the crux of a great professional partnership – one firm needs something to better share their expertise, and another can provide what they need.
While on the face of it this need might be an onboarding solution or a client management portal, this is just the start of the relationship.
The next stage is to find out what goals or challenges are driving this need and use our expertise to address these, instead of simply providing a product.
For example, if an accountancy firm approaches us in need of a client onboarding solution, we will work with its team to find out why it’s needed, how it will be used and how the team adapts to using it.
From here, we can provide ongoing training and support for our client’s team to ensure they’re getting the most of our solution.
We do this through sharing digital content with our insights, which are based on the experiences learned from being developed within a mid-tier accountancy practice, into common challenges for professional services and by providing bespoke training with our solutions to each client.
We’re also available for troubleshooting and additional support to ensure that the relationship continues to be fruitful for everyone involved.
Bespoke is the way forward
In the field of customer relationships, it’s also important for solutions and services to be as bespoke as possible, being that each firm is different albeit the efficiencies or general problems they are looking to solve are the same.
In the case of the accountancy firm above, we could also look at whether it would benefit from linking its onboarding solution to a client portal or meeting platform and whether we could help to meet these additional needs.
To build a partnership, it isn’t about upselling a product. It’s about creating trust within that relationship that allows client needs and your expertise to take the lead.
We would only recommend a solution that we really believe in and that we think would be beneficial in order to provide our clients with the most efficient and streamlined workflows to manage their own clients.
The future of client relationships
It should come as no surprise that client service and relationships are increasingly a distinguishing factor in the SaaS market.
Aside from the clear commercial benefit of investing in client relationships and building them through value-added content and training, it’s important to remember that SaaS clients make a significant investment of their own in seeking an external provider to solve an operational challenge.
Rewarding this commitment to enhancing their own service is central to building and enhancing great partnerships that yield excellent results for you, your client and theirs.
To book a demo or learn more about how we can help your firm, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team today.