How To Grow A Successful SaaS And Software Startup?

SaaS and software startup‘ is becoming a common term in the tech industry these days, and rightly so. You will be astonished to know that you might be using a SaaS without even actually realising it. 

 

With an upswing in software development, SaaS and Software startups are on the rise. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that there is a SaaS and software product for almost everything the days. 

Building a SaaS and Software startup requires hard work and innovation. It is quite similar to building a tool in order to solve a problem. However, growing a Successful SaaS And Software Startup requires a lot of tact and struggle. 

These proven growth strategies have done wonders for other SaaS companies. Similarly, they could help you take your SaaS and Software startup to humongous heights. 

1. Customer support is the ultimate growth driver

A SaaS and software startup has a hard time surviving without a constant customer support. We are talking about a 24 x 7 hour of customer support. If you are putting it off to when your startup might get big enough, then that’s where you are going wrong. You might spend a few bucks to get yourself an in-house customer support, but it is actually an investment, and very wise at that.

Unlike other companies and services, SaaS business ideas is a like a relationship for a lifetime. Think of it this way – if you are using one lead generation software, you are unlikely to switch to some other product, or stop needing the software altogether, unless you go out of business. Therefore, a SaaS and software startup needs to change their customer service approach and make it more approachable. 

That said, not all SaaS and software startups need this approach, this piece of advice is mostly confined to B2B SaaS and software startups, rather than B2C startups. 

Therefore, instead of focusing on selling your product, make sure that your SaaS and software startup focuses more on the “service” aspect. 

That’s easier than it used to be with modern technologies such as cloud-based SaaS help desk software that manages inquiries instantly and securely. Such software helps create critical reports, asset management, two-way email integration, file attachments, and many other features that let even a small team offer enhanced service capabilities.

To make the most of your help desk software, you’ll want to pair it with knowledge base software. With a knowledge base, your support team will have access to specific information that is invaluable for incident resolution. Moreover, a knowledge base allows customers to self-serve themselves when it comes to simple issues, freeing up your support team to deal with more complex customer issues. In turn, this allows your startup to provide better overall support to your customers.

Plus, a good product management software offers end-to-end workflow tools to empower the team and reflect product management best practices

Now, why am I putting so much emphasis on customer service? 

  • It goes without saying that a top-notch customer service will help your customers a LOT.
  • And helping the customers will eventually make your business thrive. 

2. Get your customers to market your product 

Referral marketing that is synonymous with getting your customers to market your product is the oldest and the most reliable trick to elevate the status of your company and it holds true for a SaaS And Software Startup as well. 

Don’t shy away from asking for referrals, it’s one of the most common and oldest marketing tricks that never gets old. And if you think that it’s too basic for you then think again. 

Even Dropbox followed this typical marketing tactic and then went on to become a billion dollar company. Dropbox has tons of extra storage to everyone who referred the then-startup to their friends and acquittances and got them on board. 

Dropbox referral

However, it is worthy to note that Dropbox didn’t just ask for referrals, they actually gave an incentive that their customers couldn’t say no to. Who doesn’t like free storage? 

So, it is imperative to offer such incentives that people will be eager to have. Eager enough to refer your SaaS tools to their friend. 

3. Show some exclusivity 

Exclusivity has its own enigmatic appeal. 

Didn’t you want to be a part of that snazzy, clique in your university? Don’t people strive hard to get into exclusive country clubs? Even if people pretend to not like the elusive culture or what it stands for, they still want to become a part of it. It’s in human nature to run behind something that is seemingly out of reach. But this trick only works when you have a certain kind of audience in mind. 

For example, take LinkedIn, they cater only to “professionals”, calling themselves “The World’s Largest Professional Network”. This air of exclusivity reeled professionals in and now millions of professionals. Luckily for LinkedIn, there are millions of professionals out there. 

4. Leverage content marketing 

referral

Everyone is jumping the content marketing bandwagon these days, therefore, you have to make your content stand out from the horde of silly, random content on the web. Quality and relevance of the content are more important than churning out unlimited content. However, the quantity also comes at the close second. Leverage the power visual content as well – integrate charts, graphs with your content. Carry out research-based studies, curate data, make infographics and spread it all across social media channels to large extent. 

It isn’t really as easy as it sounds. You have to be persistent to grow your blog and make it optimised so as to create an impact. 

5. Give out free product trials 

People generally have a tendency to try out the product before actually making up their mind to buy it. For this reason alone, product trial can become an important source of lead generation, resulting in massive growth for your SaaS and Software startup. Therefore, if you don’t already offer a free trial via your website, then consider doing it now. 

It’s more effective than making your client talk to your sales reps, after all, who cares about word of mouth before trying out the actual product. In addition, make sure that you provide some in-house support to set up your software making it less complex and easy to use. 

And don’t think that the prospect is only out to try your product before moving on to another product. It is actually the other way round because think of all the time prospect is investing getting to know your product by having a firsthand hands-on experience. Thus, the people who avail your trial actually have higher chances of buying your product. If they like what they see if it serves their purpose, why wouldn’t they want to continue the relationship with your SaaS and software product? 

6. Expand your email list

For a SaaS and software startup, building an email list equates to generating leads. And that actually means humongous growth. 

Optimise your SaaS and software startup website with a goal to get as many email signups as possible. Constantly look for new ways for people to provide you with their emails, however, try to not behave like an annoying salesperson in the process. 

Your audience should know that your intent is not to pester them constantly, you want to help them out by proving free ebooks, newsletters and updates of your relevant and very informative blog posts. 

Now, the question is how would you convince people to sing up for your email? 

The methods to persuade people into giving you their email is pretty straightforward. You don’t really need to resort an underhand way of doing it.

Here are some techniques you can use to get people to hand out their email addresses and eventually grow your SaaS and software startup. 

  • Hand out offers like discounts on first purchase, give something away for free, offer free trials and more. 
  • Use Pop-ups that have relevant and attractive CTAs. Plus, leverage exit popups to persuade your audience one last time.SaaS and software startup CTA
  • Carry out contests. 

By the way, while we are at it, you might want to check out some simple and proven ways to Find Emails And Business Details Of Startup Founders. If you can’t get people to subscribe, you can find their email addresses and start prospecting.

7. Collaborate with some other SaaS and software startup 

Co-marketing campaigns are known to inspire growth for SaaS and software startup, however, a lot of people are still not familiar with this tactic. 

What you can is to collaborate with some other SaaS and software startup that wither complement your product or has a similar niche or approach to business. There are no hard and fast rules that are required in co-marketing. Businesses do it in various ways. Typically, they create an infographic, ebook or carry out a research and share it on cross-platforms. Not only you share the leads with other company, but also the costs incurred which come across as a win-win situation for both the parties involved. 

By joining forces with other SaaS and software startup, you can tap into their audience and followers as well. However, both the companies should be aware of other’s expectations to alleviate any potential conflict. 

8. Re-engagement marketing 

Many a SaaS and software startup, over time, become fixated on simply closing the deal. So in their quest to eventually close the deal, they forget to re-engage their previous prospects who showed some potential of becoming their permanent buyers. What they fail to understand is that re-engaging dramatically increases conversions resulting in the growth of your SaaS and software startup. 

Think of it this way – sometimes you are hooked by an e-commerce website, however, seeing the prices or for whatever reason, you left the website. But suddenly you start the adverts of the website everywhere ( and offering discounts), which compels you to have a second look. And more often than not, it ensues in a purchase. This is re-engagement marketing or you can simply say retargeting. 

9. Double the price 

That’s right, double the price. You read it correctly.

You see, executives of many a SaaS and software startups have a habit of undervaluing their product and service. They think that doing so, people might flock towards their SaaS product like bees swarm honey. And this ends up hurting their SaaS and software startup in the long run. 

Because with low prices you stand a chance of not only hurting your company, you also might end up hurting your customers. 

Why? 

If you incur lower margins than what you should actually make, you might get tempted to downgrade the quality of your product a bit. And let’s say, you are keeping your product quality intact, but then there are chances that you might cut down on budget required for customer service. So there’s nothing wrong with charging more given that your SaaS product is up to the mark.

There’s one more reason to why you should not go down the path of pricing your product abnormally low. You are losing out on a lot of high-end and quality customers because seeing the price of your product, these companies might get sceptical of the quality you are offering. 

Here’s what you could gain if you double the price of your SaaS product:

  • The single most effective way to increase revenue which you can invest in your SaaS and software startup to better your product and services.
  • Better customer base.
  • You can be elevated to a prominent name in the industry soon, given that your product matches up to the prices.

10. Offer the ‘freemium’ model 

slack-freemium

Offering a freemium model stands as a prominent strategy for growing your SaaS and software startup. To further understand the intricacies and advantages of different saas business models, exploring comprehensive guides can provide startups with the knowledge to choose the most suitable model for their unique product and market. For starters, everyone loves a free stuff, therefore, you can give out your basic services for free while only charging for more advanced and proficient features. You can use your ‘freemium’ model to show your potential and see the value you offer. This should eliminate the early challenge that you might face with your SaaS and software startup. 

Plus, what if someone doesn’t need your more advanced features at the moment and can easily make do with basic features? In this case, the person wouldn’t want to spend money to avail those services. So rather than forcing your advanced services on someone, you can offer basic services for free while generating a lot of traction in the process. 

Parting Words…

So these were some actionable, not to say simple methods to grow your SaaS and software startup. However, the fact that these strategies are simple doesn’t mean that you don’t have your work cut out for you. Take, for example, content marketing sounds like a simple solution, however, it actually requires hours and hours of persistence and hard work. 

What are your favourite growth techniques for a SaaS and software startup?

Do you want to generate leads at a low cost? Download our Chrome extensions and start exploring it for free.

Other Recommended articles from AeroLeads:

Top ZoomInfo alternatives for B2B prospecting in 2023

Best Lusha Alternative – AeroLeads Email Finder And Verifier

Top Hunter.io email finder Alternatives in 2023

Best RocketReach Alternatives in 2023

Try AeroLeads for Free! Signup Today itself.

For any queries feel free to contact us at hello@aeroleads.com or chat with our support team from our homepage.

About Deepti Jain

Deepti is a senior content writer with AeroLeads. She spends a lot of time brainstorming ideas and writing marketing and sales content. She also has a knack for writing and reading about politics and prevalent social issues and regularly pens letters to the Editor of The Hindu newspaper. When she is not working, you’ll find her socializing with friends or binge-watching Netflix. (And devouring sushi).

One Thought on “How To Grow A Successful SaaS And Software Startup?

  1. Serena Martin on June 8, 2020 at 6:58 am said:

    Hey, Deepti.
    Great article!
    SaaS allows users to connect to and use cloud-based apps over the Internet. It provides a complete software solution which you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service provider.
    Thanks for providing such amazing info.
    Please keep posting.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

[simple-author-box]

Post Navigation