SaaS創業公司如何降低客戶流失率？ | 雙語

導語：如何減少客戶流失往往是SaaS創業公司非常頭疼的問題，文本從尋找原因、定位目標、審視自身并針對性進行實施等幾個維度進行了探討。

任何一家SaaS公司都不可避免產生客戶流失。但是如果流失率太高，而獲客步伐完全跟不上客戶流失速度的話，那么你最終只可能摔得頭破血流。

由于每家SaaS公司都不會完全相似，因此你需要指定一個計劃以降低客戶流失。下文具體介紹了幾種有力的解決途徑和案例。

1、找出客戶流失的原因。

如 果你能找出客戶 流失的準確原因，那么下一步將變得非常容易。 Groove 創始人兼CEO Alex Turnbull 在Kissmetrics博客上曾分享了一篇關于“如何將客戶流失率快速降低71%”的創業經歷。

盡管這家公司的技術人員已經意識到：公司開發的應用程序功能太多 ，需要修復的bug也太多，而且上線過程需要簡化 ，但他們卻不能立即識別出 哪些因素導致了如此之高的客戶流失率。

他們發現：那些第一階段花費了35秒，且每天登陸頻次在0.3次的用戶 往往會直接放 棄下一步操作。也就是說，那些在第一階段花費的時間更長，且登陸頻次更高的用戶停留在網站的時間更長。

針對這類使用時間不到2分鐘，或者使用頻次不斷降低的用戶，Groove決定進行電子郵件營銷的策略。以上兩類用戶的獲取都取得了巨大成效。

2、將目標升級

你是否確定你 所 采取的是正確的營銷策略嗎？

在一家SaaS公司中，賺錢不僅僅只是把客戶帶進門。盡管你所獲取新客戶的增長速度很快，但如果你無法將客戶轉變成為長期客戶，那么只能說明：你所提供的服務根本不符合目標客戶的要求。

問自己幾個問題：誰是你理想中的客戶？你開發的軟件又是為誰服務？為什么他們需要你的產品？

如果沒有對以上問題具體明確的回答，那么你的公司很有可能停滯不前。盡管你認為自己已經知其然，但你可能更想知其所以然。

從根本上來講，如果你提供的服務與使用人群錯位的話，那么你可能需要重新考慮一下你的營銷策略。

還需注意：如果你的客戶流失率非常高，那么可能是因為你開發的app核心功能并未受到客戶的歡迎，這樣，目標用戶定位錯誤可能也不是唯一的原因。

3、審視自身產品壁壘

首先，需要一個坦誠、中立的態度審視自己提供的SaaS產品，并確認與其圍繞的問題。對于當局的創業者而言，這可能并不是一件易事。因為，這是你開發的產品，你創建的公司，是你思想的現實化身，你無法換位思考。

不過，試著從客戶的角度看問題。如果你是自己所開發的app用戶，那么有哪些性能你不喜歡的呢？

比如，軟件不好操作；經常出現bug，需要不斷修復；界面不美觀，難以理解；或者是軟件中添加了一些不必要的操作反而增加了工作量，很難立即完成重要的事情。

因此，想要降低客戶流失率，首先要讓客戶滿意。只有客戶滿意，那么他們的客戶生命周期價值就會增加，而你也可以使用推薦和社交網絡推進平臺，提升客戶上線率。

花些時間仔細認清你提供的產品是否確實有價值，為用戶所求。

4、增加溝通頻率

Mention 首席營銷官Cleacute;ment Delangue曾在Kissmetrics博客上分享過一篇“如何在短短一個月內將客戶流失率降低22%”的文章。

在這項行動計劃中，重點強調了減少響應時間的支持。該公司決定將按批次每四個小時進行一次問題處理，并舉行“支持符合產品”會議，以提升產品和支持的工具。這些措施使公司將一半的時間都花在客戶支持上。

另外，盡管Mention的員工通過營銷手段轉化免費試用用戶，但是在用戶升級并成為付費訂閱用戶之后，員工便不再進行溝通。后來，Mention決定發送給用戶新的郵件和app內置短信，鼓勵用戶參與并使用新添加的產品功能。

最后，Mention還組織了一個研討會，在會上展示如何使用該app性能，又有哪些用戶進行使用。

以上這個案例研究表明，將免費試用用戶轉化成付費用戶，這遠遠是不夠的。通過與新客戶更加頻繁地溝通，你能提供更好的支持和有力的指導，將SaaS產品實現價值的最大化。

5、提升獲客能力

每家SaaS公司都需要獲取新客戶。如果你的獲客過程十分費事且繁雜，那么在客戶全生命周期早期，你的業務將在某種程度上急劇下滑。

上文中，你或許已經注意到了Turnbull是如何挖掘出公司獲客能力的重要性。但對于某些SaaS公司，這就實際上是一道不好邁過去的坎兒。常見的獲客問題包括：

1.缺乏說明。潛在用戶搞不清楚如何使用產品。

2.缺少對產品優點充分的闡述。潛在用戶搞不清楚產品的價值。

3.誤解。潛在用戶對產品內容及如何操作持有錯誤的印象。

例如，教育軟件Magoosh能夠通過A/B測試將會話性能提升17%。

為了對獲客能力下降的原因有個整體的把握，你需要仔細分析數據指標。不過，提升獲客過程意味著提升訪問用戶的使用便捷性和速度。

再次強調，想要占據市場份額，并降低流失率，你需要記住：沒有任何一家公司是一模一樣的。重要的是，找出業務中存在的缺陷，通過策略進行一一擊破。

流失率同樣也是對SaaS公司進行估值中一個重要因素。如果你認為未來有望將手中的公司進行出售，那么你需要將公司奔跑在一個正常的增長軌道：降低流失率，且增加利潤。

原文：

Every SaaS (software-as-a-service) business has some churn. But if the churn rate in your business is too high, and your customer acquisition efforts aren’t keeping pace, you could end up running your business into the ground.

Because no two SaaS businesses are exactly alike, you will need to take a tailored approach to reducing churn within your business. The following tips and case studies will hopefully provide inspiration for what to do.

1. Find out why your customers are leaving.

If you can identify the exact reasons why your customers are leaving, the next steps will be easier. Alex Turnbull, founder and CEO of Groove, shared on the Kissmetrics blog how this seemingly simple step enabled his company to reduce churn by 71 percent.

Although the company’s techs had recognized that the company app had too many features and bugs that needed to be fixed, and that its onboarding process required some simplifying, they couldn’t immediately identify what was leading to so much churn.

What they discovered was that those who spent 35 seconds in their first session and logged in at a frequency of 0.3 times per day were the ones who quit. Not surprisingly, those who spent more time in their first session and logged in more often stayed longer.

Groove decided to send targeted emails to customers who spent less than two minutes in their initial session, and to those whose usage of the app was declining. Both of these campaigns were immensely successful.

So, what is the difference between the users who are staying, and those who aren’t? Have a look at your metrics to identify differences in their behavior.

2. Optimize your targeting.

Are you certain that you’re appealing to the right kind of prospects with your marketing?

In a SaaS business, making money isn’t just about getting people in the door. Even if you’re

onboarding new customers at a rapid rate, if you aren’t retaining them over the long haul, it

could be that your offer isn’t the right fit for the people you’re targeting.

Who is your ideal customer? Whom is your software for? Why do those people need it?

Without clear and specific answers to each of these questions, there’s a good chance you will

be floundering in your business. Even if you think you have the answers, you may want to dig

deeper.

Fundamentally, if there’s a misalignment between your service and the people using it, you’ll need to rethink your marketing strategy.

Also note that: If your churn rate is particularly high, it may be that your app’s core features are leaving something to be desired, and attracting the wrong customer might not be your only problem.

3. Examine your foundation.

It’s also important to take an honest, detached view of your SaaS offering and identify issues

associated with it. This can be a difficult thing to gain perspective on as a business owner,

because it’s your baby. You gave birth to the business and the idea.

Nevertheless, try to see things from your customer’s perspective. If you were a user of your

app, what wouldn’t you like about it?

Is the software difficult to use? Does it have bugs that need to be ironed out? Is the interface

unattractive and difficult to understand? Is your app actually helping your customers save

time on important tasks they must complete, or is it adding unnecessary steps to their

workflow?

The number one thing that will reduce churn is happy customers. When you have happy customers, their lifetime value will increase, and you can use testimonials and social proof to promote your platform and improve your onboarding.

Take some time to figure out whether or not your product is actually worthwhile and something people want.

4. Increase the frequency of communication.

Cleacute;ment Delangue, chief marketing officer of Mention, shared on the Kissmetrics blog how his company was able to reduce churn by 22 percent in a single month.

Part of its action plan was to put a greater emphasis on support by reducing response time. The company decided to handle queries in batches every four hours, and held “support meet product” meetings to improve the product and its support tools. These steps enabled the company to halve the amount of time spent on customer support.

Additionally, although Mention’s staff had a marketing process that converted free trial users, communication stopped with them after users upgraded and became paying subscribers. Mention decided to create additional emails and in-app messages to keep users engaged and to encourage their use of additional features.

Finally, it also organized a webinar to showcase how to use the app’s features, and what real users were using it for.

What this case study demonstrates is that sometimes it isn’t enough to just convert free trial users into paying ones. By communicating more regularly with new customers, you can offer better support and helpful tips on how to best take advantage of your SaaS app.

5. Improve your onboarding process.

Every SaaS business needs to onboard new customers. If your process is clunky and complex, you might be seeing some drop-off in the early part of the customer life cycle.

Earlier, you read about Groove, and you might have noticed how Turnbull identified the company’s onboarding process as one of its potential issues. But for some SaaS businesses, this represents a much larger obstacle. Common onboarding issues include:

A lack of explanation. Your prospects don’t understand how to use your product.

A lack of clearly identified benefits. Your prospects don’t understand the value of the product.

Misunderstanding. Your prospects are getting a false impression of what the product does or

how it works.

Magoosh, an education app, was able to increase its conversions by 17 percent by A/B testing its welcome message.

In order to gain a holistic picture of where your onboarding process is falling short, you will need to analyze your metrics. But more often than not, improving your onboarding process simply means making it simpler and faster for your visitors.

Once again: When you’re looking to build online asset and reduce churn, you have to remember that no two businesses are exactly the same. It will be necessary for you to identify where the weaknesses are in your business, and then establish a strategy to tackle them.

Churn is also a critical factor in a SaaS valuation. If you think you might be interested in selling your business at some point, you will need to get your business on a growth trajectory by reducing churn and increasing profits.