Building Block 10 Ongoing Expert Support

Retain

Building Block 10: Ongoing Expert Support

Challenge

Some companies think they can put up a knowledge center or provide an email address and check support off of their requirements list, but make no mistake—support is a mission-critical function.

Human, live assistance is necessary across the entire cloud services lifecycle, from the sale, to onboarding, to ongoing management, and beyond.

Ongoing Expert Support
Digital Economy Quote 2

Eighty-three percent of shoppers need support to complete their online software purchases. Once small businesses start using their cloud-based applications, 45 percent pay for ongoing tech support, spending a significant amount.

- eConsultancy.com

Three Pillars of a Successful Expert Support Organization

  • First Pillar People

    The First Pillar: People


    Many people who contact customer support are not tech savvy. This means that your team needs to have expertise, patience, and empathy. Support representatives must get continuous training to develop these attributes.

  • Second Pillar Technology

    The Second Pillar: Technology

    Research has found that 61 percent of customers prefer to get support over the phone, while 60 percent prefer email support. Customers judge companies on their ability to deliver support when they need it. If your technology can’t meet those expectations, your customers will find a company that can.

  • Third Pillar Experience

    The Third Pillar: Experience

    It is critical to resolve customer problems the first time, every time. Eighty percent of customers say they would have stayed with a company if their issue had been solved during the first contact with customer support.

In addition to considering to build a team in house or outsource, companies must also decide how and when to deliver tech support.

Point of Need

A direct way to respond to customer pain points and offers them a cost-effective way to get access to the help they need, when they need it.

For providers, the benefits and requirements of point of needs include: 

  • The ability to solve “out of scope” tech problems for customers

  • The opportunity to earn the customer relationship and right to sell

  • SaaS onboarding, migration, and technical support capabilities

  • Expert white-glove support services

Point of Sale

Providers sell subscriptions to ongoing support services at the same time a customer purchases a product.

For providers, the benefits and requirements of point of sale include:

  • The change to immediately upsell support subscriptions for new products and services

  • Improved sales conversions and “stickier” customers

  • Providing sales teams with expertise in upselling support subscriptions, as well as continuous learning and development programs

  • Billing, provisioning, and CRM technology capabilities with well-defined SLAs

Bundled

In bundled delivery, support is automatically bundled with cloud services. This helps to ensure that customers are satisfied with their services and devices across the entire product lifecycle.

  • The ability to differentiate their brands with higher customer retention and increased loyalty

  • Improved CSAT and NPS results

  • Increased ARPU and more potential for targeted upsell and cross sell opportunities

  • Billing and CRM infrastructure required with well-defined SLAs

No matter which paths you choose for customer support, there’s one takeaway that you should remember: Invest in customer support—it’s worth it. Small businesses need help are ready to pay for live expert assistance. Trust is everything, and engaging your customers whenever they need it is key to becoming a trusted provider.

Read Next About

Customer Lifecycle Management

Building Block 11: Customer Lifecycle Management

 Upsell Cross Sell Strategy

Building Block 12: Upsell/Cross-Sell Strategy

 Icons60X60 Demo

Webinar: 10 Keys to Selling SaaS

Speak to an expert about how AppDirect can power your digital transformation.

Request Demo