Friday 10 March 2017

How SaaS software outsourcing startups can ensure success

Sofware Outsourcing Company in India

It’s now been 10-15 years since the SaaS software outsourcing industry’s birth but when we look closer, we see that almost 50% of SaaS startups have received the funds, which indicate significant amount of investment capital being channeled into this category. (Gartner, 2016) Forecasts the SaaS market will grow at 20% in the present year i.e. 2016, almost 3 times as quick as growth in the software industry, and there is a lot of opportunity for more global penetration as time progresses.
Salesforce is a perfect example for these facts, consistently growing at more than 30%.
These are some of the principles the SaaS startups can follow to ensure success. These were the principles followed by Salesforce.

Articulating your value should be simple
 
Address these points to make sure that you have a feasible business in hand:
  • The product you make, satisfies the need and consumers are willing to pay.
  • Large number of potential customers to ensure growth of your company.
  • Keep your solution complex so that entrants face high barriers for competition.
  • Market and selling your product well.
Team should be revived using a common cause
 
Not all SaaS software outsourcing startups can provide motivation to their employees; companies that do will assemble a team inspired by purpose rather than incomes.
Salesforce had a truly ambitious goal: to change the way of delivery of enterprise software. Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce was the one who recognized in 1999, that Internet could be used to deliver SaaS. This notion was unbelievable at the time. Companies were unwilling to store their data on 3rd party servers. CIOs had lot of concerns about SaaS. They doubted a web-based application could compete with packaged software with respect to factors like:
  • Security
  • Performance
  • Functionality
  • Control
Every entrepreneur wants a team enthusiastic about the company mission. Truly great companies are those that impart desire and dedication among their employees.

Keep a strong relationship with your customer
 
In SaaS software outsourcing empire, a “sale” is just the beginning of a good and a durable relationship with the customer. SaaS providers should be in agreement with the needs of their customers; if their service doesn’t provide CLV, the customer won’t renew the lease.
SaaS providers are landowners, leasing access to functionality and data storage on their servers. Being a successful “landowner” (SaaS company) means having happy “occupants” (customers).
A SaaS support team defines a new role in the company: Customer Success Manager (CSM). Access to a CSM would be available to customers willing to invest in a higher-priced plan; in exchange, the CSM would analyze customers’ use of software and proactively suggest best practices. CSMs would frequently chat with customers and provide periodic scorecards to highlight features or add-ons for the service.

Platform building
 
Build a platform that provides value for the majority of your customers. Listen to their requests and use them to guide, but not command, your product roadmap.

Trust as a Value
 
For a flourishing SaaS business, you want to maintain customers for eternity. Your user base should grow over time, ideally using more features of your service at higher price points as they become more sophisticated.

Convincing one and all
 
You need to convince clients that SaaS is the best approach. You need to convince industry experts and media that your startup is a disruptive force. You need to convince clients that your solution is as reliable as established offerings. And you need to convince everyone that your company is introducing a sea change right now, and they don’t want to miss the boat.

Risk seeking approach
 
Startups have their own advantages against other companies. They are agiler, creative and are able to leverage newer technologies. They solve day-to-day problems in newer ways. Entrepreneurship is about risk taking, and making bold statements about “what’s next.”
Everyone overestimates what can be achieved in a year, but underestimates what can be achieved in a decade.’

Focus less on freemium model
 
Focus on the basics first, learn how to sell and deliver the product proficiently, and then dive into freemium model. Only then will the greatest rewards be most tangible. Focus on transforming freemuim users into paying customers quickly and then only open the floodgates when your funnel is mature enough to handle it.

Conclusion:As you build your startup, focus on your foundational principles. Take one step at a time while keeping your audience and client needs nearby heart, that will create an organization that just doesn’t get the job done but is also loved by people.

Bibliography
Gartner. (2016). Worldwide Public Cloud Services Forecast. Stanford: Gartner.