Looking for the silver bullet that sets the fastest growing SaaS companies apart from the rest?
It’s not AI chatbots. Not automated ticketing systems. It’s human support teams.
While every other brand is jumping headfirst into automation, top performing SaaS companies are doubling down on people.
Here’s the issue…
Everyone tried to automate EVERYTHING. Chatbots became the new welcome screen. Customers noticed…and not in a good way.
Check out these facts:
- Why Automation Only Takes You So Far
- Human Support Agents Are Key to Scaling SaaS
- Chat Support Outsourcing Delivers Growth
- How To Build A Layered Support Approach
Why Automation Only Takes You So Far
Chatbots are great at doing rote tasks.
They can reset passwords. They can answer FAQs. They never call in sick.
But here’s the catch…
They stink at solving complex problems. SaaS software is complex. Users run into unique issues that your bot may not have the script to handle.
According to research from Zendesk, 78% of chatbot users will eventually need to speak with a live agent. Yikes! What a waste of customers who tried to use your bot.
Your support costs won’t magically decrease by dropping customers into a chat widget. Instead, your customers will grow furious trying to talk to a real person only to be routed back to your bot that can’t understand them.
Human Support Agents Are Key to Scaling SaaS
What is it about real, live support agents that your AI can’t reproduce?
Empathy. Context. Decision-Making.
Say a user has an issue, but for whatever reason, they describe their problem poorly. Your bot will respond with irrelevant answers. A good customer service agent will recognize poorly worded questions and reframe their responses.
Research shows that 78% of CX leaders believe human agents are irreplaceable in customer service positions. Leading SaaS brands aren’t banning bots from their offices. What they’ve realized is that chat support outsourcing works best when skilled customer service professionals are handling your chat.
Imagine a user has…
Suspected fraudulent charge on their subscription billing. An error happening during data migration. A complex integration that won’t stop failing.
No chatbot is going to have the EQ (Emotional Intelligence) to calm these users down.
High performing SaaS companies understand that humans are better at dealing with nuances. Bots are better suited for handling large volumes of repetitive tasks.
Chat Support Outsourcing Delivers Growth
Let’s talk costs and infrastructure for a second.
Building an in-house support team is costly. Paying salaries. Benefits. Training. Management. The list goes on. Frankly, as a growing SaaS business, you probably don’t have the resources to focus on support agent hiring.
That’s where chat support outsourcing comes into play.
Chat support allows you to…
- Scale on-demand
- Cover multiple time zones
- Get agents that specialize in supporting SaaS customers
- Maintain a predictable monthly expense during erratic growth
The best support teams come with product-trained agents that understand how your specific business works. When you outsource to a team that has experience in SaaS, they know how to better upsell your customers or turn frustrated users into lifelong fans.
Stats show that companies who invest in human-based customer support experience much better customer retention than leaving it ALL to automation.
How To Build A Layered Support Approach
We’re not advocating you toss out all of your chatbots and automation!
There’s a place for both in your support strategy.
Top SaaS brands know this. They map out the customer journey and identify every opportunity where a customer could use some support. Then they allocate the appropriate resource to each.
Here’s an example you can implement today:
Tier 1: Automation
Routing all bots to the boring stuff. Password resets. Confirming account is active. Trying basic troubleshooting steps. There’s no need for a human to work through these scenarios.
Tier 2: Humans
Everything not handled by your bots gets funneled to skilled customer service agents. Disputes over billing. Technical difficulties. Feature related questions that need explanation. Basically, any ticket that may include confusion or frustration.
Tier 3: Escalations
If your ticket isn’t resolved by agent tier 2, it’s time to escalate. Maybe your issue requires a deep product specialist. Technical engineer. Perhaps even an Account Manager who knows your history with the company.
Think of Tier 1 & Tier 2 as front-line support. Tier 3 agents are specialists.
The key to success is effective handoffs.
Let’s say a customer contacts your bots and works through three levels of troubleshooting. The bot determines it can’t help. Instead of transferring the customer to a live agent, your chat tells the user to ‘Please contact support.’
That’s where most SaaS companies lose customers.
Automating your support doesn’t mean funneling your customers into dead ends. When your bots detect it can’t handle a request, smoothly transfer the conversation over to live agent support.
Live agents are the backbone of customer retention.
Annual customer acquisition costs are rising every year. For SaaS companies, retaining existing customers is much cheaper than acquiring new ones.
Companies spend an estimated five to seven times more money acquiring new customers than they do keeping existing ones.
How does support factor into this?
Very cleanly actually. Customer churn (when a customer cancels their subscription) is tracked diligently. Poor support experiences are usually in the top 3 reasons for churn.
Think about how damaging this is…
Your customer is paying for your product. They run into a problem and are unable to resolve it with customer support. They churn and go telling the world how bad your support is.
Now imagine…
They reach out to your support team and realize how awesome you are at helping them solve problems. They continue being a paying customer. They feel so comfortable they’ll even upgrade their plan.
Human support teams allow for real, human connections. Machines do not have the capacity to apologize. Only agents can offer products that weren’t in the support guide.
Wrapping Up
Winning SaaS companies aren’t cutting corners on their support teams. In fact, they’re leaning into hiring top notch customer service representatives.
They aren’t deploying agents to churn out useless responses. Smart SaaS brands are using automation to handle low-level interactions and routing tricky issues to real humans.
Here’s the breakdown…
- Bots are excellent at handling high volume
- Humans are great at handling tricky situations
- Support outsourcing allows you to scale your team on-demand
- Layered support approaches outperform companies who fully automate support
The fastest growing SaaS companies right now aren’t slashing their support budgets and calling it a day. They’re investing in supportive humans that can empathize with their users.
Technology will only continue to get better. Every month we are finding new ways to integrate AI into our daily lives. But humans will always want to talk to humans when they need help.
And that, is why the smartest SaaS companies aren’t going backwards. They’re going where the growth is.
