Krizia Mojado
May 1, 2023
•
6
min read
The world of business is ever evolving, and with it, customer expectations. Gone are the days when only providing quality customer service was enough. Today, customers demand a personalised and enhanced experience with the brands they engage with.
The shift from customer service to the customer experience is one that has been keenly felt in the SaaS world.
Clients value the importance of a preventive strategy that enhances their experience rather than a reactive one. And with 24/7 support, you are hitting both. Not only does it provide peace of mind knowing that assistance is always a phone call or chat away, but it also offers a new level of client experience.
With round-the-clock support, customers can receive prompt and efficient solutions to their problems at any time of day. And when you have happy customers, your business is bound to grow.
Whether you are an HR leader scrambling to mobilise a remote workforce in record time, a travel manager seeking to simplify the expense claim processes for business travellers or a business owner looking to keep on top of developments — having access to reliable and efficient SaaS platform support is essential.
In this blog post, we will discuss why offering round-the-clock customer service is one of the most powerful ways for SaaS providers to differentiate themselves from their competitors and create value for customers.
Corporate travel management companies are the unsung heroes of corporate travel. They're the ones who ensure that things go smoothly and troubleshoot any problems that arise along the way.
So, it's no surprise that 24/7 support is such an important aspect of this industry. Time differences matter.
Think about it — what happens if a flight gets delayed or cancelled in the middle of the night? Or if an important client gets lost in a foreign city or has hotel check-in issues?
Having access to round-the-clock support means that business travellers can have peace of mind knowing that they have someone to turn to in case of an emergency, regardless of the time difference.
From a business perspective, this level of support is crucial for building trust and showing clients that their needs are a top priority. A small thing can make a big difference when it comes to creating long-lasting relationships with clients.
When it comes to business travel, time is money, and any delay or inconvenience can cost companies dearly. That is why having a reliable and responsive support system is critical for business travel management companies looking to provide top-notch service to their clients.
Here are 5 ways 24/7 support can help your company.
Have you ever found yourself up at 3 A.M. on a Wednesday, trying to navigate your way through a new SaaS platform only to find that you have no idea what you are doing?
The answer to your distress is 24/7 support. It allows SaaS platforms to meet expectations by providing assistance whenever their clients need it.
When it comes to SaaS platforms, meeting expectations is of utmost importance. The success of SaaS platforms lies in ensuring that their clients are comfortable with the system, which undoubtedly takes some time. However, clients want things done today, which is why 24/7 support is essential.
Whether it is through phone, chat, email, or social media channels SaaS companies that provide round-the-clock support ensure their clients always have the resources they need to master the platform.
By doing so, they not only increase satisfaction but also reduce the likelihood of clients abandoning the platform altogether due to frustration.
Round-the-clock support enables clients to contact a dedicated customer service representative whenever they need assistance or guidance. This ensures that they can utilise the platform to the best of their abilities.
Knowing that help is always readily available translates to convenience and peace of mind for your clients. It also helps to build trust and loyalty, leading to higher customer satisfaction and retention rates, according to Bain’s Loyalty Insights research.
Providing timely and efficient help boosts a platform's reputation, attracting clients looking for reliable and trustworthy service.
As technology becomes more advanced, it is no surprise that businesses are able to reach customers on a global scale.
However, with global reach comes a variety of challenges for tech startups, including different time zones. This is where 24/7 support proves to be an essential aspect of SaaS platforms.
SaaS platforms can ensure that customers from all over the world have access to the help they need, no matter the time of the day.
For example, let’s say a small-business owner located in Australia needs assistance executing surveys at 4:00 AM their time. Without 24/7 support, they would have to wait until business hours in their local time to receive assistance.
This delay may be enough to convince the customer to switch to another platform that offers round-the-clock support. However, with 24/7 support, they can instantly get in touch with a dedicated customer support representative who can help solve their issues in real time.
Overall, offering 24/7 support improves customer satisfaction, leading to higher retention rates and more referrals.
When it comes to SaaS platforms, providing 24/7 support can make all the difference in gaining a competitive advantage.
In fact, a study by HubSpot revealed that 90% of customers rate an "immediate response" as "important" or "very important" when they have a customer service question.
Many companies claim to offer round-the-clock support, but in reality, only give automated responses like “We will get back to you” or "Our support hours are from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday". In fact, only a percentage of companies offer true 24/7 support.
To alleviate this problem and provide a better customer experience, companies are turning to live chat. It allows them to interact on a real-time basis and resolve issues quickly, which in turn boosts customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Building an emotional connection with customers is crucial to creating a sustainable business. A live chat widget must go above and beyond customer engagement with rich multimedia capabilities such as file sharing and emojis, and the ability to seamlessly switch between chat, video calls, and voice calls within the same app to create connected experiences for customers.
If you don't have the resources to offer 24/7 support, consider setting up offline contact forms so that customers can leave their information for follow-up when agents are available. Better yet, deploy an AI-powered Chatbot to automate routine enquiries and empower your customers to find resolution on their own terms.
By combining real-time and offline chat options, you can ensure that questions are answered promptly, and problems are resolved before they become bigger issues.
Take HubSpot, for example. By providing 24/7 support, they were able to stand out from the competition and grow their customer base to over 100,000 happy users.
As the famous saying goes “Out of sight, out of mind”. This is where 24/7 support comes in for SaaS platforms. By providing round-the-clock assistance, the chances of clients becoming frustrated and seeking out alternatives drastically reduce. And not just any assistance, but prompt and efficient support that solves issues as soon as they arise.
Have you ever had immediate assistance, but you could not get in touch with customer support until business hours resumed the next day? This type of client experience can lead to dissatisfaction and escalates from being a minor inconvenience to a deal-breaker for a customer.
In the modern world of online business, chatbots have become an essential tool for automating routine tasks, streamlining workflows, and providing customers with self-service and assisted service options.
With their ability to offer round-the-clock assistance and handle a wide range of tasks, chatbots have become more important than ever.
This means that companies can focus on their core competencies while ensuring that their customers receive the instant support they need, resulting in greater satisfaction and loyalty.
While chatbots are becoming more advanced and can handle many basic customer enquiries, they are not likely to completely replace human customer support agents. In fact, if a chatbot isn’t able to resolve a complex enquiry, customers can easily switch to chatting or speaking with a human agent, who’d have complete context of the conversation when taking over from the chatbot.
That said, chatbots can be a useful tool to help reduce the strain on existing customer support teams. For example, you can:
To maximise customer retention, companies should build an emotional connection with clients to achieve brand loyalty. It is no secret that customer retention is one of the best ways to grow your business.
Not only does it help prevent churn, but it also increases profits and improves customer satisfaction. Gratified clients are more likely to renew their subscriptions and refer the platform to friends and colleagues.
That’s why 24/7 support is crucial for SaaS platforms, as it helps build trust, foster loyalty, and improve customer satisfaction. When clients are heard and valued, they are more likely to stick around for the long run.
Krizia is a content operator at TruTrip, an easy-to-use and tailor-fit travel solution designed to help you manage your business travel with ease.
If you're interested in enhancing your customers' experience and staying ahead of the competition, our experts can provide guidance on how to offer round-the-clock support for your SaaS platform. Schedule a consultation today to learn more.