原文作者：Thomas Smale
译者：杨丽
关键词：SaaS，客户流失率
导语：如何减少客户流失往往是SaaS创业公司非常头疼的问题，文本从寻找原因、定位目标、审视自身并针对性进行实施等几个维度进行了探讨。
任何一家SaaS公司都不可避免产生客户流失。但是如果流失率太高，而获客步伐完全跟不上客户流失速度的话，那么你最终只可能摔得头破血流。
由于每家SaaS公司都不会完全相似，因此你需要指定一个计划以降低客户流失。下文具体介绍了几种有力的解决途径和案例。
1、找出客户流失的原因。
如果你能找出客户流失的准确原因，那么下一步将变得非常容易。Groove创始人兼CEO Alex Turnbull在Kissmetrics博客上曾分享了一篇关于“如何将客户流失率快速降低71%”的创业经历。
尽管这家公司的技术人员已经意识到：公司开发的应用程序功能太多 ，需要修复的bug也太多，而且上线过程需要简化，但他们却不能立即识别出哪些因素导致了如此之高的客户流失率。
他们发现：那些第一阶段花费了35秒，且每天登陆频次在0.3次的用户往往会直接放弃下一步操作。也就是说，那些在第一阶段花费的时间更长，且登陆频次更高的用户停留在网站的时间更长。
针对这类使用时间不到2分钟，或者使用频次不断降低的用户，Groove决定进行电子邮件营销的策略。以上两类用户的获取都取得了巨大成效。
2、将目标升级
你是否确定你所采取的是正确的营销策略吗？
在一家SaaS公司中，赚钱不仅仅只是把客户带进门。尽管你所获取新客户的增长速度很快，但如果你无法将客户转变成为长期客户，那么只能说明：你所提供的服务根本不符合目标客户的要求。
问自己几个问题：谁是你理想中的客户？你开发的软件又是为谁服务？为什么他们需要你的产品？
如果没有对以上问题具体明确的回答，那么你的公司很有可能停滞不前。尽管你认为自己已经知其然，但你可能更想知其所以然。
从根本上来讲，如果你提供的服务与使用人群错位的话，那么你可能需要重新考虑一下你的营销策略。
还需注意：如果你的客户流失率非常高，那么可能是因为你开发的app核心功能并未受到客户的欢迎，这样，目标用户定位错误可能也不是唯一的原因。
3、审视自身产品壁垒
首先，需要一个坦诚、中立的态度审视自己提供的SaaS产品，并确认与其围绕的问题。对于当局的创业者而言，这可能并不是一件易事。因为，这是你开发的产品，你创建的公司，是你思想的现实化身，你无法换位思考。
不过，试着从客户的角度看问题。如果你是自己所开发的app用户，那么有哪些性能你不喜欢的呢？
比如，软件不好操作；经常出现bug，需要不断修复；界面不美观，难以理解；或者是软件中添加了一些不必要的操作反而增加了工作量，很难立即完成重要的事情。
因此，想要降低客户流失率，首先要让客户满意。只有客户满意，那么他们的客户生命周期价值就会增加，而你也可以使用推荐和社交网络推进平台，提升客户上线率。
花些时间仔细认清你提供的产品是否确实有价值，为用户所求。
4、增加沟通频率
Mention首席营销官Clément Delangue曾在Kissmetrics博客上分享过一篇“如何在短短一个月内将客户流失率降低22%”的文章。
在这项行动计划中，重点强调了减少响应时间的支持。该公司决定将按批次每四个小时进行一次问题处理，并举行“支持符合产品”会议，以提升产品和支持的工具。这些措施使公司将一半的时间都花在客户支持上。
另外，尽管Mention的员工通过营销手段转化免费试用用户，但是在用户升级并成为付费订阅用户之后，员工便不再进行沟通。后来，Mention决定发送给用户新的邮件和app内置短信，鼓励用户参与并使用新添加的产品功能。
最后，Mention还组织了一个研讨会，在会上展示如何使用该app性能，又有哪些用户进行使用。
以上这个案例研究表明，将免费试用用户转化成付费用户，这远远是不够的。通过与新客户更加频繁地沟通，你能提供更好的支持和有力的指导，将SaaS产品实现价值的最大化。
5、提升获客能力
每家SaaS公司都需要获取新客户。如果你的获客过程十分费事且繁杂，那么在客户全生命周期早期，你的业务将在某种程度上急剧下滑。
上文中，你或许已经注意到了Turnbull是如何挖掘出公司获客能力的重要性。但对于某些SaaS公司，这就实际上是一道不好迈过去的坎儿。常见的获客问题包括：
1.缺乏说明。潜在用户搞不清楚如何使用产品。
2.缺少对产品优点充分的阐述。潜在用户搞不清楚产品的价值。
3.误解。潜在用户对产品内容及如何操作持有错误的印象。
例如，教育软件Magoosh能够通过A/B测试将会话性能提升17%。
为了对获客能力下降的原因有个整体的把握，你需要仔细分析数据指标。不过，提升获客过程意味着提升访问用户的使用便捷性和速度。
再次强调，想要占据市场份额，并降低流失率，你需要记住：没有任何一家公司是一模一样的。重要的是，找出业务中存在的缺陷，通过策略进行一一击破。
流失率同样也是对SaaS公司进行估值中一个重要因素。如果你认为未来有望将手中的公司进行出售，那么你需要将公司奔跑在一个正常的增长轨道：降低流失率，且增加利润。
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.
Clément 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.
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