When good SaaS goes Bad
Ever seen how a good company can go bad very quickly (Read wikipedia entry on RIM for a quick history lesson). It’s even faster if the company is SaaS. Without any tangible investment into software, IT or hardware and with no long-term contracts, it’s very easy for customers to ditch SaaS when it starts to sour.
So as a SaaS vendor there are 4 things you’ve to look out for:
Software Feature Creep
Stay away from adding too many bells-and-whistles into your product. As you grow, you list of feature request grows. That’s a great way to drive innovation. But continuously ask: Does it simplify? Will it be used by most? Does it deliver value?
Selling Solutions rather than SaaS product
Think twice about shifting focus from a task specific tool to selling ambiguous solutions. This is very true for simple SaaS tools that feel inferior to bigger, more complex competitors. Most SaaS tools get successful because of a succinct and fine-tune value proposition. Don’t muddle it up by selling ambiguous “solutions”.
Slow Software Performance
Don’t forget to upgrade your architecture as you grow. And just because you host your service at Amazon doesn’t necessarily mean your servers are optimized. Do your homework and make sure every page load is lightning fast.
Poor SaaS Service
And don’t forget good customer service. Your customers probably came to you because of poor service from other vendors. They can just as easily replace you.
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