Number 6 Will Shock You
The past couple weeks I’ve been toggling between interviewing customers on behalf of my clients (~$50M ARR) and advising early stage founders (<$1M ARR) on getting to real revenue faster.
In the former, customers know my client’s product can help them more, but they don’t have time to just click around or blindly experiment.
In the latter, they’re so laser-focused on product development, they miss opportunities to establish and build revenue-generating relationships. Starving their company of both revenue and direct market learnings key to developing a successful product.
The common thread, a lack of a Services strategy.
As much as we dream of a hands-off, self-serve, make-money-in-your-sleep business, reality is messier and building software is expensive. There’s often a surprisingly wide gap between the 100% self-explanatory, totally usable software and the reality of your customers’ context.
This gap is closed with people.
People you can have a discreet, context-ful conversation with, whether in-person, on Zoom, or via email.
Here are six service offerings a company of any size should be selling – in addition to their core product offering:
- Premium Support / Success
This is different than and distinct from onboarding. This is an ongoing conversation, this is pro-active monitoring of their use of the software, this is you being a constant, helpful presence. - Training (in-person & virtual for groups, individuals, and businesses)
This is pulling people away from their day-to-day to show them how to better use your software, showing them both the basics, the things you thought were obvious, and the really clever things that will make them feel like experts with rare knowledge. - Integrations – including integration into your customer’s internal business (SSO, EOS, etc)
Your customer’s business is a pre-existing system. Your software changes that system. Likely in a dramatic way. There is both an ecosystem of pre-existing vendors and existing internal processes that will be rattled. Some will change your product. - Certification (yes, again distinct from training)
There are many industries and occupations where certification is highly valued. In some cases it’s required to maintain licenses in other cases it’s more about professional status. In both it denotes expertise recognized, which can be strategically helpful for both the Certified and the Certifier. Just to underline the point, Training is one price, Certification is another. Even if they cover the same material. - Community / User Groups (this is your customers helping each other)
User Groups are not new, they’re fantastic resource for both the company and its customers. If your product is turning a non-software process or tool into software, maintaining a community around that underlying process is a no-brainer. - Using your product on your customer’s behalf – because all they really want is the outcome and for someone to take responsibility for attaining it.
As I’ve talked about many times in For Starters, customers just want the outcome. They will make tradeoffs to achieve that outcome, but don’t simply assume they want to do-it-themselves. For example, if your product helps with maintenance inspections – offer to execute the inspections – using your product. If your product aids in talent acquisition, offer to run the search – using your product. This is a win-win-win; your client gets the outcome, you get the direct in-field experience, you get paid a premium for doing all the work.
I’ve helped founders sketch out value-based pricing packages including selections from the above list and the software license was the smallest number making up the total price.
That’s a lot of learning and revenue to re-invest in product development.