What are SaaS Products

For software-as-a-service products to be successful, it needs the same kind of cultural focus on products that is more in line with consumer packaged goods than enterprise software. If you look down the list quickly enough, there are two fundamental assumptions about products for SaaS product companies that determine everything else.

SaaS product failures can be attributed to a violation of one or both product fundamentals. One such mistake is creating a complicated pricing structure that makes it difficult for customers to understand how much they will have to pay.

Business plan failure FOR SAAS PRODUCTS:

Insufficient demand. Typical Cause: Designing the product for a niche market that is too small and too demanding

Launch failure:

High cost per lead and low conversion. Typical Cause: Failure to master online marketing and to build it into the product, e.g., ignoring SEO because it is some kind of black art and prioritizing advanced product features over the ability to provide a trial account and buy online.

Adoption failure:

Poor organic growth. Typical Cause: The product was designed for the sophisticated buyer, not the long tail.  So, it is too complicated and the purchase process has not been automated.

Prospects cannot find you online, understand the value of your website, try your product, buy your product, and start using your product…all without your assistance.

Growth failure:

Inability to keep up with demand Typical Cause: Building an incomplete product with lots of features, loose ends, poor quality, and an architecture that wasn’t planned to scale from day one

Maturity failure:

Inability to turn a profit because labor costs are too high. Typical Cause: Adding labor BEFORE self-service automation, e.g., hiring too many sales reps instead of developing website content, trial, and online purchase, or hiring dedicated support staff without fully leveraging blogs, forums, and instructional video

In order to overcome these obstacles, it is important that SaaS businesses understand that they are product-centric and their products need constant improvement. Click To Tweet

This means investing in automation rather than focusing on the employees themselves.