Great customer support improves metrics: the numbers

Let’s be honest, we put marketing and development first and everything else second. Despite the overall positive trend, customer support is still an afterthought for most small SaaS companies and that is a huge mistake.

I know, the only thing that could convince founders to do something nowadays is numbers and data, which is perfectly fine. That is exactly what I’m going to do – I’m going to use numbers to convince you to invest in customer support

What to measure

As usual we’re going to look at some of our helpdesk ticketing system metrics. The method is simple: we will compare the conversion rates, the engagement rates and other various metrics between those users, who have contacted our support, and the ones, who haven’t.

As you can see, half of all paying customers have never contacted us before the purchase. This probably proves there's nothing wrong with the product, since it’s not necessary to contact us and figure something out before purchasing. On the other hand, it’s still a sophisticated B2B app so many users do have questions.

To keep things fair, I’ve excluded the trial users who never converted. All users are active, paying helpdesk customers. The only difference is that some of them have contacted us, while the others haven’t.

Trial users (who contact support) convert 700% better

These numbers are fascinating. Users, who have contacted our support before buying are 7 times more likely to convert to paying customers! So don’t overestimate the importance of great customer support during the trial period.

If you can show users they can trust you and that your company won’t let them down, they are way more likely to go through with the purchase. Customer support is a lubricant for the sales funnel.

Churn rate is 400% lower with those who contact support

"They have already bought the app, don’t waste your time with them” - sounds familiar? Surprisingly lots of people I talked to still think this way. I’ve got one word for you: churn. You will lose customers, if your customer support suck. Plain and simple.

Referral rate is 1200% higher

You probably already know that the funnel doesn’t end with the purchase. There is one more step – how likely will a customer recommend your product to others. And having an awesome product is just a part of this. You also need an awesome company. And customer support is the one and only place, where a customer talks to your company directly. Your support engineers is what your company looks like from the customers end.

Remember, customer support is cheap marketing.

Making customer support awesome is simple (but not easy)

I hope those numbers alone prove that customer support is absolutely worth investing your time and money. Increased conversions is not the only thing you get – if you learn to listen to your customers, you’ll get incredible insights about your products.

I don’t even need to explain, how to be awesome with the customers. I’m sure everyone understands what to do and what not to do at some level. In short:

• Be honest
• Be fast
• Don’t be a robot
• Don’t be a dick

If you need any help, we have a short customer support email course packed with tips. Also Sarah Hatter has The Customer Support Handbook coming out in a couple of months – be sure to check it out.

Check out Average customer support metrics from 1000 companies