Why it’s important for SaaS businesses to educate their customers

Customer education is not a revolutionary idea at all, although it sounds fresh enough. We encounter it every day: welcome letters when registering for a new service or pop-ups on the website are some of the most frequent tools for customer education. However, there are others.

Like all digital, the principles of customer education are changing very quickly. The speed at which businesses adapt is more important than ever. This is because of new technologies, more resources (and easy access to them), and a higher awareness of users. If 10-15 years ago the Internet was still fairly uncharted territory for the then adults (service consumers), the current generation Z (1997-2012) grew up with a PC or even a smartphone in their hands. So the demanding nature of today’s audience is already a fact, which should not just be accepted, but something should be done about it.

In this article, we will talk about why it’s important for SaaS businesses to educate their customers.

What is customer education?

Customer education means applying tools and resources, like next-gen payment solutions, that help customers use your SaaS product more successfully. 

The goal of customer education for SaaS businesses is to guide people through the customer journey from initial interaction to continued use. Customer education must eliminate the lack of information at different stages of the customer journey. Objectives of customer education for SaaS business:

• Mastering the product through education
• Better acceptance of the SaaS product
• Connecting users through community, certification, etc.

Customer education is a set of tools that help scale other customer success processes. It’s like standing next to the user when he or she fills out a form on the website, and just in time to hold his or her hand saying, “wait, wait, don’t press that button, fill in this information.”

What’s important! Customer education is not the very task of writing documentation or developing learning management systems, courses, and certificates. All of the above are customer education tools. And customer education itself is the implementation of those processes for success. You can find more about customer education on Studocu.

Why is it important for SaaS businesses to educate their customers?

Customer education, like many interdisciplinary digital activities, is tightly connected to different aspects of SaaS business. That’s why customer education doesn’t provide one or two clear benefits but rather has a holistic effect on the entire SaaS business, driving its growth and development.

Customer education can impact all steps of the sales funnel. A strong education strategy can lead to thought leadership, a better understanding of what your SaaS brand offers, and higher conversions in the long run.

There are 5 main reasons why it is important to invest in customer education for SaaS businesses:

1. It shows the customers how to best use your SaaS product, explains its features and strengths, and shows the best practices and tips for a successful SaaS application. Educational content is especially relevant to SaaS and eCommerce industries. In general, the more complex and innovative the product, the more critical customer education is for it. 
2. It strengthens the support team by giving operators more tools to influence customer decisions. Effective documentation for customer education will help agents better answer questions and can even offload the support team through user self-learning. For example, the same way IVR in IP telephony reduces the number of calls by having the user answer in a voice menu rather than with a real operator. By the way, IVR can also be used as a tool for customer education.
3. It increases customer satisfaction. Customers have the tools and support they need to use the SaaS product successfully. When customers use the SaaS product successfully, they are more satisfied with both the product and the brand. When a customer is more satisfied, they are more loyal. And this provides some other benefits.
4. It strengthens the brand. Expertise and awareness don’t just promote the brand and increase reach. It strengthens the SaaS business’s position in the marketplace, promotes “word of mouth marketing,” improves social proof, and ultimately gives a better NPS. And better NPS = satisfied customers = more orders = more profits.
5. It helps to scale the business. The more customers are aware of the product effectively, the faster the SaaS business grows due to all the benefits listed above. People are more willing to recommend the product to friends and colleagues, leave feedback on it, and use it longer (which increases LTV and improves LTV/CAC). 

Customer education is a win-win for customers and SaaS businesses. The customers get more pleasure from the product (because they understand it better), while SaaS businesses get more profit due to better reviews, outreach, and conversion. 

Conclusion

Of course, customer education is important not only for large SaaS companies like Slack, Checkr, Box, and Optimizely. It is important and necessary for companies of any profile and size. The plan for implementation and optimization of customer education is based on the available resources of the company.

Conrad is a professional blogger, content maker, and freelance writer. He has written many great and valuable posts on a variety of topics. Conrad loves outdoor activities. He believes the fresh air brings him inspiration for new ideas.