In Part 1, we covered that every B2B SaaS company has great intentions to treat their customers well, but sometimes bad processes get in the way.

True partnership with the customer is often mentioned in speeches and marketing, but it is very difficult to execute. I compiled a list of processes, developed and used successfully by SaaS businesses in retail automotive and beyond to improve the vendor/customer relationship. Even if you can’t get them all in place, the journey towards a better customer experience will include each of these elements.

It is important to note that these processes are not confined to the sales department.

Sales process: Train your salespeople on the discovery selling method as well as your product. Train often, no less than once per month.

Sales compensation: Compensate your salespeople on both new business and retained business. Lower the BSN (brand spanking new) commissions in favor of a more generous recurring benefit.

Account management compensation: Reward your account managers on both retained business and upsells.

Contracting process: Depending on the complexity of the negotiation and contracting process, introduce the lead account manager before the contract is signed — if not before, then immediately upon contract acceptance.

Account set up process: Ensure that both the sales lead and the account management lead are present for the initial call to ensure all information has been shared and understood by all parties.

Onboarding process: Review the onboarding process completely either during the negotiation/contracting process or at account set up. Provide regular updates regarding the status of the process.

Executive visibility: Assign a welcome call for each customer to a member of the senior team. In small companies, this is usually the CEO. At the very minimum, the head of sales can contact each new customer within one week of receiving a signed agreement.

Customer satisfaction surveys: Establish a protocol for regular surveys. Consider a series that begins once the onboarding process has completed and then a routine 6-month NPS survey to keep the client engaged. Regardless of who executes these surveys, share the results with the heads of both sales and account management.

Customer communications: Establish a routine communication plan containing regular product updates, company anecdotes and information as well as upselling messages.

The common themes in each of these processes are customer focus and employee enablement. To successfully deliver a true partnership promise, the product, sales, enablement, account management and marketing teams must work together. Every department will need to compromise. Every department will need to do more than they expected. Once started, this process is never over.  It is a constant evolution grounded in communication and collaboration.

About the author: Jennifer Sanford is an experienced SaaS marketing leader passionate about the retail automotive experience. Jennifer is the founder of Sanford Marketing Group, an agency specializing in B2B marketing strategy and project management.