Outsourced Application Support Services: Super Overview

Application Support Services for SaaS products?

Application Support Services for SaaS products refers to the support and assistance provided to the end-users of an application or a service. Application support includes tasks like Troubleshooting, Incident Management, Upgradation, Adhoc support, Upselling of products and services related to the business domain. Application support also includes customer awareness or education to enable them to get acquainted with future updates. Poor Application support can dent a company’s customer base.

What is SaaS Outsourced Application Support Services?

Application Support Services refers to a company offering its support and assistance to the users of its various applications and services. Outsourcing of application support services refers to a company providing its application support services to third parties to leverage benefits and meet customer expectations.

Benefits of Outsourcing SaaS Support

There are a number of benefits that can be leveraged by the outsourcing of SaaS support. Outsourcing is done when an organization wants to provide better service in terms of time and quality to the customers. Outsourcing can provide an organization with several perks like saving resources, cut down expenditure, reduce investment for new resources, expand the customer footprint, enhance connectivity, capture and retain the market, use the best in class practices, gain better access to expertise workforce, etc.

Best Practices for SaaS Customer Support

1)Support channels for communication

It is better recommended for an organization to provide omnichannel support for its customers. The present pandemic has seen Omni-channels replace multi-channels. Omni channels provide better integration and interconnection among different support channel platforms. Integrating the support channels ensures that customers do not need to get to the bottom of an issue again and again.

2)Support team based on hierarchy

There are basically three levels of support personnel within a support team. Tier 1 deals with general customer concerns. Tier 2 comprises personnel with better domain expertise and deal with escalated issues that cannot be handled by tier1. Tier 3 personnel have the best practical and hands-on exposure to unique troubleshooting issues. They handle customer issues that require in-depth knowledge and experience.

3)Privacy Policy

Data breaches through phishing and spoofing have become common with technologies that have enabled better communication support. Customer interactions and the associated documentation, if any, must be confidential. There should be a well-devised privacy policy that should be communicated with the customers

.
4)Accountability

The customer support team facilitates the best access for the customers to a company and its services. Every member of the customer support team should comply with the policies of the company. Better accountability can lead to better transparency, which can build your support base.

5)Customer Views and Market Demand

The customer support team should be able to handle and view from the customer’s perspective. They should know what are the customer demands and expectations and should communicate them to other tiers of the organization.

Latest Trends in Support Services

1)AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based technologies like Machine Learning(ML) and Deep Learning(DL) have revolutionized customer support services. Human-based manual interventions have become things of the past and automated systems could be used to address customers.

2)Live Chat

Live Chats enable real-time interaction between the customers and the support team. Real-time interaction with a customer service representative helps in better redressal of customer concerns. A good Live chat support can help an organization to retain their customers as it enables the customers to better raise their concerns and get them resolved with minimum latency. It can enable the customer support teams to better understand customer emotions, expectations, feedback, etc. The customer support team can then communicate it to the other tiers of the organization so as to inculcate the appropriate changes based on the customer requirements.

3)Customer Education

After subscribing to the applications or services of a company, the customers should be properly assisted in the operation of services. They should be intimated with the latest upgrades and updates.

4)Web Portal Services

Web portals provide customers with a multitude of information, services, etc. Your web portal should handle customers irrespective of the traffic. It should provide better Graphical User Interface(GUI) and widget support.

5)Invest for a Customer Success Team

A large base of customers prefers in-person customer support. So, apart from maintaining an automated customer response system, an organization should invest more for a better customer support team with trained personnel who can assist the customers better. A well-trained customer service team can provide good Live chat support and know what is in the minds of a customer and what are their expectations, even though customers do not say it explicitly.

Importance of Customer Retention for SaaS Business

Customer retention is important for SaaS Businesses to sustain and grow further. The importance of customer retention includes

1) Future Growth
If the customer base is fading, it will be difficult to acquire new customers. This can hinder the further growth of the business.

2)Better Service
To provide better service, an organization should grow, which in turn depends on the customer base.

3)Peer Competiton
In order for your organization to survive, you should have the best innovative and intuitive ideas, which helps you to stay ahead of your peers and retain your customer base.

Application Support Services at Activelobby

Activelobby provides support services for your applications, products, and services. We have a good expertise 24 by 7 technical and DevOps teams, which ensures that your services reach the customers. The company uses the latest future-ready technologies based on IoT, AI, ML, etc for product and application development. And has developed more than 30 products in the last three years. Activelobby provides top-notch application support services which can troubleshoot your technical glitches.

Activelobby provides customer support for your SaaS, ERP, emails, and other applications on the cloud. Activelobby has round-the-clock teams to manage customers who use your applications. The trained and certified staff provides customer support for your applications through helpdesk, live chat, phone calls, etc. AL also provides support services through our well-integrated social media platforms.

GET STARTED WITH APPLICATION SUPPORT SERVICES