Here is the question to B2B SaaS in the first place, however it might be for any B2B business, I guess. We at UXPressia WANT to talk to our customers to know their problems, challenges and other stuff we can help them with. It takes us from 1 to 7 emails to get them on the call. And they are not back and forth emails. They are mainly unanswered emails. We are happy when it is 1-2 emails, but when it goes to 3-4 or even 6-7 it is really frustrating. Some of them just don't reply at all (that might be another question). How are you dealing with that? How do you keep this number low?
If you don't have a customer success team, you can inverse the process by making customers contact you first. However, you need to make it extremely easy for users to talk to you. For example, add an in-app chat, so customers can message you directly. When someone reaches out first, it's easier to invite them to a call, but also it is easier to ask direct questions they can answer in chat or by email without actually scheduling a call (many saas users hate calls). I personally talk to our users through intercom chats and those chats convert into calls pretty frequently. Also, to increase email-to-call conversions, put yourself in the customer's shoes. What value do they get from the call? You can suggest some customization/personalization or just a deep-dive review of their account to make the call worthwhile for them.
Hi Yuri, we have this issue now. We tend to use our account managers for that. They can help to emphasize the importance. If you’ll analyze the behavior through Capability, Opportunity and Motivation, you might find that people lack one or the other and thus don’t act as you want. In many cases it’s about motivation. Why bother if all works more or less fine. Happy to discuss during our call with you:)
Understand their struggles. Data shows that relatable messaging matters. Yuri Vedenin
#Transformations to Be Done | Business Growth with JTBD, Customer Research, OKR & Marketing Strategy | Founder @ 5why.us
1moApart from the other aspects consider culture differences. For example in the USA it’s ok to compensate people’s time with money (Amazon gift card) or with your services. In this case you can expect to talk not only with your existing customers but with clients of your competitors for example. If you close all your contacts to a call in 5-6 emails, it’s a good job. Don’t frustrate about it. It is part of the game. Another tip: don’t ask for long calls. Ask for 30 minutes. If a person agrees on that, they are usually ok to talk longer or to schedule another 30 minutes call. From my experience it works in 80% cases. And even those 20% spend 30 minutes with you which is not so bad.