Interview: Building SaaS Integrations for Customer Retention vs Acquisition

We interviewed Francois Grenier, the Head of Technology Partnerships at Sendoso and former Head of Platform Partnerships at Typeform about the importance of product thinking for partnerships, building integrations for customer retention vs acquisition, advice for gathering information on ICP tech stack and customer feedback, and more. 

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Summary

In today's competitive SaaS marketing landscape, it's more important than ever to invest resources in the right place. 

Most technology partnership organizations already lack technical investment for building integrations. So, it's crucial to make a strong case for impactful integrations that benefit the business.

Should You Prioritize Quantity or Quality in Your SaaS Integration Strategy?

Not all integrations are created equal. Some integrations are just "check the box" exercises, while others greatly enhance the customer experience through deep integration.

A balance between vertical integration and horizontal breadth is crucial for allocating technical resources to the right place and choosing the right integration tools. 

Vertical integration refers to the depth of integration with a particular platform, while horizontal breadth refers to the number of different platforms that you're integrated with.

Deep integration means strong connectivity between software apps, enabling seamless data and functionality sharing for a user-friendly experience.

Deep integration enables applications to work seamlessly together, functioning as a single entity. For example, one application can import data from another and utilize it to perform actions within the second application.

The ideal balance between breadth and depth of integration will change depending on your target audience and your product offering; however, it's generally a good idea to focus on deep integrations with a select few key partners, especially if you're just growing a program. 

Choosing the right integration partners and finding a balance between vertical integration and horizontal breadth can enhance the customer experience, increasing your chances of success. 

It ensures a seamless and valuable experience for your customers.

Here are a few tips to maximize the business impact of your integrations:

• Understand your audience's needs. What are the most important integrations for them? What are their pain points?
• Do your research. There are several different integration partners out there. Take the time to research them and find the best fit.
• Build relationships with your integration partners. This will help to ensure that the integrations are developed and maintained correctly.
• Test and iterate. Once integrations are set up, thoroughly test and ensure their proper functionality. Stay open to iteration and make adjustments as needed.

Gather Information About Customers to Build High-Impact Integrations 

In today's SaaS world, knowing your customers' tech stacks is crucial. By gathering this information, you can make informed decisions about your integration roadmap. 

If many customers use a specific tool, consider prioritizing its integration to better serve their needs.

Here are some tips to gather customer tech stack information:

• Use tech stack analysis tools. Tools like Clearbit and ZoomInfo help gather information about your customers' specific tools and integration setups.
• Talk to your customers. One of the best ways to gather information about your customers' tech stacks is to simply talk to them. Ask about the tools they use, their usage patterns, and integration preferences to gather valuable insights.
• Run technographic surveys. These surveys can ask your customers about the specific tools that they use, as well as their pain points and preferences. You can also ask these questions during the onboarding process. 

Utilize the gathered information to understand your customers' needs better. If you notice challenges in integrating specific tools, focus on developing an integration that solves those issues. 

Improving your integrations based on this insight will enhance the customer experience you provide.

Here are some additional tips for gathering information about customer tech stacks:

• Be transparent. Communicate to your customers that you're collecting information about their tech stacks to enhance integrations and deliver an improved experience for them.
• Use clear and concise language. When you're asking your customers about their tech stacks, use clear and concise language. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that they may not understand.
• Offer incentives. If you're running a technographic survey, offer incentives to your customers for completing the survey. This could be anything from a discount on your product to a gift.
• Follow up. After you've gathered information about your customers' tech stacks, follow up with them to thank them for their time and to answer any questions they may have.

With these tips, you can gather customer tech stack information in an informative and respectful manner.

The Importance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys for SaaS Integrations

In today's SaaS landscape, prioritizing customer satisfaction (CSAT) programs is crucial, especially for integrations that play a vital role in the customer experience. 

CSAT surveys hold significant importance for integrations due to several reasons. 

Firstly, they help identify areas where integrations fall short of customer expectations, enabling improvements to deliver more value.

Secondly, CSAT surveys track overall satisfaction with integrations over time, ensuring they remain up-to-date and aligned with customer needs.

Lastly, these surveys serve as evidence to showcase the value of integrations to your leadership team, justifying investment in these features based on customer satisfaction.

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How to Create Effective CSAT Surveys for SaaS Integrations

When creating CSAT surveys for integrations, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Focus on the customer experience. Understand how customers use the integrations and their likes and dislikes.
• Ask specific questions. Get actionable insights by asking questions like "How easy was the integration setup?" or "How satisfied are you with its performance?"
• Keep it short. Make the survey easy to complete to ensure a high response rate.
• Follow up with customers. Engage with customers who provide feedback to gather more detailed information about their experiences.

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Additional Tips for Creating CSAT Surveys for SaaS Integrations:

• Use diverse question types for a comprehensive understanding of satisfaction.
• Keep questions clear and concise for easy comprehension and response.
• Offer incentives to increase the survey response rate.
• Analyze survey results to identify areas for integration improvement.
• Take action based on survey results to demonstrate commitment to enhancing customer experience.

By following these tips, you can improve satisfaction with your integrations through effective CSAT surveys. 

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Quantitative Data for Tracking SaaS Integration’s Impact on the Business 

In addition to customer satisfaction surveys, gathering quantitative data on integrations is crucial. It allows you to track usage, pinpoint areas of customer dissatisfaction, and measure the impact on customer retention.

Before tracking quantitative data you should be clear on what metrics you will track that align with your organization's business goals. 

It’s worth noting that you may need to advocate for Ops resources to see if integration data can be tracked. If you're struggling to track quantitative data for integrations, qualitative data like customer feedback and surveys can still help demonstrate business impact.  

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How to collect quantitative data about your integrations:

• Track active users to identify popular integrations and areas for improvement.
• Monitor integration usage per customer account to determine value.
• Keep an eye on support requests related to each integration to spot areas needing improvement.
• Track the churn rate of customers using integrations to measure their impact on retention.

Collecting quantitative data about your integrations gives you insights into their usage and impact on your business.

Use this information to enhance integrations and increase their value to customers.

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Additional tips for collecting quantitative data about your integrations:

• Make friends. Figure out who manages the data warehouse or analytics platform at your organization and become buddies. 
• Use a data analytics tool. There are many different product analytics tools and platforms that can help you to track the usage of your integrations.
• Set up custom reports. You can use custom reports to track specific metrics about your integrations.
• Analyze the data regularly. You should analyze the data regularly to identify trends and areas for improvement.

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The Importance of Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Data

To understand the impact of your integrations, combine qualitative and quantitative data. 

Qualitative data reveals why customers use your integrations and their preferences, while quantitative data tracks usage and customer retention. 

Integrations are crucial in B2B SaaS products, so understanding their usage and impact helps improve customer value and your business. 

Remember, user-facing integrations should simplify customers' work.