The document discusses the importance of customer success, experience, messaging, and chatbots for SaaS companies. It emphasizes that customer success relies on providing a great customer experience and that messaging platforms are increasingly where customers want to interact. Chatbots can help automate customer interactions and provide a low friction way to access services without installing separate apps. While bots don't require AI, AI-powered conversational platforms can help power effective bot experiences. Overall it encourages SaaS companies to focus on customer success by embracing messaging and chatbot opportunities.

1. Customer Success,
Customer Experience,
Messaging,
& Chatbots
#SaaSNorth

2. Why Customer Success?
How much to invest in Customer Success?
Credit: Andrea Abbondanza

3. What if the aviation industry could invest in
reducing headwinds? Or increasing tailwinds?

4. How much are you investing in the headwinds
and tailwinds impacting your business?
Jet Engine
Headwinds
Tailwinds
New Customer / MRR Acquisition
Churn
MRR Expansion

5. MRR (or MAU) growth is important,
but so is how you get there.
Company A Company B
$74K $64K
MRR after 12-months from launch

6. MRR expansion and churn are key drivers of
not just MRR growth, but CAC & LTV
Company A = $74k MRR Company B = $64k MRR
~1.5x rate of new MRR growth 75% lower rate of churn
-$10
-$5
$0
$5
$10
$15
New + Expansion MRR Churned + Reduced MRR
-$2
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
New + Expansion MRR Churned + Reduced MRR
$107k MRR
($33k) MRR
$70k MRR
($6k) MRR

7. MRR & SaaS Quick Ratio over 1st 5 Years,
both with equal revenue in Year 5
Company A Company B
3.2
2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1
-2.5
-1.5
-0.5
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
-$6,000
-$4,000
-$2,000
$0
$2,000
$4,000
$6,000
$8,000
$10,000
$12,000
Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Yr 5
(Thousands)
New + Expansion MRR Churn + Contracted MRR Quick Ratio
10.9
6.5 5.9 5.8 5.7
-4.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
16.0
-$2,000
-$1,000
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
$7,000
$8,000
Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Yr 5
(Thousands)
New + Expansion MRR Churn + Contracted MRR Quick Ratio
Quick Ratio of 2 likely unfundable,
no path to profitability with CAC < LTV
Opportunity to dramatically increase
investment to to drive increased growth

8. Great in depth guides
to SaaS metrics (&
ultimately importance
of Customer Success)
beyond simple MRR:
• http://www.slideshare.net/03133938319/saastr/14
• http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics-2/

9. Why Customer Success?
• Reduce headwinds & harness tailwinds
• Increase your SaaS Quick Ratio
• Increase your LTV:CAC ratio
• Increase revenue & earnings growth
Credit: Andrea Abbondanza

10. Customer Success relies on winning at
Customer Experience
Credit: Gilles Lambert

11. “How customers perceive their interactions with
your company.”
- Forrester Research
CX

12. “How customers perceive their interactions with
your company.”
- Forrester Research
CXproduct or
^

13. Interacting with your customers on their terms.
When and where it is most convenient to them.

14. Dean Bubley, Disruptive Analysis
“We are past the point of peak telephony.”

15. Dustin Moskovitz, via Wired Magazine
“The next big thing you missed: Email’s About
to Die, Argues Facebook Co-Founder.”

16. How are we spending our digital time today?
59% 9%32%
Mobile Apps Mobile WebDesktop
Source: Comscore

17. But not all apps are created equal.
Messaging apps have over 4B MAUs.

18. Interacting with your customers on their terms.
When and where it is most convenient to them.

19. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
“I don’t know anyone who likes calling a
business. And no one wants to have to install a
new app for every business or service that
they interact with. We think you should be able
to message a business, in the same way you
would message a friend.”

20. Customer Engagement over Messaging
Credit: ClemOnonjeghuo

21. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCFZDTAMpow

22. Wired Magazine
Already, Messenger is morphing into a 1-800
number for Hyatt’s digital customers, a quick
way to get any question answered—and the
hotel chain has done nothing so far to promote
it. “That’s all people finding on their own,” says
Dan Moriarty, Director of Digital Strategy,
“Clearly, our guests want to converse with us
over Messenger.”

23. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGLASey3MAE

24. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rne7ZZcVie0

27. Amir Shevat, Developer Relations, Slack
“Bots are digital users within a messaging
product. Unlike most users, they are powered
by software rather than by a human, and they
bring a product or service into a given
messaging product via conversation.”

29. Ted Livingston, Kik
“Chat is the new browser, bots are the new
websites.”

30. Understanding the broader bot enablement landscape,
between “chat” (browser) and “bots” (web sites)
Messaging Platforms

31. Understanding the broader bot enablement landscape,
between “chat” (browser) and “bots” (web sites)
Messaging Platforms
Assistants (aka AI agents)
Apple
Siri
Google
Now
Amazon
Alexa
MSFT
Cortana
Facebook
M

32. Understanding the broader bot enablement landscape,
between “chat” (browser) and “bots” (web sites)
Messaging Platforms
Assistants (aka AI agents)
Apple
Siri
Google
Now
Amazon
Alexa
MSFT
Cortana
Facebook
M
Bot frameworks / deployment platforms

33. Understanding the broader bot enablement landscape,
between “chat” (browser) and “bots” (web sites)
Messaging Platforms
Assistants (aka AI agents)
Apple
Siri
Google
Now
Amazon
Alexa
MSFT
Cortana
Facebook
M
NL & AI-as-a-service
Google
Cloud Platform
Amazon
Alexa Voice
IBM
Watson Conversation
MSFT
Cognitive Services
Bot frameworks / deployment platforms

34. • CX is key to your SaaS business
• Messaging is where your customers are
• Rich messaging opportunities can deliver a
significantly enhanced customer experience -
from emojis and videos to integrated payments
• Bots can automate many customer interactions
(like an IVR, but WAY BETTER!)
• Bots can provide a low friction, instant interface
into your product without any app download
• Bots do not require AI to be effective, but don’t
neglect the AI-as-a-service platforms available to
you
• Bot frameworks and conversation platforms like
Smooch make it easy to start messaging with
your customers!
Recap & Parting Messages

35. thank you
any Qs, feel free to
contact me
warren@smooch.io
or keep the conversation going
with @smoochlabs