Product Suggestions
Step-by-step information with examples
You’re a SaaS enterprise severe about constructing a product your prospects love.
That implies that you add new performance when your prospects ask for it.
And that means you want a system for managing function requests and buyer suggestions.
What’s one of the simplest ways to do this? How are you going to deal with buyer function requests in order that they get on the roadmap and don’t get misplaced?
This text offers you a step-by-step information — with examples — to construct a person suggestions assortment system that you may belief — whether or not you’re a brand new startup or an enterprise.
First, determine the place your new function requests come from. This is likely to be your buyer assist device (Intercom, Assist Scout, Zendesk), CRM (Hubspot, Salesforce, and so forth.), buyer calls, emails, Slack, or one thing else.
- Make an inventory of those sources of buyer suggestions.
- Determine crucial one.
Instance: You understand that you simply get function requests and person suggestions from Zendesk, assist emails, and infrequently via Typeform surveys. Zendesk is your most vital supply of buyer suggestions.
Now, you need to acquire your function requests out of your sources right into a single place the place you may analyze them. You may acquire person suggestions in any variety of instruments — spreadsheets, Trello, Google Docs, and so forth. You can even use a purpose-built function request administration device like Savio.
The method you choose right here in all probability will depend on your quantity of requests and what you need to do with them as soon as organized.
- The fundamental model is kludging collectively a guide solution to centralize person suggestions. This may increasingly even be copying and pasting suggestions from one device to a different.
- The intermediate model is to automate the method to get rid of guide work. Keep in mind, the extra friction you take away from the system, the extra possible your group will truly use it.
- The superior model is increasing to attach all your suggestions sources, not only one. However you are able to do this later — I like to recommend beginning with one solely suggestions supply to start with.
Instance: You may copy and paste suggestions that you simply obtain in Zendesk to Google Docs.
Or, for a extra automated course of, you should utilize Savio’s Zendesk App to ship suggestions from Zendesk to your Savio Suggestions Vault.
It would robotically get added to your Savio vault.
Subsequent, reply to the purchasers and allow them to know you’ve captured their requests. That is truly a extremely highly effective step. It reveals you’re listening to their ache factors and fosters buyer loyalty.
Instance: Listed below are some examples of how we reply to our prospects.
Right here’s the half the place the system will get a bit difficult. Finally, your suggestions can be a type of knowledge that you simply analyze. Primarily based in your evaluation, you’ll prioritize some options above others. To actually do this evaluation effectively, that you must set up your suggestions because it is available in and add important data and attributes. Necessary data and attributes to notice alongside along with your suggestions embody:
- Related function requests. Be sure that every bit of suggestions is related to a function request. Attempt to be constant in order that requests for a similar function are related to one another.
- The individual making the request. Who makes the request issues. Hold monitor of the individual’s contact data so you will get in contact with them later to ask any questions or shut the suggestions loop (Step 8).
- The corporate or account. If your enterprise has company- or account-level shoppers, hold monitor of this too. It would provide help to hold requests made by completely different individuals from the identical firm collectively.
- Related buyer particulars. We additionally prefer to hold monitor of buyer attributes that will provide help to make prioritization choices (Step 6): issues like MRR, whether or not the shopper is energetic, their subscription, and extra.
Instance: If you happen to’re utilizing spreadsheets to maintain monitor of product suggestions, you could possibly have columns for every of these attributes: buyer contact data, firm, MRR, subscription, and so forth.
If you happen to’re utilizing Savio, we’ve taken care of this all for you. This categorization and group step — we name it triage — includes choosing a function request, making certain that the fitting individual is connected to the request (which is completed robotically whenever you log suggestions out of your assist device or CRM), and together with any tags that is likely to be related.
You should guarantee your Product group members see the suggestions and varieties of function requests that prospects are asking for.
If you happen to’re a product supervisor or are on the Product group, this step will occur naturally as you’re managing your function request monitoring system. However should you’re setting this technique up as a Buyer Success group member, or from one other group, this step is extra vital.
Learn extra: How To Share Buyer Suggestions so Product Truly Listens
We suggest holding a scheduled assembly to debate function requests with Product. These ought to occur at the very least as typically as you replace your roadmap, so Product can perceive what prospects are asking for earlier than they make prioritization choices.
Instance: If you happen to’re utilizing spreadsheets, you may share the spreadsheet with Product at an everyday assembly. You need to use formulation to filter and type requests to point out Product what prospects are asking for.
If you happen to’re utilizing Savio, you may simply filter and type function requests by buyer attributes.
For extra element, you may click on right into a function request to see buyer verbatims.
Learn extra: How To Run Your Product Assembly Utilizing Savio
That is the toughest half: deciding what to construct subsequent. Prioritizing function requests is particularly troublesome whenever you don’t have a transparent thought about what your prospects need. It turns into a lot simpler when you may have perception into your prospects’ issues and the options they’re asking for. (Trace: because of this we have been so involved with categorizing and organizing our requests in Step 4).
With a view to make good prioritization choices, that you must be clear on your enterprise targets. Possibly this quarter you’re engaged on decreasing churn, or getting extra prospects on a paid plan, or constructing options that assist a strategic path. Being clear in your most vital goal will make prioritization simpler.
Now, choose options that align with that purpose:
- Attempting to cut back churn? Prioritize options requested by churned prospects.
- Wish to win extra offers? Prioritize options requested by prospects from misplaced offers.
- Seeking to develop buyer accounts? Prioritize requests from prospects with open offers.
Instance: You’ve a number of enterprise shoppers that make up the vast majority of your income and also you need to hold them blissful. So this quarter, your product group chooses to prioritize options from Enterprise shoppers. You kind via your requests to search out those hottest amongst your Enterprise shoppers. These get precedence in your product roadmap.
Now the options are getting constructed. The subsequent step is to comply with them via the product growth course of. You need to know after they’re shipped so you may inform your prospects, so your advertising group can create advertising content material, so your assist group can present assist on it, and so forth.
So, construct a solution to monitor their standing into your workflow:
- The fundamental model is to recurrently e-mail your dev group for updates. (Be good — they’re working exhausting.)
- The superior model is to automate this in order that when a ticket will get up to date of their growth device, the requests’ standing updates robotically in your system.
Instance: Savio updates function request statuses robotically after they change in Shortcut or from Jira. As your Dev group updates a selected function request standing of their pipeline, its standing will get up to date in Savio, too.
When your Devs change a standing of their growth device…
… you’ll see the standing up to date robotically in Savio.
Automation for the win.
Closing the suggestions loop means following up with a buyer whenever you constructed a function that they requested for. It’s an elective step, however we extremely suggest it. It’s straightforward, and it offers you credit score for listening to your prospects. You present that you simply’re listening to buyer experiences and expectations, that their suggestions issues to you, and that you simply’re committing to constructing a product they love. It’s so highly effective.
So construct that comply with up into your course of:
- The fundamental model of this step is to e-mail every buyer manually whenever you construct a brand new product function they ask for.
- The superior model is to automate this and ship batch emails.
Instance: In Savio, you may shut the loop with prospects that requested for a product function request in only a few clicks. Simply draft your e-mail template, choose the purchasers, and hit ship.
By now you may have a system for dealing with function requests. You’re monitoring them, you’re retaining them in a single place, you’re categorizing them and organizing them so to use them to prioritize and make good product choices. Then, you’re listening to after they get constructed after which letting your prospects know.
Finally, you’ll see outcomes. As you construct a product that persistently meets your prospects’ expectations, you’ll discover you get extra prospects and extra suggestions.
This can be a actually good factor.
You simply have to ensure your system can deal with it.
As you’re beginning out, you would possibly cobble collectively a function request monitoring system utilizing Jira, a spreadsheet and even Trello. However ultimately, this can get inefficient. You could discover that requests fall via the cracks.
Contemplate scaling your system to a purpose-built function request software program device for SaaS groups. And — no shock right here — we extremely suggest Savio for that.
