Introduction:
A SaaS company providing software for salespeople and freelancers to create beautiful client proposals was facing a significant challenge. Initially, the company thrived on a sales-led model with high customer retention, but as they scaled, their conversion rates dropped sharply. Despite launching paid campaigns and a free trial, they struggled to convert users into paying customers. They realized the need for a more customer-centric approach to regain their momentum.
Work Done:
To tackle the problem, we broke down the funnel into three phases: top of the funnel, activation, and post-activation. Here’s how we approached the challenge:
- Obvious Fixes:We began by identifying and addressing obvious areas of friction in the product and onboarding process. These included unnecessary qualification questions and redundant onboarding steps for sophisticated users, which were quickly resolved to improve the user experience.
- We began by identifying and addressing obvious areas of friction in the product and onboarding process. These included unnecessary qualification questions and redundant onboarding steps for sophisticated users, which were quickly resolved to improve the user experience.
- Before and After Interviews:We conducted interviews with a subset of users before granting them access to the product. These interviews, disguised as demos, helped us deeply understand user expectations, challenges, and how they envisioned using the product. Based on this feedback, we refined the company’s punchline, description, and other key messaging elements to better align with user needs.
- We conducted interviews with a subset of users before granting them access to the product. These interviews, disguised as demos, helped us deeply understand user expectations, challenges, and how they envisioned using the product. Based on this feedback, we refined the company’s punchline, description, and other key messaging elements to better align with user needs.
- Evidence-Driven Optimization:We optimized paid campaigns by focusing on quality leads, linking cost-per-acquisition (CPA) with activation metrics rather than just cost-per-click (CPC). Additionally, we set up tools to monitor product engagement and trigger alerts when user activity dropped, allowing us to conduct Jobs-to-be-Done (JBTD) interviews and identify value gaps.
- We optimized paid campaigns by focusing on quality leads, linking cost-per-acquisition (CPA) with activation metrics rather than just cost-per-click (CPC). Additionally, we set up tools to monitor product engagement and trigger alerts when user activity dropped, allowing us to conduct Jobs-to-be-Done (JBTD) interviews and identify value gaps.
- Team Experimentation Meetings:We organized experimentation meetings where the entire team discussed problems, brainstormed solutions, and prioritized experiments. This collaborative approach led to quick, targeted improvements that were democratically voted on and implemented.
- We organized experimentation meetings where the entire team discussed problems, brainstormed solutions, and prioritized experiments. This collaborative approach led to quick, targeted improvements that were democratically voted on and implemented.
Outcomes:
Through this systematic and customer-centric approach, we managed to double the company’s conversion rate within just four months. More importantly, by the end of our engagement, the team was equipped with the knowledge and tools to continue optimizing and solving similar challenges independently in the future.
This case highlights how understanding user needs, addressing friction points, and optimizing acquisition strategies based on customer feedback can lead to significant improvements in conversion rates and overall business success.
