Communicating with SaaS vendors is important: Without sharing information or getting updates, you’re far less likely to get the most out of using their services. However, too often time is lost when interacting with these vendors. All that’s truly necessary in communication is to obtain good information and the service — without being drowned in extra information. So how can you find the right balance? To find out, we asked entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council the following:
“What is the best way to streamline communications with your SaaS vendors, so that you’re getting good information and service, but not inundated with extra information?”
Tips on Communicating with SaaS Vendors
Here’s what YEC community members had to say:
1. Use Shared Channels in Slack
“Helping everyone communicate within Slack has significantly streamlined internal, outsourced and external communication (customers). We use Slack to contact internal and outsourced partners. We email external (customers). This helps make sure email inboxes don’t clutter up important customer (sales and customer service) conversations that directly impact revenue.” ~ Josh Harcus, Hüify
2. Hit That Unsubscribe Button
“Frequent emails from SaaS vendors can end up cluttering your inbox. The best way forward is to unsubscribe from the promotional emails and talk directly to the SaaS vendors regarding your mail preferences. This not only clears up your inbox, it establishes a direct communication channel with your SaaS vendors, leading to more efficiency in your communication.” ~ Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea
3. Turn Off Most of Your Notifications
“When I sign up for a new website, I turn off most of the notifications immediately. There are only a few kinds of notifications I want to know about: when another person requires a direct response from me, when I’m getting charged and when something catastrophic happens. Just because an app’s designer wants to make sure I log in regularly doesn’t mean I agree.” ~ Thursday Bram, The Responsible Communication Style Guide
4. Choose Your Vendor Wisely
“Go with a vendor that offers both a la carte and bundled packages and pricing, so you get the service and information you need, and not the stuff that you don’t. Many SaaS vendors have recently introduced this new pricing strategy.” ~ Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
5. Talk to Your Account Manager
“Many SaaS vendors will have dedicated account managers for their clients. Let them know of the type of communication that you’d like to receive so they can unsubscribe you from the extra, unnecessary information.” ~ Jared Atchison, WPForms
6. Use Gmail Filters
“Use Gmail filters to automatically send all communication from your SaaS vendors to a separate folder. That way instead of your inbox overflowing with messages, they’ll all be in an organized folder that you can check in on when you have the time to.” ~ Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
7. Create a Separate Email Account
“One easy way to streamline communications with your vendors is to create a separate email account for them altogether. That way your main inbox won’t be overcrowded by vendor emails and you can choose when you want to deal with vendor emails by logging in to that account. Then you can use this account anytime you need to give your email address to a company in the future.” ~ John Turner, SeedProd LLC
8. Use APIs to Extract Useful Information
“High-quality SaaS vendors provide APIs so that businesses can access the information they need and present it in a format that is most useful to them. API data can be combined with notification services like Twillio to create custom alerts. I wouldn’t recommend relying on email for critical SaaS services: Important information is likely get lost in the deluge of low-grade chatter.” ~ Vik Patel, Future Hosting
9. Consult Changelogs
“Before talking with any SaaS agent or vendor, you can save a lot of time and potentially answer some of your questions by checking their software’s changelog. Finding out the frequency of their updates, the severity of the problems they encounter and the time it takes for them to be fixed will help you know whether or not their service is a quality one without having to hear a sales pitch.” ~ Bryce Welker, CPA Exam Guy
10. Schedule Communication
“Schedule online or in-person meetings with vendors so you can talk about problems, as well as progress. Also, by having a set meeting you are avoiding a bunch of back and forth communications that often lead to frustration and few solutions. Knowing you will be meeting with a vendor forces you to look closely at what they are providing and whether they need to make any changes.” ~ Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker
11. Choose Your Settings
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen significant improvements in customer service from SaaS companies, driven by increased competition. Many now offer live chat, excellent support lines and dedicated customer service teams. When you sign up, make sure you tick the right boxes to determine the level of contact you really need. It’s easier than ever to approach SaaS vendors directly.” ~ Thomas Smale, FE International
12. Be as Exact as Possible With Your Needs
“Most SaaS vendors inundate customers with excessive information because their customers don’t know how to articulate their business problem, and overzealous sales reps and marketing teams feel the need to overcomplicate a sale. If you can define exactly what your expectations are and how you expect the product to work within your existing processes, you can save a lot of time.” ~ Nicholas Haase, MaintainX
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