The Reasons We Created a Slack Community specifically for SaaS as well as Software Professionals -
- A global focus.
- More established professionals and businesses (less students and early-stage startups).
- Moderation by professionals.
- There is less emphasis on the funding or venture capital rounds.
- A truly supportive group, and with zero tolerance for rude or improper behavior.
That's true: Elements such as a global business focus and experienced expert moderators (that's me!) are the things we want to see in the online forums.
That post touched on what's in it for members, particularly when compared with other groups on the internet.
However, you may still be asking yourself, "But what's in it for ?"
It's a valid concern, and I'm going to answer it -- as the motivations (plural) the reason for investing in this initiative might not be as straightforward as the most cynical of us think.
Being a professional, you know how it works. Companies don't just make investments in programs that aid business professionals online; they use it for their individual company in some way.
Yes it is true that having an online community is a great opportunity to boost its brand recognition and maybe get some leads every now and then.
But marketing is only one of the reasons that we're in this. No matter if you're a client or not, we first would like members to gain from the group, otherwise it won't succeed anyway.
Our Guiding Principle is: Our Software as well as SaaS Community Must Be Good for You in Order for it to be Successful.
The explanation is fairly straightforward however the main point is that if you do not feel that our community is a beneficial and energizing place to be then you'll never go out and about.
It's crucial for its continued success both for you and for us for us to work hard to create a amazing group to be member of.
(And If you think we might diverge from this in some way, or if you have suggestions on how we can make it better, please contact us. Further details on that are down below.)
What Can You Benefit From Hosting an online Community
There has to be something to this else we wouldn't have to do it, wouldn't we?
Yes, of course. However, we would like our objectives to be forthright.
We're going to outline what we'd like do with this project.
Learn What's Important for your business
One of the things that our CEO David Nachman said to me in one-on-one discussions about the goals and vision of our community is that this community is an opportunity to reduce the transactional nature of our relationship with customers and other software and SaaS companies.
This is a legitimate concern. We facilitate the process of transactions for online businesses, so it's easy for us all to get stuck in the routine of having a very well, a transactional connection.
We provide a service; you make money; Repeat the process on autopilot.
If we allow this to persist could deprive us of the ability to improve our B2B business in a way that will benefit the success of your company in helping online businesses succeed is our top priority.
This is of course applicable to our current customers, but it's also relevant for companies using software that may be thinking about making the switch to . If you're uncertain if is the right payments system or merchant of record (MOR) for your B2C and/or B2B SaaS business, we'd like to hear about any questions or concerns you have so we can take that into our consideration while we continue to build out our features and products.
To hear more about how David wants to get to know your business, check out the video interview with his members, in which I interviewed him as a member himself:
We also extended our plans for this community to have individuals who contribute, an executive, entrepreneur, and founders membership baseas we believe it is easier to understand companies (and help them more effectively) with a diverse layering of community members.
The goal of increasing the level of personalization of relationships with business (and in particular, the people who found or work for them) is an additional reason our reason to interviews with our members. Besides improving how members can become acquainted with each other, it also helps get to know members and their business interests.
Building Customer Relationships
Knowing more about your company is an excellent way for us to strengthen the relationship we have with you, whether or not.
However, our relationships with customers can be strengthened by granting members more access to members of us at .
Already, we have a wide and responsive customer support service for customers and their buyers We have Customer Success Managers for some of our clients with big or complicated businesses.
We know that businesses are able to improve the ways they assist customers, and enhance their relationship with customers.
Ninety-nine out of hundred, submitting an account is the ideal method to receive support. Our support team can effectively route requests in accordance with the type and importance of the problem, and it assists us in keeping track of a business's support needs as time passes.
(That is also a way of helping us gain a more comprehensive understanding of a company's requirements.)
It could be useful to contact leaders in person in particular if someone has a business need that doesn't necessarily have to do with technical issues related to our system. There is a wide range of experts in the community and not only end-user technical support professionals.
Product managers, tax and payment experts, customer operations pros, as well as the odd sales or marketing manager may be on the scene and will be able to address related business questions. They may even provide insight on the future to the's platform.
We want customers' experiences are the type of experiences that they'll tell their colleagues about, and we think making ourselves more accessible will improve those chances. If you're a client who is not enjoying that sort of experience with us yet we have a community that is an avenue to let us know that.
Yes, Leads
This is the section of the blog that we must be completely clear.
Yes, we'd love it to have some of our customers who don't have an authorized merchant would enroll in our services.
Luckily for them, that isn't the sole goal of the community.
We also have goal of enhancing customer relations and learning as much as we possibly can on SaaS and the software needs of business:
- It's safe to say that signing up for new customers is only an aspect of the goals we have for this community, and we're not planning to contact anyone who's not expressed curiosity to us prior to that.
- Our chances are much higher of attracting new customers when we're able to meet those two objectives we mentioned above, so we're going to work more hard to achieve those goals.
If community members see our attention to customers and earnestly asking for feedback, they'll be significantly more interested in as a commerce platform and merchant of record -- as they'll see the work we put in and the care we show our users in person.
And, if you've considered in the past it could be a good place to begin your journey with us somewhat informally. Community members can connect with other customers, read the conversations between them and (remotely) meet individuals who are part of the business it is.
What You Have to Gain From Joining This Community
But while it focused on some of the features of the GSL community, it didn't quite discuss the true benefits that you get when you join a community such as this one.
Although we've got big goals regarding Global SaaS Leaders -- and we're always working on community building -- here are some of the advantages we've already provided to software and SaaS leaders, founders and entrepreneurs, as well as marketers and engineers, developers and many more.
Connect with Software Experts from Everywhere Over the World
Whether you're an SaaS marketer looking to boost your SEO by location, a person and culture manager who is concerned about meeting-ups and international onboarding, or someone who is a SaaS creator looking for advice for selling to specific markets or regions, being able to connect with the individuals that an international community provides makes "going globally" significantly more simple.
So far, we are represented by members from more than 50 countries over 17 time zones.
Learn About New Markets You Are Interested in Expanding or Introducing Within
The main benefit of having a global community is the ability to use it to get help in the process of breaking into new market.
It is possible to make a post in the community to ask for individuals from specific countries to help you out and you may also contact me, the chief moderator. I will connect with relevant members for you.
Keep an eye on discussions in the community for prior questions relevant to the SaaS market you're trying to enter into.
Or you can view our member profile videos recorded on a rolling basis with those who'd want to be a part of it (like the one above, featuring CEO David Nachman).
One of the questions we usually ask interviewees is "What's that people aren't aware of regarding selling software in your country?" The goal of this question is to help you understand the culture or business differences that may affect how easy it is to offer software to customers in your country.
Get Knowledge from SaaS Company Leaders and Experts
Although our members are spread between different roles and levels, there are many executive, SaaS founders, and department heads from Global SaaS Leaders who are happy to share their expertise with fellow members.
Certain members are software or SaaS founders who have numerous SaaS startups, some have been employed at internationally-known businesses, while others entrepreneurs have switched into different industries or careers and possess many years of experiences to inform their recommendations.
Additionally, multiple executive and leadership positions are accessible, including our Chief Executive Officer, our Global Tax Director in addition to our Vice President for Global Customer Operations. They're in the community because they want to help our members as best they can.
(For further information on this topic, check out Kurt regarding this subject take a look at his stand-room only presentation on SaaS pricing strategies That are effective: How to create an optimal Pricing Model at SaaStr Europa earlier in 2022.)
We love to answer questions like this, and we're happy to provide a space where topics like such can be discussed with world-class peers.
Make yourself appear as an expert
If you're already regarded for being an SaaS market influencer or an expert, that's great! We'd like to see you join the SaaS community, while continuing to build your professional and personal brand through knowledge sharing.
In the event that you're trying to create your own branding taking part in professional forums can be a fantastic way to do so. There's no need to be SaaS founders to be experts in the fields we work in. actively sharing that knowledge with others establishes each of us as being not just knowledgeable, but also approachable and gracious. it's an excellent public image to cultivate.
Form This Community As It Develops
We launched this software and SaaS community in March 2022. It's grown steadily. But because we want to make it the ideal location for you to virtually "hang out" this space is still malleable and open to suggestions.
As an example, one member has recently suggested that we create a channel for a specific kind of usage.
We then turned that request into a poll that asked all members to weigh in about the channels they'd prefer to add to the Slack workspace:
If you'd prefer to quietly vote for updates to the community or propose your own ideas suggestion, we're happy to hear from you!
If you're in the market for particular forum channels, service provider suggestions, LinkedIn and social media connections, podcasts Facebook group, meetings in person, webinars, templates, or just other software and SaaS growth hacks generally We'd love to hear about it.
Share Your Thoughts
There are other methods for members to share their opinions than just in relation to the group, however. One of the most recent requests that we received from members was to let us know what kind of benchmarking data and metrics they'd like to see release.
These kinds of measures can aid software and SaaS companies develop strategies for increasing their ARR.
Since wants to provide relevant and useful data for growing and successful software and SaaS firms, we went to the public directly to inquire about benchmarking information we might want to collect next:
Some of the responses included retention rates in a specific industry, MRR growth in a specific sector, failed payment measures (unintentional conversion rate churn) along with churn, conversion and rates for diverse regions.
Note that this poll was open to members of all kinds, regardless of their customer situation.
Like we said earlier, knowing what really matters for software as well as SaaS business is essential , and we want the Global SaaS Leaders community to be somewhere you can express your needs to take your business to the next level.
Use the Community to Learn More About (If You're Interested)
This poll was made public in the -specific channel of the community. It exists so discussions about (as in contrast to more general business-related discussions) can be posted in the channel, and remain out of the main feed.
We don't want users -- and especially those that aren't customers to be enticed by the constant messages we're promoting . Because as we've mentioned already, a software and SaaS community has to be something that you can benefit from to grow We believe that excessive salesmanship can cause this to be a space which you don't wish to be.
However, if you're not currently a client but you've considered trying us out, then joining GSL is a great opportunity to learn more about our company by looking at customer interaction with our management, observing the types of comments and questions users have about the platform, and so on. The -specific channel is open to everyone who is a member.
If you don't have any desire to read ? It is fine to go away from the -specific channel without reading. There are lots of things for you to do in the community without seeing articles about platforms there is no need for.
Participate in The Global SaaS Leaders Community
We're extremely proud of the Global SaaS Leaders community already, and we're proud to offer an international network and discussion area with features such as live events for interviews video introductions of members, as well as a variety of expert opinions.
As continues to focus on building communities and, as our community increases, we'll add new features. We'd like to facilitate more one-to-one networking connections start a podcast, host more real-time events, and integrate social media down the road too.
If you sign up now, you can have an influence on what the club develops into.
In order to ensure the highest quality of membership and to ensure that I personally review all new member applications -- there are no automated systems that allow spammers or bots. That's why submitting your LinkedIn link is so important. We appreciate your patience while I review your application, and don't hesitate to email us if you need help before you submit your application!
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