According to a recent survey of RIAs by Trust Company of America and TechValidate, advisors are not satisfied with the value they receive from their software. Almost half said that they couldn’t use it to its full capacity and more than a third complained that it couldn’t be customized to meet their needs. This data highlights the fact that even if you believe you have designed a product to target a specific market segment, there is no less of a need to properly set expectations in the sales process and invest in engaging and onboarding customers.
For the advisor market—especially RIAs, who may not have much of a technical staff to support them—the profile of the user makes this need particularly acute. Smart, used to moving quickly and strapped for time, these customers will have little patience for inefficiency and delays in going live and in finding out they were given misleading promises in the sales process. The actions and communications pre- and immediately post-sale will either put these customers on a positive trajectory for success and strong lifetime value or on a path to dissatisfaction.
In our experience, the keys to reaching and influencing RIAs are:
- Demonstrate an understanding of them and their business.
- Respect the fact that any time not spent working with existing clients or finding new ones is time wasted.
- Communicate in plain language and facts, not marketing-speak and fluff.
SaaS businesses, obviously including those targeting RIAs and other niche customer groups, need to ensure customer success to maximize the retention and upsell opportunities that are necessary to turn a profit on acquisition. But like any revenue generation opportunity, this requires investment—in time, personnel, and money. In a niche segment, it doesn’t become easier to satisfy, but rather harder as the bar gets higher for the knowledge and experience necessary to “talk the talk” and “walk the walk”.
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