The Self-Serve SaaS 'Cast

Brian Casel, the CEO of Clarityflow (previously ZipMessage) walks Yohann through his research-first approach to addressing churn, doubling down on a well-performing segment of customers, and blasting through a plateau in revenue growth.

User engagement is often taken to be the actionable link to revenue that teams should focus on. Create more engagement, create more revenue, in a nutshell. This is why growth teams design for multiple logins, Weekly Active Users, or Day Seven Retention. In this episode, your hosts discuss why the logic of “more engagement = more revenue” is flawed, and present four arguments for why you’re missing out on big opportunities by manufacturing engagement.

00:00 Introduction

01:20 Why Companies Design for Engagement

03:23 Argument Against Engagement #1: The Lowest Common Denominator

08:22 Argument Against Engagement #2: The Opportunity Cost

14:52 Argument Against Engagement #3: Meaningful Engagement Patterns

19:43 Argument Against Engagement #4: Strong vs. Weak Correlation

Scott and Yohann talk about churn — how he approaches it at Churnkey, and how he hopes more companies will approach it in general. As he says, “It’s one of the most underrated sources of information and intelligence.” Creating a cancellation system not only helps customers feel like they’re being heard as you part ways but also gives you precious insight to get ahead of potential cancellations before it’s too late.

05:48 Why Churnkey Blends Self-Serve and Sales

09:49 Creating Customer Profiles with Churn Data

19:17 Using Churn to Refine Value Metrics

23:35 Applying End-Of-Lifecycle Lessons to the Early Lifecycle

27:27 Churnkey's North Star Value Metric

39:15 Key Questions to Ask of Your Churn Data

For insights from the episode and the full transcript, check out: https://selfservesaas.feather.blog/learn-from-churn

If you want your automated sales process to convert users as effectively as a human-led sales process, you need to actively manage it. In this episode, your hosts break down the major stages of the Self-Serve customer lifecycle and discuss what it takes to structure each stage so it sets users up for success in the next.

00:00 Introduction

01:13 Managing an Automated Lifecycle

09:08 Stage One: Setting Up

11:14 Building Trust by Setting the Right Expectations

16:27 Stage Two: Finding Value

19:04 Defining Outcomes and Paths to Outcomes

24:59 Stage Three: Converting to Customer

35:23 Stage Four: The Rest of the Lifecycle

Many Self-Serve companies operate much like their Sales-Led counterparts, minus a Sales team. In this episode, your hosts discuss how leaning into Self-Serve's differences can turn them into advantages, and how the Self-Serve model opens up opportunities that Sales-Led companies can only dream about.

00:00 Introduction

00:27 Self-Serve Companies Still Rely on the Sales Playbook

06:49 Turning Differences Into Strengths (Leaning Into the Self-Serve Model)

14:47 Building a Faster Feedback Loop; Asking Better Questions

21:12 Managing the Self-Serve Sales Process

27:23 A Quick Summary

For more insights on the Self-Serve model and the full transcript, check out: https://selfservesaas.feather.blog/hidden-advantages-of-self-serve

Craig and Yohann chat about how the Self-Serve system at Castos continues to evolve as the company grows into year six with tens of thousands of active customers. Craig talks about optimizing conversions, experimenting with Enterprise Sales, and using user value as a compass to make better decisions.

00:00 Introduction

02:11 Growing Volume vs. Optimizing Conversions

06:08 Experimenting with Enterprise Sales

09:07 How Castos' Self-Serve System Evolved

15:50 Using User Value as a Compass

18:02 Aligning User and Business Value

23:39 The Limitations of User Value-based Cohorts

For excerpts, commentary, and the full transcript check out: https://selfservesaas.feather.blog/self-serve-castos

“Aha moments” are a go-to tool in the activation toolkit, but how effective are they? And could they be limiting Self-Serve companies trying to help new users succeed?

00:00 Introduction

00:53 Aha Moments Have Social Media Baggage

04:37 There Are No Singular Aha Moments

13:11 The WHEN of Aha Moments

15:42 Aha Moments Don't Activate Users

25:35 Designing For User Outcomes Vs. Aha Moments

Join the discussion here: https://selfservesaas.mn.co/posts/34146405

Tyler and Yohann chat about how Self-Serve has evolved at LACRM since he started it in 2009 (when buying software meant picking up a CD ROM). Tyler talks about why he doesn’t chase revenue goals anymore, what you can and can’t control in a Self-Serve system, and how segments have become a key part of his strategy to grow revenue.

00:00 Introduction

02:30 The Self-Serve Setup at LACRM

07:22 Tweaking the System to Meet Changing Expectations

11:30 Tyler's Approach to Goal Setting

13:52 What You Can Control to Improve Self-Serve Revenue

21:49 Why LACRM is Now Considering Segmentation

24:53 Creating Swim Lanes for Each Segment

32:18 Using Existing Customers to Unlock New Ones

34:24 Value Can Be as Simple as Being Less Annoying

Join the discussion for the episode here: https://selfservesaas.mn.co/posts/33530141

Seth and Yohann talk about how Rapchat will achieve its ambitious revenue goals. Spoiler alert: user segments are a key part of their strategy. The better you can understand the different kinds of users that make up your customer base, the better you can unlock revenue from them.

00:00 Introduction

05:12 Rapchat's Path to Monetization

09:08 Using Segments For Better Monetization

14:38 What Segmentation Can Unlock

17:37 Correlating Segments with Revenue

23:33 Creating Segmented User Experiences

33:29 Rapchat's Key Revenue Metrics

For more resources and the full transcript: https://selfservesaas.mn.co/posts/growing-self-serve-revenue-at-rapchat-with-ceo-seth-miller

Your hosts discuss how to manage churn and steer it in a more positive direction using cohort analysis and segmentation. This is a reliable way to identify which customer segments are churning out the most, and where in the customer lifecycle you're losing them.

00:00 Introduction

02:40 Churn As A By-product (The Standard Approach)

04:50 Cohort-Based Churn Analysis

08:38 Cohort-Based Churn Trends

10:31 Upfront Churn: An Opportunity

13:28 Patterns In Churn Segments

18:02 Flying Blind With Aggregate Churn

27:16 Managing Churn: Summary

Find additional resources and the full transcript here: https://selfservesaas.mn.co/posts/managing-churn-for-self-serve-saas