5 Tips to Manage B2B SaaS Subscriptions Across the Customer Lifecycle

Subscriptions have really taken the software business landscape. And while certain aspects of software business have become more efficient, such as onboarding customers, the change has also brought some new challenges. Although B2B SaaS subscription management might seem relatively simple, the process is complicated by the ever-changing nature of long-term customer relationships. In this blog, we discuss long-term B2B SaaS subscription management and give five top tips for success.

Subscriptions Change Over Time

One business aspect that makes B2B SaaS unique is the fluidity of customer subscriptions. It is not only expected but desired that customers adapt their subscriptions over time to accommodate their shifting business needs and your developing saas offering. As we know, upselling is one of the largest growth opportunities for subscription-based businesses. 

Oftentimes, the total profitability of a customer relationship can only be realized once some time has passed. As new product features are developed, the client-supplier relationship matures. In the future, your SaaS business might adapt more lucrative pricing models or offer value to customers in an unexpected way. The management of these changes will determine the CLV. 

The Importance of Agility in SaaS Subscription Management

Although the market moves quickly, speed does not outweigh precision in SaaS subscription management. Actually, with so many unknown variables across a customer’s lifetime, the opposite is true. The changes in the market and customer behavior require proactivity, and it is good to remember that the most important aspect of price is value. Agility is needed in pricing to avoid churn and keep customers happy with perceived value, just remember pricing agility needs to be based on data.

Agility should be the benchmark for managing B2B SaaS subscriptions. For agility, the correct data is needed, and that data is offered by customer contracts. 

Creating a Digital Live Contract

For functional B2B subscription management, your solution should allow you to flexibly model your customer contracts. This is especially true when the business model is based on consumption or pay-per-use rather than simple monthly fixed fees. There are typically many options and variables on B2B SaaS and you need a holistic view to what has been agreed with the customer, what will be invoiced and with what terms.

The ability to model customer contracts gives a higher level of transparency, no matter the lifecycle stage. This ability to capture, view, and track all contract aspects inside the subscription management solution will allow for better data and agility, essentially future-proofing your processes.  

THE 5 KEYS FOR AN AGILE SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT PROCESS 

What are the five things B2B SaaS decision-makers should keep in mind to create flexible and agile subscription management processes?

1. The ease of creating and managing customer-specific prices and services.
2. Responsiveness in service bundling, price changes, and pricing model changes to ensure agile and fast changes.
3. The ability to handle upselling and add-ons with ease.
4. Go for digital live customer contracts that really steer your operations and give a transparent view of the customer lifecycle
5. The foresight to analyze trends and suggest new monetization opportunities.

Read more about how to manage customer contracts with good sign

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