The Software as a Service (SaaS) business model is increasingly finding a stronghold in the present times.
SaaS is a cloud-based software distribution model where the host, who is the cloud provider, makes the service available to end users. With more people trying to grab the opportunity in this field, competition is increasing manifold.
There is a need to deliver improved efficiency to have the edge over the others. This is true for any business and, more importantly, for SaaS. Here arises the need for savior saas tools that are a must-have for SaaS startups or companies.
Let us discuss the various saas tools available to augment productivity in SaaS companies.
1) Finance and Accounting Tools
Managing finances is an important part of your business. Your performance is reflected in numbers. Tracking every component of your income and expenditure can be time-consuming. It is also prone to errors when done manually.
The right financial tools can save you time and effort and thereby improve productivity. Some of the financial tools are:
- Stripe
It is an online payment processing tool that acts as a medium between credit card networks and merchants. Many businesses have been successfully using Stripe as a payment gateway. It offers great security and convenience. It also sends payouts online and is very helpful for managing financial records.
- Xero
It is an online user-friendly accounting tool. This platform allows you to track projects, claim expenses, pay bills and also accept payments. It is easy to link this tool with your bank account so that you can monitor the transactions.
2) Product Management Tools
Product management tools offer great support to product managers and the team, right from conceptualizing to delivering the output.
Product analytics, prototyping, setting up strategies, mapping the developments, and so on. Some excellent tools that can be of strength to you in the tedious process are:
- ProductPlan
It is a robust product management tool that makes it easy for the product management team to collaborate and build on the roadmaps developed. This is suitable across many industries. It offers an outline of the goals, direction, and priorities and monitors the progress accordingly.
- ProductBoard
This is an excellent tool for designing and creating products as per the requirements of the customers. It is more customer-centric and aligns the roadmap by prioritizing the interests of the customers.
3) Email Automation Tools
Reaching out to customers through email campaigns has many advantages. Automated tools to capture the market help in improving profitability. Many tools are available in the market that assists SaaS companies in their growth.
- HubSpot
It is a very popular email automation tool and is regarded as one of the best in the market. It uses analytics effectively to help in conversions. Not only that, but it has a great user interface and provides an excellent customer experience on your site.
- ActiveCampaign
This is yet another tool that is used by many businesses. This tool has many advanced features and helps to improve customer interaction. It also helps to reduce bounce rates and improve email deliverability.
4) Customer Engagement Tools
Customer retention is a very important aspect of any business. The customer engagement tools help to give your customers a good experience with your business and keep them coming repeatedly. Long-standing customers can be your brand ambassadors too and can pave the way for more customers.
- UserGuiding
This tool is a digital onboarding tool that provides the customer with a product walkthrough. It does not use any coding. Manuals and templates as training for customers can be easily created with the help of this tool.
- UserPilot
This is a tool for SaaS companies that help in building user experiences without the need for coding. It uses analytics and also in-app feedback to check the progress at every stage. A self-help resource center is also a unique feature here, which assists the user to search experiences and onboarding videos.
5) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools
Customizing your services to suit the needs of the customer can go a long way in attracting positive behavior from them. This is the main crux of CRM tools. It helps your business to enhance its relationship with customers with the help of these tools.
- Salesforce
This is considered one of the best CRM tools and helps businesses achieve targeted sales more quickly. Customer engagement tools, contact management, workflow creation, analytics, and lead management are some of the prominent features that make it a popular choice.
- Sugar CRM
This is a comprehensive tool that gives an insight into the customer’s role from the beginning. The possibility of creating dashboards for short-term and long-term goals makes the platform a unique one. Sales force automation, customer support, collaboration, and marketing campaigns are some of the features of this tool.
6) Software Engineering Tools
Developing software programs that are in sync with the latest technology is a challenging task. With the help of tools, it becomes easier for building and delivers high-quality solutions. It is important that data security is also paid attention to while developing software, and the tools play a great role here.
- GitHub
It is a code-hosting platform. You can work on projects from anywhere with the help of this tool. It is a cloud platform and is very useful for developers.
- Feedier
This lets the developers act on feedback from customers after the development stage is over. Any critical inputs about the product can be known with the help of this tool, and it is easier to implement changes.
7) Cloud Cost Management Tools
All costs related to cloud resources and management can be handled with the help of this tool. This helps in improving efficiency with optimum cloud usage and limiting costs at the same time.
- Xosphere
The spot instances are more affordable, and so this tool helps to shift to this for minimizing cloud expenditure.
- Densify
This platform comes with a cloud resource optimization technology. Any misallocation of resources to instances is brought to light by this tool.
8) Productivity Tools
With the help of these tools, it is easier to monitor productivity, identify lapses and improve productivity.
- Calendly
Scheduling meetings and calls are no longer a trouble as you have the Calendly tool. It is a simple and user-friendly platform that helps in keeping track of schedules.
- Zoho
Zoho workplace tool helps to improve interaction within the team and with external stakeholders and accelerate productivity.
9) Sales Software
The correct sales tools can help you generate high-quality leads who will, in turn, become your customers.
- SalesMate
This platform lets you understand the customer to customize the messages and offers accordingly.
- Prospero
This tool lets you personalize your proposals to customers with the help of several templates on its platform.
10) Communication Tools
Communication both at the office or while working from home can be very effective with the help of these tools.
- Zoom
This video conferencing tool helps multiple people from the team spread across different geographies to interact. Webinars through Zoom have become very popular post the pandemic.
- Trello
Trello is an easy-to-use tool and has a drag-and-drop feature for adding cards, editing, adding descriptions, and it makes managing small or large teams’ workflow easier.
Final Thoughts
So, here comes an end to the list of some of the most important tools that your SaaS organization might require. The above-listed tools can help in simplifying tasks to let you concentrate on other vital areas of your SaaS business that need individual attention.
Many of these tools have a trial version for free, too. Make sure you utilize these tools to enhance your productivity and scale the business further.