Want to know how to scale a Saas business?
Below, we’ll go through outsourcing benefits and key outsourcing areas to help take your business to the next level.
Foundations of SaaS Scaling Through Outsourcing
Benefits of Outsourcing for SaaS Businesses
Cost Efficiency
There are several ways outsourcing can be more cost-efficient than doing it all in-house. Infrastructure is a main one.
It is more of a human and monetary investment to create your own systems and processes that didn’t exist before. That’s on top of the physical equipment, space, and software you need to purchase and maintain.
Access to Global Talent
You can hire people from anywhere in the world. This larger pool means you don’t have to settle for “good enough”. You can find the best fit for the position. This is someone who both matches your values and culture and can deliver the results you expect.
Ability to Scale Operations Quickly
Scaling via outsourcing is a lot quicker than scaling in-house operations. This is true whether you need a temporary scaling solution for busy months, or a more long-term arrangement.
Though the initial onboarding and management may take some time, the turnaround is a lot quicker once everything starts running together.
Identifying Core vs. Non-Core Functions
Distinguishing core from non-core is simply identifying which activities help you make money and which don’t.
In an SaaS business, your core activities include
- Product conceptualization and development
- Marketing and Sales
- Customer relationship management, support services, and success
There’s a misconception that non-money-making activities are the ones you should outsource. That’s not always the case. An outsourced team can manage tasks in any of these above categories as we will later explore.
A better way to look at it is in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Leverage what you’re good at and let virtual teams help with the other areas.
Building and Managing Virtual Teams
Structuring Your Virtual Workforce
So, how then should you go about assembling and structuring virtual teams?
Don’t just look for talent, look for partnerships.
While you can’t outsource a vision, you can definitely partner with those who align with your values and business goals.
Structure your interview questions.
Formulate an interview process with questions that gauge their attitudes, personalities, commitment to teamwork, and values.
Set up SOPs and a management framework beforehand.
Improper planning is the bane of many business ventures. Consider outsourcing challenges and how you can set up contingencies to deal with them.
Tools and Technologies for Remote Collaboration
Collaboration tools are incredibly useful to facilitate effective communication and project management in a virtual environment.
Here are some examples:
Communication and collaboration tools – Slack, Trello
Project management tools – Asana, Click-Up, Wrike
Leveraging Outsourcing for Technical Development
Outsourcing Software Development
Software development is a heavy task. Not everyone has the manpower to get a product out as soon as they want to. Not all businesses can keep up with continuous development demands once the software is out.
Here’s how outsourcing aids and improves the software development process:
- A hybrid creative team means you can maintain the vision while allowing for fresh perspectives.
- More expertise and experience means faster prototyping and iteration, faster feature rollout, and faster development cycles.
- More manpower means being able to take customer feedback and apply it quickly.
Maintaining Quality with Outsourced Technical Teams
Here are a few best practices for ensuring quality and accountability when outsourcing core technical tasks:
- Ensure the third-party have quality assurance processes and safeguards in place internally.
- Assign someone to help manage the remote team and perform checks.
- Set up regular meetings with remote teams and provide time for adequate feature testing before rollout.
Outsourcing Customer Support to Enhance Service
Setting Up Outsourced Customer Support
Customer satisfaction is a crucial component of how to scale a SaaS business. It’s simple. If consumers aren’t getting the most out of what they paid for, they likely won’t renew their subscription.
Software bugs and glitches get on people’s nerves and are something you can’t avoid. However, you can mitigate the damage through a responsive customer support system that maintains high service standards.
Here’s how you can establish a robust support system:
- Make sure contact information is easily accessible and feedback channels are not a hassle to go through
- Find services that provide the functionality you need that can integrate with your website/app (24/7 availability, live chat, etc.)
- Create an FAQ page and other “self-service” support features
- Create SOPs for customer interactions
- Train enough people and outsource if need be to meet demand
Integrating Multichannel Support
Integrations allow you to offer multiple ways for customers to contact you.
However, building this support system in-house takes a lot of time and resources. That’s why outsourcing is a great solution.
Call centers, for example, are an incredibly popular customer service outsourcing solution. Agents can talk to customers on the phone and help them in real time.
Outsourcing customer email management can save a lot of time. Third parties can not only help you improve response times but can also set up automated responses.
Outsourcing live chat allows you to help consumers through the buyer journey in real time. You can answer questions, help them navigate through the website, and deal with frequently asked questions via automation.
Marketing and Sales: Outsourcing for Scalability
Scaling Through Outsourced Marketing
Outsourced teams can help you implement and scale multiple marketing strategies more effectively.
You can leverage manpower, focus, and specialized knowledge to grow your customer base on multiple fronts.
These strategies includes:
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
- SEO (search engine optimization)
- PPC (pay-per-click advertising)
Outsourcing Sales Operations
Sales can be a time consuming process from developing a lead generation strategy to actually closing the deal. There’s also tasks on top of that like customer data management. All that is difficult for an in-house team to manage alone.
Outsourcing lead generation and other repetitive tasks can ensure your team is free to actually sell and grow your revenue.
Since your team knows your products the best, they can leverage that expertise to create better sales strategies.
Enhancing Operational Efficiency with Outsourcing
Business Process Outsourcing for SaaS Companies
Sometimes other operation areas draw your attention away from learning how to scale a SaaS business. BPO can help you keep the main thing, the main thing.
Aside from customer service, marketing, and sales, other processes you can hand to a third-party to improve operational efficiency include:
- Legal
- IT (Information Technology)
- Web Development
- Human Resources
- Administration Tasks (calendar management, scheduling, etc.)
Managing Outsourced Operations
A big part of managing remote teams and outsourcing partners is maintaining alignment with your business objectives.
Careful selection and vetting of partners is, of course, the most important step.
However, during the project, make sure you set up milestones and checkpoints. These are points during a project where you can meet together and examine the progress. You not only measure it against a set timetable but also against your mission, vision, and goals.
The frequency is negotiable, however make sure you choose a partner who is open to this practice.
Financial Management and Outsourcing
Outsourcing Financial Operations
Proper financial management is the backbone of a successful business. You can’t make money effectively if you can’t manage them properly.
One of the main issues of this is that it’s a repetitive, time-siphoning, and overall “taxing” process.
Outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping also means you can focus on creating valuable software that customers will buy.
An outsourced bookkeeping team or agency can keep you organized, up to date, and compliant. Because you need to be so precise for tax reasons, outsourcing things like payroll can save you from fines and penalties.
You can also outsource financial advice for financial analysis and generating strategies for investing, financing, and budgeting.
Budgeting for Outsourcing
When you realize you need outsourcing, you also need to prepare for it. Part of that is effective budgeting to maximize return on investment while scaling your business.
Consider these steps
- Definine the scope and objectives of your outsourcing strategy first.
- Compare different outsourcing options (freelancers, agencies, etc.) and their costs against your current in-house solutions.
- Take note of other potential costs associated with the process.
- Monitor spending before and after the transition.
- Adjust wherever necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you ensure data security when using outsourced teams?
Three tips:
- Hire from reputable sources
- Ensure they have data security guarantees in place
- Have them sign the necessary security contracts
What are the best practices for integrating outsourced teams into existing company workflows?
A robust onboarding process is the key to remote team success. Integrating them with both the culture, the team, and the work is crucial for outsourcing success.
How can SaaS companies measure the effectiveness of their outsourcing strategies?
The first step is to set clear goals and objectives for the partnership. Then, you’ll want to track progress through key performance indicators. These can include CTR, conversion rates, re-subscription rates, customer satisfaction scores, etc.
What criteria should you used to select outsourcing partners for SaaS operations?
- Has experience with SaaS companies
- Has a good track record with other companies
- Has quality assurance and built-in internal checks
How can you manage cultural differences in international virtual teams?
- Recognize they exist.
- Prioritize familiarizing yourself with the culture of the people you hire even before you hire them.
- Make it a point to educate your team on cultural differences and set the expectation.
What Is Outsource School?
Outsource School helps you to unlock the potential of virtual assistants and accelerate your business growth.
This is the exact system Outsource School’s founders, Nathan Hirsch and Connor Gillivan, used to go from zero to 8 figures and 40+ virtual assistants with an exit in 2019.
Since being founded in 2020, Outsource School has helped 1,000+ business owners hire 2,000+ virtual assistants for their companies.
Schedule a free sales call to learn more
Free resources you might like:
- Outsource School Case Study: How We Scaled to 45+ VAs and 8 Figures in Revenue
- Free VA Calculator | See How Many VAs You Can Afford
- Free Training on 5 Keys to Working With VAs
- Learn Outsourcing 101 | Guides, Downloads, and Checklists
Conclusion
Learning how to scale a Saas business through outsourcing certainly has its benefits. Not only are outsourced solution cost-efficient, the increased manpower leads to better productivity. By scaling your service business through virtual teams, you can improve your offerings and subscription rates!
