Businesses that offer Software as a Service (SaaS) to their clients have to deliver exceptional business-to-business (B2B) customer support and experience in one very important area: security. In fact, recent data found that among B2B decision makers 49 percent of companies are concerned about the security of their information when it is stored, managed and accessed from the cloud. Likewise, it should go without saying that it is crucial SaaS companies integrate information security as a key component of their customer experience strategies.
Tackling the trust discrepancy
The fact of the matter is that cloud computing technologies are remarkably secure, and SaaS companies have much to offer their clients in terms of operational efficiency, alignment and accessibility. While skepticism in the cloud is high, research conducted by Ovum revealed the perception of cloud risk is actually higher than the actual risk, while the actual possibility of in-house databases being compromised is much greater than customer perceptions.
"SaaS companies can tackle the trust discrepancy with the right customer support."
The good news is that SaaS companies can tackle this discrepancy with the right customer support. When customer service collaborates with IT teams, the two can work together to create an effective marketing, sales, onboarding and customer experience strategy that assures business owners of the high level of information security associated with the product.
Delivering on promises with SaaS security best practices
Of course, SaaS companies can't deliver an exceptional customer experience or assure their clients of the integrity of their security measures without a thorough adoption of best practices. To be prepared to guarantee the highest level of protection possible, employ the following strategies:
- Ensure the IT team is informed of unique security issues relevant to the client.
- Build enterprise security controls to manage both customer support and client teams.
- Perform regular security reviews throughout the client relationship.
- Implement robust security controls, data encryption and tokenization to protect data.
With the right infrastructure in place, SaaS companies can keep their clients' data safe and retain them over longer periods of time.
The role of customer service
Cloud computing is new territory for many business leaders, which means customer support teams will be highly involved in the client relationship from onboarding to implementation and throughout the duration of the contract. In order to provide the best customer service possible, it is important to ensure support software and staff are rooted in information security. To offer the best experience possible and foster trust in the product, SaaS companies should leverage a customer support tool that includes the following features:
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) management.
- Sandbox testing environments.
- Rights management tools.
- SSL user authentication features.
- Two-factor authentication.
Businesses that offer cloud computing technologies to their clients must tackle information security as an added element of the customer experience. With the right background and strategies in place, SaaS companies can win and retain customers, as well as their trust.
