Recognizing Customers' Information Needs in the SaaS Customer Journey

Abstract

Software as a Service (SaaS) has drastically changed the way businesses operate by offering scalable, cost-effective, and easily accessible software solutions over the internet. As SaaS is starting to become a standard practice across various business functions, understanding the customer journey and addressing information needs are crucial for enhancing customer satisfaction and experience. Customer journey is the complete set of experiences customers go through when interacting with a company and its products or services, from initial awareness and evaluation, to postpurchase interactions. Touchpoints represent all the different channels of interaction between the customer and provider, forming a complex network of channels and stakeholders.

This thesis aims to recognize customers’ information needs throughout the SaaS customer journey, providing actionable insights for SaaS providers. Information needs arise in organizations when there is a perceived gap between the state of current knowledge and the information required to address a specific problem. This recognized gap in information prompts individuals and organizations to engage in information-seeking behaviour, that aims to reduce this uncertainty and enhance the quality of their decision-making.

The study is conducted as a systematic literature review. The review was conducted through the databases ANDOR and Scopus. The results of the literature review highlight the complexity of recognizing information needs across in the customer journey. The complexity is derived from multiple stakeholders, different information needs for different roles, the complexity of the customer journey. The thesis also explores the impact of IT capabilities on information needs and the structure of the customer journey, categorizing to IT-savvy and IT-novice organizations. This categorization helps providers to effectively manage customers, both directly and through multipliers.

Information needs recognized vary between the different roles involved in the decision-making. Users need information about the features and support, whereas buyers need information about pricing and security. A strategy proposed for providers, is the Product-Led Growth (PLG) model, that positions the product as the central touchpoint of the customer journey. PLG improves user engagement by allowing customers to experience the product's value without interaction with sales representatives, streamlining the sales process. This approach reduces the role on traditional sales methods and aligns the sales process with the evolving expectations of modern customers who prefer self-service and personalized experiences.