Communication is the foundation of any successful business relationship, especially for SaaS companies. These companies need to establish trust, understand their customer’s needs, and foster long-term partnerships in order to grow and succeed in a competitive market. 

As more businesses adapt to the changing needs of the growing market, it is important to foster regular communication when providing customer service. 

For instance, in the B2B SaaS industry, leads often require nurturing before they convert into paying customers. Clear and timely communication helps educate leads about a product or service’s value, addresses their concerns, and guides them through the sales funnel. 

This begs the question – what does clear and timely communication look like in today’s market? The answer to this can be found in two popular styles of communication – asynchronous or synchronous.

While asynchronous communication refers to a method of communication where participants do not need to be present simultaneously, synchronous communication offers a two-way style of communication where parties can interact in real-time. 

Think of email, forums, contact forms, video messages, or comments on documents as asynchronous while live chat, and phone conversations are synchronous.

So which style of communication works in today’s B2B SaaS market? Two common channels for customer interaction are Live Chat and Contact Forms. 

In this article, we will explore why Live Chat outshines Contact Forms in terms of real-time interaction, personalization, lead generation, issue resolution, analytics, and customer satisfaction.

Firstly, let’s discuss what the SaaS market’s reality is in today’s world.

The Reality of the B2B SaaS Market 

The SaaS market is currently experiencing a significant boom, thanks to developments in technology and new discoveries in artificial intelligence.

According to Statista, in 2023, the SaaS market is estimated to be worth approximately 197 billion U.S. dollars and is estimated to increase significantly by 2024.

Consumers are adopting solutions that solve their everyday problems and make their lives easier. AI solutions like ChatGPT, are driving more consumers to try out novel saas applications – a move that has a direct impact on the funding, income generation and growth in the SaaS market.

Contact Forms for SaaS Customer Service

Effective customer communication is a key part of B2B SaaS for building connections, getting leads, and helping customers. Contact forms are still important as a way to get in touch with customers. Here are some reasons why this still rings true.

Structured and organized communication

Contact forms are a planned and organised way to get information from customers. Most of the time, they have spaces for important information like name, email address, business name, and specific questions. This standard format makes sure that businesses get consistent and useful information from prospects, which helps them react in the best way possible. 

Time and resource efficiency

Contact forms are an efficient way for businesses with limited resources or smaller teams to handle customer questions. 

Instead of needing answers right away, like with live chat, contact forms let businesses set priorities and use their resources well. They can set up systems to review and answer questions at certain times, making sure that customers get answers that are quick and well-thought-out. This method keeps customer service teams from being too busy and lets them pay more attention to each question.

Flexibility and convenience

Customers can use contact forms because they are easy and flexible. They make it possible for them to reach out to businesses at any time that works for them, not just during business hours or in real-time. 

Customers can carefully write their messages and give a lot of information about what they want or what’s going on. This makes it easier for customers to say what they want and helps businesses understand what those needs are before they react. Customers can also attach relevant files or documents to contact forms, which makes it easy to give more information.

Lead generation and data capture

Contact forms serve as an effective lead-generation tool. They give prospects a chance to say they’re interested in certain goods or services, which lets businesses follow up with more targeted marketing. 

Recommended Read: How to Maximize Contact Form Plugins for Lead Generation

Also, the information gathered through contact forms can be used for analytics and segmentation. This lets businesses improve their targeting strategies and make it easier for customers to interact with them.

Privacy and data security

Contact forms give both companies and customers an extra level of privacy and data security. Customers can share their information in a safe way by using secured forms, which protects their data. 

Businesses can protect customer data by using secure servers and putting in place privacy rules, for example. This reassurance builds trust and makes customers more likely to give their information, which helps businesses make relationships that matter.

Live Chat for SaaS Customer Service

Live chat, on the other hand, has some great benefits as well. It has emerged as a game changer for many SaaS companies who’ve used it to grow their business, increase sales and acquire new customers. 

Consumers’ preference for personalised services has been a major driver for live chat success. In fact, 79% of businesses say offering live chat has positively affected sales, revenue, and customer loyalty.

Here are some of the reasons why live chat is a better option to contact forms: 

Real-time interaction and instant support 

Live chat lets you answer customer questions and worries right away. Companies that employ live chat best practices can help customers right away, making their experience smooth and easy. 

On the other hand, contact forms often cause communication to be delayed or missed, which leaves prospects frustrated and leads to missed chances. Live chat makes sure that potential buyers can talk to your business right away, which increases the likelihood that they will buy from you.

Personalized and humanized customer experience

SaaS customers want to talk to companies in a way that is personalised and has a human touch. Live chat makes it possible for businesses to do just that. With live chat, sales and support teams can talk to leads in real time, finding out what they need and getting to know them. 

This personal touch helps build trust with possible customers and strengthens relationships with them. On the other hand, contact forms can feel cold and lack the warmth that live chat gives.

Higher conversion rates and lead generation

Live chat is a great way to get new leads. It makes it easy to get leads quickly by starting conversations with website visitors at the right time, usually when they are most interested and involved. 

Businesses can grow leads, answer questions, and help them towards making a purchase by interacting with prospects in a proactive way. Even though contact forms are useful, they may have lower conversion rates because they wait for leads to take action.

Efficient issue resolution and customer satisfaction

Live chat makes it possible for businesses to solve problems right away, which makes customers happier and cuts down on downtime. 

By helping customers right away, companies can exceed their expectations and make them more loyal. On the other hand, contact forms can lead to longer response times, which can make customers unhappy and hurt the business’s image in the long run.

Enhanced analytics and customer insights

Live chat gives companies valuable data that they can use to analyse and improve their services. By keeping track of chat conversations, companies can find out what customers are having trouble with, what questions they ask most often, and where they can make improvements. 

This information can be used to improve marketing plans, product creation, and customer service. On the other hand, contact forms don’t give as much information, which makes it harder to get ideas that can be used to improve the customer experience.

Wrap Up

Whether you’re using both contact forms and live chat for your saas business, it is crucial to keep up with the latest trends and consumer insights in order to get the best out of your customer service. Failing to do so can spell doom for your business and lead to customer disloyalty or even poor leads. 

While live chat provides room for personalisation, contact forms aren’t completely archaic for lead generation. Adding a contact form plugin to your website can still do wonders for your sales and lead-generation activities.