How to deploy and manage projects: pickSaaS customer service, support and project deployment rules
After running numerous integration projects, we’ve noticed that there are a few main challenges for companies working with consultants and agencies supporting them with development and other software services:
- Estimation— estimating projects takes a lot of time and is not precise
- Communication/project owning — working with freelancer or agency there is often a mismatch of communication, due to different time zones and differences in availability, often there is no actual decision-maker owning the project and aligning technical implementation with business expectations. Also, some of the processes are repetitive and could easily be automated
- Technical setup’s quality — in every project, the technical delivery part is crucial and companies are not able to ensure proper quality of delivered implementations
Let me show you how we address these problems at pickSaaS by managing the network of certified experts and what kind of rules we follow when working with customers, by:
- Providing project estimate and launching the project in less than 24h, saving time on estimation
- Offering support of project manager guiding the customer through the details of the project and liaising between the customer and developers/experts
- Ensuring quality by NPS monitoring, escrow mechanism
1. Welcome email
After the start of the project, a customer receives a welcome email that contains:
- A welcome message with more information on the service
- Access to the platform
- Introduction to the dedicated expert/freelancer at pickSaaS
+ the invoice
2. Platform onboarding and collecting information
Once the customer is onboarded to the pickSaaS platform, he is requested to share access to software tools through a secured password submission form. Together with the password, the customer should also be requested to deliver information about the company’s stakeholders (email addresses, phone numbers).
https://www.cognitoforms.com/PickSaaS/SecuredAccessUpload
3. Expert/support matching
The information about the project is shared with the available pool of experts (or previously chosen expert) with:
- Job information/tasks
- Budget
- Any other information on the job required
The expert is then selected by the customer or suggested by pickSaaS team based on:
- The quality of previously realized projects
- Their availability and budget
- The speed of response
4. Expert/support onboarding
An expert/freelancer is onboarded to the project, following the below process:
- Providing access to the pickSaaS application/marketplace.
- Agreeing on the project’s scope.
- Agreeing on the project's budget.
- Presenting with the customer service/support rules we follow here at pickSaaS.
- Introducing the expert to the customer.
5. Customer service rules at pickSaaS
Query replies
We reply to customer & pickSaaS support queries within 1 hour from query submission. In the answer we provide:
a) an answer to the customer question (the real and actual one, once we don’t know something and need to check on this, we say this)
b) estimated time to complete the task and set up the solution
(in hours or a time when it can be implemented)
Every answer (if it requires action on the developer/expert side) is followed by:
a) A ticket created in the Asana section (in the future, to be done through marketplace ticketing system)
b) Actual action/activity taken by the dedicated expert/developer
If we don’t know the answer:
a) if it can be checked quickly (e.g. by asking our community/partners) we 1. Inform the customer that we’re checking on this, 2. check with community/expert partners (e.g. by posting the query as a ticket in our Asana board, to be substituted by ticketing system). An internal pickSaaS team or a community of expert can then come back with the answer to the question and support a developer/expert in solving the issue)
b) if it requires research (e.g. dev issue) we 1. Inform the customer that we’re checking on this and that it might take a while and 2. check on this by running research.
Password submission
Any access to the software should be collected by following the below process:
a) Adding test@picksaas.com account as an admin to their software, or
b) Submitting access through a secured form:
https://www.cognitoforms.com/PickSaaS/SecuredAccessUpload
Remote setup session
The customer can also be supported with the remote setup/support process triggered by:
a) Calendly meeting: https://calendly.com/picksaas/crm-consultation
b) Video meeting using Whereby: https://whereby.com/pickSaaS
Dev work/release
Any dev work is performed according to the following process:
a) The solution is always first implemented on the person or company’s staging environment
b) The solution is tested for proper setup/implementation
c) The solution is released on the production or is simply duplicated for the company’s production in the same way it was implemented on staging
Meeting rules:
- Customer can book a meeting with a support/dev person at their convenience using the link below:
https://calendly.com/picksaas/saas-consultation - An expert/developer needs to attend the meeting with the customer
- If the support/dev person is not able to attend the meeting, he must send the message through the platform that he/she is not able to attend and propose an alternative time to meet (reschedule)
- Every meeting must be followed by a 3-point summary sent to the customer. Any tech tickets following the meeting should be submitted as the Asana ticket (to be substituted by a ticketing system)
Hourly tracking at pickSaaS Support:
For projects with hourly tracking, we do hourly tracking for every completed job and ticket.
Quality monitoring rules:
A customer is sent a bi-weekly questionnaire checking on the customer’s NPS score (how likely he/she is to recommend our services to a friend.
Link to the form: https://picksaas.typeform.com/to/TYGlgJ
Payment rules:
To receive payment for your services, you need to have an active listing at pickSaaS platform with the connected and verified account.
The payments are made through a connected account or by sending an invoice to payments@picksaas.com.
In pickSaaS, we help you find, hire, and manage freelancers with the right technology skills.
pickSaaS is a community of high-quality SaaS experts, providing integration, support and development services, and helping all-size businesses reduce development costs, grow sales pipelines and work remotely.
