Enhancing emissions monitoring services through user-centric transformation

Our client operates as an industrial emissions monitoring hardware and Software as a Service (SaaS) provider. Despite offering cost-effective solutions, they’ve encountered challenges. Many customers who participated in trial offerings declined to commit to a subscription-based account, or expand services to additional locations. Our client sought to understand their customers’ experiences and identify barriers to purchasing decisions.

Approach

ChaiOne employed a comprehensive strategy to understand customer experience and opportunities:

1. Voice of the Customer Study: We delved into how current users perceived both the monitoring hardware and the SaaS and what influenced their buying decisions. We learned that the software had functionality gaps - customers wanted advanced emissions reporting, support in acquiring certificates, and informed facility design recommendations. Our research also revealed hardware limitations. Customers struggled to locate leaks, and sensor performance suffered in adverse weather conditions. These, and other shortcomings, were hindering adoption.
2. Customer Support Assessment: We identified inefficiencies in how our client supports their customers—siloed conversations, limited training, downtime while waiting for information due to lack of integrated work systems. These factors contributed to subpar customer experiences.
3. Baseline Assessment: We benchmarked the current user experience against other software solutions. Shockingly, our client’s SaaS ranked in the bottom 9th percentile. We also measured the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and found that it was below 0. This metric reflected the stark reality that while our client was providing cost-effective offerings, their customers had started looking for more comprehensive, even if more expensive, solutions elsewhere.

Outcomes

Our insights drove impactful changes:

1. Strategic Roadmap: Collaboratively, we crafted a roadmap for improvements, prioritizing critical software functionalities and hardware improvements based on user needs.
2. Redesigned Experience: We redesigned the SaaS engagement-layer experience and through rigorous testing ensured that it far surpassed the existing baseline.
3. Customer Support Boost: We provided recommendations aimed at optimizing the customer support process and operational efficiency. For example, integrating work systems, creating a centralized client repository, launching a Help Desk are expected to enhance customer service experiences.

Conclusion

By meticulously addressing end-user needs, optimizing hardware performance, and refining customer support processes, we have strategically positioned our client for success. As these improvements unfold, the client is poised to transition into a positive Net Promoter Score (NPS) territory. In turn, as customer loyalty grows, we anticipate an increase in the conversion rate of trial customers to committed subscription-based paid accounts.

Services provided:

Voice of Customer; UX Design; App Modernization