{"id":2596,"date":"2022-07-07T15:13:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T19:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/?p=2596"},"modified":"2026-03-26T12:51:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:51:30","slug":"saas-success-laer-adoption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/saas-success-laer-adoption\/","title":{"rendered":"SaaS success hinges on LAER adoption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Before you begin reading, let\u2019s play a little game. Repeat after me: \u201cIf SaaS then LAER, if SaaS then LAER, if SaaS then LAER.\u201d Hopefully, that sticks in your mind because <a>to<\/a> succeed in selling software-as-a-service (SaaS), you need to start using the land, adopt, expand and renew (LAER) customer engagement model. And you need to do it correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today\u2019s customers are less focused on product features and more focused on how the technology will support their business goals. That\u2019s why <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/the-world-as-a-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SaaS<\/a> is the new way of selling. It\u2019s about delivering business outcomes for customers with more flexibility. According to McKinsey, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/business-functions\/growth-marketing-and-sales\/our-insights\/these-eight-charts-show-how-covid-19-has-changed-b2b-sales-forever\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more than 75 percent of B2B customers prefer pay-as-you-go adoption models<\/a> for software and hardware services, which means for software providers to remain competitive, SaaS is no longer optional. LAER is a modern selling approach that emphasizes value-added service rather than product functionality alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>The LAER model has four key phases<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong><em>Land<\/em><\/strong><em>: are we winning new customers?<\/em><\/li><li><strong><em>Adop<\/em><\/strong><em>t: are we driving practical use and adoption of the software they\u2019ve purchased?<\/em><\/li><li><strong><em>Expand<\/em><\/strong><em>: are we expanding new use cases, business units, and software dimensions?<\/em><\/li><li><strong><em>Renew<\/em><\/strong><em>: are we ensuring that we are successfully supporting and engaging with our customers throughout their relationship with us?<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/LAER-1024x431.png\" alt=\"Four boxes showing the sequence for land, adopt, expand and renew\" class=\"wp-image-2598\" width=\"768\" height=\"323\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/LAER-1024x431.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/LAER-600x253.png 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/LAER-768x324.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/LAER-1536x647.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/LAER-900x379.png 900w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/LAER.png 1588w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why companies struggle to adapt to a LAER model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Too many companies are falling into old habits and chasing customers rather than retaining them. In the traditional sales structure, renewals represented 10 percent of the total contract value. However, 100 percent of the contract value is at stake with SaaS. So, while sales teams are busy chasing new customers, they\u2019re forgetting about the ones they have\u2026who often start looking elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Churn rate (percentage of customers that have fallen out of contract) is your biggest enemy in SaaS. A recent study found that many SaaS companies have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.philiplay.com\/blog\/b2b-saas-one-business-model-but-three-sales-motions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">15 percent churn rate.<\/a> For example, if you have 200 customers, 30 of them are not renewing. It\u2019s well-known that customer acquisition costs are much higher than customer retention costs, but companies are failing to act on this. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tsia.com\/App\/UI\/Viewfile.aspx?id=20617\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent report by TSIA<\/a> found that companies that create opportunities optimized for existing customers grow their subscription revenues 2.5 percent faster than those that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many pitfalls result from organizations\u2019 focus on license revenue rather than service revenue. As we know now, technology customers don\u2019t only care about the products\u2019 capabilities; they want to see how the product will solve a problem for them. It is the value you create that sets you apart from the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many companies offer great products, but if you can offer something that other companies can\u2019t replicate, you gain a competitive advantage. So rather than looking at how to pitch your products better to more, think about offering high-value, expert business advice to please your current customers. That\u2019s the key to customer growth. Increasing cross-sell, upsell and retention can result in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/technology-media-and-telecommunications\/our-insights\/saas-and-the-rule-of-40-keys-to-the-critical-value-creation-metric\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">median net retention rates (NRR) of 120 percent<\/a>, which means a 20 percent growth yearly without acquiring a new customer. The evidence is overwhelming; it\u2019s time to start putting the same effort into caring for current customers as you do for acquiring new ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Invest in customer success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Adoption is EVERYTHING. Once a customer uses your product, a technical resource should be designated to help that customer adopt the technology. This individual understands the product\u2019s features and works with the customers to identify opportunities where the software can help business outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend looking for a customer success architect (CSA), a highly-skilled business consultant with technical capabilities and strong communication skills. You might be thinking, \u201cWhere do I find someone like that?\u201d While outsourcing may work, it can be expensive and scarce. <a>That\u2019s<\/a> why we wanted to share a little secret to make your life easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Start looking within your organization. Chances are that 5 percent of your employees already possess the skills of a CSA. Look at your go-to systems engineers, professional services consultants, product management and engineering staff, and consider the skills they have beyond their current job role. Identify your top candidates and create a professional services program dedicated to fulfilling a CSA role. Start tracking metrics that show what the customer is doing, such as the number of successful use cases, business users per case and frequency of usage. Evaluate the results after two quarters and decide if this is the best way to continue or if you want to return to the drawing board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Adopt a customer-in-view strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Customer success is not only about finding the right people. You need to change the mentality of your people and create an environment that prioritizes customer engagement. We like to think of this as the customer-in-view. Start thinking about what the customer is achieving rather than what your company is gaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customer success is not simple, but it doesn\u2019t have to be overly complex. Your people need to master technical, project management and commercial persuasion skills. Without these key areas, what\u2019s to stop your customer from looking elsewhere? So, if you\u2019ve decided it\u2019s time to add this critical function to your business, we suggest starting <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/time-to-add-a-customer-success-practice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the authors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jamesagregory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">James Gregory<\/a><em>&nbsp;is the Director of Global Partner Business Development at Siemens Digital Industries Software&nbsp;with over 25 years of sales leadership leading technology providers around the globe. At Siemens, he is responsible for global partner coverage and capacity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nathalieschickendantz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nathalie Schickendantz<\/a> is a global partner analytics co-op at Siemens Digital Industries Software studying Marketing and Psychology at the University of Cincinnati.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before you begin reading, let\u2019s play a little game. Repeat after me: \u201cIf SaaS then LAER, if SaaS then LAER,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69372,"featured_media":2601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,3],"tags":[63,132],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[440,753],"class_list":["post-2596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-business-leadership","category-featured","tag-siemens-partners","tag-software-as-a-service-saas"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/07\/handshake_blog.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2596"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3107,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596\/revisions\/3107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2596"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=2596"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=2596"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/partners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}