Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications are an integral part of the modern technology stack - in fact, it’s estimated that larger organizations use an average of more than 100 different SaaS apps in their technology infrastructure.

Finding ways to improve the functionality of all of these SaaS applications is therefore a vital means of improving productivity, increasing sales and driving growth as a business. One of the best ways of doing this is through SaaS integration.

SaaS integration allows increased functionality from SaaS apps by connecting them with other software - either a business’ own native technology infrastructure or other SaaS applications. This improved utility provides benefits for both users and developers: users enjoy enhanced productivity, while developers can increase sales and customer retention via a better user experience.

What Is SaaS Integration?

SaaS integration involves connecting a SaaS application to other software in order to share data across apps and provide additional functionality to users. For instance, information may be automatically synced across multiple integrated apps to eliminate the need for manually updating the relevant data across each one.

As an example, Hustleboard pools data from across a number of integrated platforms including Google, Salesforce, Intuit Quickbooks, and WordPress to allow easier and more transparent access to essential information on a single dashboard. This allows users to find the information they need at a glance, saving time and driving productivity.

How Can SaaS Integrations Increase Sales For SaaS Users?

Integrating SaaS applications with other platforms has a number of benefits for users. First and foremost, SaaS integrations provide greater transparency and ease of access for data - rather than having to switch between different software, applications, or platforms to find the relevant information, an integrated SaaS ecosystem allows users to pool key data across applications so that it’s always available when and where they need it.

This also means a boost to productivity through the time saved. Rather than having to manually re-enter the same information across multiple applications or constantly switch between them to find different pieces of data, information can be synced across integrated applications automatically, saving time and effort.

These benefits feed into a third advantage of SaaS integration: a better customer experience. Saving time due to SaaS integration means more time can be dedicated to customer service; what’s more, SaaS integration makes it easier to find the information that users need to provide a high standard of service.

All of this boils down to one major benefit of SaaS integration: better sales. The productivity enhancements of SaaS integration lead to better, more informed customer service, which boosts conversions and strengthens customer retention, providing excellent value to your business.

How does SaaS integration drive growth for SaaS businesses?

It isn’t just users who benefit from SaaS integration - it’s also a vital factor in the growth of SaaS providers themselves. A long-term growth strategy for a SaaS provider should involve building a network of integration partners in order to provide additional functionality to their SaaS products, creating greater value for customers.

Providing new features, functions, and utility through SaaS integrations makes a SaaS product much more useful to existing customers Integration therefore provides a means of boosting customer retention by creating a more dynamic application that becomes more and more useful as new integrations are added.

Furthermore, if your product features integrations that are absent from competitors’ products, you’ll gain a significant advantage by offering your users greater functionality that they can’t find elsewhere.

Integrations also provide you with more selling points when trying to bring on board new clients. If your SaaS product’s integrations will easily fit into and enhance their existing SaaS ecosystem, it will be a much more attractive prospect than other SaaS applications with less potential for integration.

Finally, integrations build much greater exposure, brand recognition and trust for your product. Partnering with other SaaS providers essentially allows you to market your product to their existing userbase by offering them new functionality for their existing solutions. A larger network of partners also conveys trust in your brand, especially if you partner with industry leaders.

How To Choose Which SaaS Integrations To Pursue

It’s worth stating that not all integrations are made equal. Some will create more value for your users and your product than others, so it’s worth assessing which integrations are actually worth pursuing. This applies both to businesses using SaaS products in their technology stack and SaaS providers looking to expand the functionality of their product.

Start by thinking about your current users and their workflows - what processes are your SaaS solutions used in, and what extra functions would increase their utility during these processes? For example, users who work with high volumes of sales, lead and CRM data could benefit hugely from a productivity-boosting dashboard like Hustleboard which provides easier and more transparent access to this data.

It’s also worth finding out directly from your users what they think would improve their workflows since they’re much more familiar with the specific difficulties or challenges of different processes. Integration is all about finding new ways to create functionality and value for your users, so it’s important to keep them centred in the integration process through consultations and feedback.

For SaaS providers, the next step is to assess the competition. See what types of integrations other providers offer; if your product doesn’t offer similar functionality, then you’ll need to implement integrations that give your solution similar utility. You can also scope out gaps in the market, finding ways to implement innovation using new integrations your competitors haven’t considered.

Conclusion

SaaS integration is a vital factor for growth for both SaaS providers and businesses using SaaS solutions within their technology stack. For providers, integration offers a means of continually improving customer experience through new and improved functionality; for businesses, integration means boosted productivity leading to more effective customer service and higher sales potential.

Because of this, any technology-focused business should continuously look for new opportunities to implement SaaS integration to enhance their systems and workflows and in turn drive sales and growth.