CONVERSION TO SAAS
BUSINESS MODEL
Project Category:
Company Type:
Strategy / Product Development
Small Business
Skills Used:
Result:
Strategy, UX/UI, Development
Residual subscription income
THE BACKGROUND
This was a small company that primarily provided video creation services to financial advisors. They had created hundreds of different videos on a variety of financial strategies. Their primary model consisted of turning 45 minute presentations into a five minute marketing/explainer video.
Since many advisors teach similar strategies, their clients would choose the concept/video relating to the concept they taught, then the company would customize the video to feature the advisor as the expert at the end of the video (complete with their logo, picture, contact information, etc. The final product was delivered in professionally packaged DVD's that advisors would hand out to their clients and prospects.
THE PROBLEM
The company was growing and doing very well--until the recession in 2008. Most of their clients were negatively impacted by the market downturn and, as a result, stopped investing in marketing products/services. Considering that the company's lowest priced video package sold for about $5,000--this was no longer an option for most advisors.
Prior to the downturn in the market, each email the company sent out would reliably generate $25k to $30k in revenues. After the downturn, emails were no longer even generating phone calls--let alone sales. A drastic change was needed in order for the company to survive.
THE SOLUTION
The company had something their clients wanted--but the price was far too high. In order to utilize their existing assets, and reduce their variable expenses, we converted the company's customized video templates into generic videos. The content was the same--but they just didn't highlight the advisor as the expert.
We then created an automated, completely hands-off SaaS solution that included:
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A video library for clients to preview the videos
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Subscription levels with built-in bulk discounts
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Auto-generated video embed codes (unique for their domain)
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Automated monthly billing
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Automatic activation/deactivation of authorized websites based on payment status
The company's lowest priced product decreased from $5,000 to $25 per month (with the average price around $75 per month).
THE RESULT
As anticipated, the new SaaS business model took a few months to build. However, due to the nature of subscription-based billing, the company's sales continued to increase each month.
In the end, the new model generated a consistent and reliable income source that did not previously exist. Furthermore, given that everything was automated, the company was able to reduce its overhead and headcount substantially.