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Software as a service (SaaS) is an industry familiar to us all — whether we like it or not, we use SaaS products constantly in our personal and professional lives. But most SaaS companies approach their business with an emphasis on the software. “Build it and they will come,” as the old saying goes, but that’s not the case anymore.
Advancements in technologies and AI have significantly closed the gap in what it means to build software. People can now learn to code by attending bootcamps rather than an undergraduate curriculum, and coding hobbyists turned full-time software engineers are fairly common. Not to mention the number of people who can now use AI tools to build a passion project app or website in 2025.
Good software is not special anymore. A great user experience and some delightful moments sprinkled in have become table stakes. What people also care about is the relationship side of SaaS — the service component — when real people spend 40+ hours a week improving the software that you use every day.
The SaaS industry is crowded. New solutions are cropping up everywhere, and that’s mostly thanks to the lower barrier to entry in developing new applications.
The reality is that most products in the same vertical have overlapping features. For example, when a software company launches a new feature, it’s common for its competitors’ teams to immediately take note and add it to their roadmaps and backlogs. It’s hard to find a software company that’s truly differentiated from any others in its market.
In SaaS today, software is not enough to win and retain customers. The teams and individuals making these purchase decisions don’t put all the weight on features anymore. More and more, they evaluate the people behind the product they’re about to buy. Hence, the deciding factor is not only good tech, but also the support and tailored solutions they know they’ll get with their software contract.
And, when things inevitably go wrong — and they always will — people don’t remember the tech unless it was a truly horrific technological failure. In our case specifically, working in the family office vertical, choosing a vendor, onboarding, and implementing software is a hefty process, and the support teams receive when getting up and running sets a precedent for the rest of the client-vendor relationship.
Above all else, clients will always remember how the software’s team showed up for them.
More than ever, clients want to feel heard, not handled. During a feedback session with one of our clients, Teremity Capital, they shared a frustrating sentiment: that a lot of larger companies are “just looking to make a sale and move on to the next.” This leaves their team feeling unheard and like they’re just another sales number.
That’s why a software vendor that actually listens and acts on these needs is the one that ends up winning.
Further, we’ve seen first-hand that responsiveness, empathy, and commitment can matter more than technical specs. Say you have experience with two different software vendors, Company A and Company B.
Company A has a great suite of features, but its approach to customer experience feels rushed. Their goal seems to be closing tickets quickly, not building a relationship or understanding the bigger picture.
On the other hand, Company B has good features — they’re nothing revolutionary, but they work well. The difference is that Company B is constantly engaging with customers, asking questions, listening, and actually shaping their product based on what they hear.
At the end of the day, the attitude can matter more than the feature set. As there is no perfect solution today, that attitude can make an outsized difference in the long term. Listening, problem-solving thoughtfully, and continuously improving the product based on feedback are what matter. It builds loyalty and an enduring company.
Another important element is the lived experience of the people building your software. Who is on the other side of this application, and have they been in your shoes before? Nowadays, many founders start companies from situations they’ve observed second-hand, and that can cause a gap in understanding what customers truly need.
For example, at SumIt Software, our co-founder and CEO, Alexandre Lin, spent a painful amount of time doing the bookkeeping for his family entities. It added months of unnecessary work and stress, and he knew there had to be a better way than Excel and generic accounting software.
At SumIt, we have made it a priority to hire employees who have accounting backgrounds and can easily connect with fellow accountants. SumIt’s Customer Success Manager, Jared, and Customer Onboarding Specialist, Lauren, both come from accounting backgrounds, with Lauren having spent a few years working in public accounting before joining the team.
This aspect of relatability and lived experience has made a huge difference in client onboarding and relationships. When the customer-facing team knows what users go through in their daily work, that empathy and understanding builds personal trust with clients and continues to win new contracts.
The service aspect of SaaS, i.e., the human element, is going to make or break the experience, and unless your tech is so extraordinary that users have no alternative, they’re going to go where they’re most supported.
In SaaS, the product is no longer just the code and UI. The team standing behind the product is what makes a difference.
