Case Study: Basecone

Basecone, a leading provider of pre-accounting software, is part of Wolters Kluwer and specialises in simplifying the accounting process for SMEs and accountants. The company has grown rapidly since its inception in 2013, helping users automate tedious tasks like manual receipt input. In 2020, Basecone significantly shifted from focusing solely on support to embracing a robust customer success strategy, partnering with Saascollective/Revguides to guide this transformation.

The Challenge: Strengthening Customer Success to Drive Growth

Basecone was initially focused on acquiring new customers, with minimal attention paid to existing ones. Their customer success processes approach was still reactive and incomplete, and the team lacked solid frameworks for supporting their growing base. Cees Houpt, head of customer success/sales at Basecone, explains:
“We started the engagement with Saascollective by putting our people through a customer success training course. Afterwards, we followed up with a comprehensive CS assessment to evaluate the quality of our customer success processes. The results were eye-opening.”

The assessment revealed several key challenges:

• An absence of solid customer success processes.
• A disproportionate focus on acquiring new customers, neglecting the existing customer base.
• The need for better support and attention to existing customers to foster retention and growth.

The Solution: Strategic Support from RevGuides

Saascollective, now known as RevGuides, immediately began working with Basecone to address these gaps. The first step involved implementing onboarding playbooks to standardize customer interactions and ensure a consistent and high-quality experience. This was followed by more comprehensive support in setting up customer success structures for Basecone’s other entities, including Twinfield.

Additionally, RevGuides provided data consultancy to improve reporting capabilities. They built a QBR (Quarterly Business Review) report that significantly reduced manual work, freeing up time and improving the quality of insights shared with customers.

Data-Driven Insights: A Game Changer for Customer Success

One of the most significant hurdles Basecone faced was the lack of actionable insights from their data. Existing reports were difficult to generate and lacked the detail needed for effective QBRs. RevGuides stepped in to automate data retrieval and enhance the layout and usability of these reports, ensuring they were more insightful and easier to understand for end-users.

The results were immediate:

• The time required to prepare a QBR was reduced from 3 hours to just 10 minutes.
• The new QBR reports opened up new upsell opportunities by providing valuable insights directly to customers, fostering deeper relationships and customer satisfaction.

Building a Scalable Data Strategy

Basecone’s growth also required a more structured approach to data Basecone’s growth also required a more structured approach to data management. The company had vast amounts of data but struggled with accessibility and integration. RevGuides helped Basecone develop a pan-European customer data strategy and set up a data warehouse, aligning IT, sales, compliance, and business intelligence teams to work towards a unified goal.

By streamlining data accessibility, Basecone was able to make more informed decisions and respond proactively to customer needs, further enhancing its customer success efforts.

Client Feedback: Why Basecone Recommends RevGuides

When asked about their experience with RevGuides, Cees Houpt shared:
“I would recommend RevGuides to B2B companies with a solid customer base that are looking to maximize lifetime value and improve customer retention. If you’re struggling with upsell opportunities or adoption, their expertise is invaluable. They’ve helped us scale efficiently, and the creation of playbooks has been key to standardizing our processes.”

Cees also emphasized the value of RevGuides’ quick, effective implementation:
“The assessments provided by Revguides were incredibly insightful. The team at RevGuides has extensive SaaS and customer success experience, and it shows. Their solutions were not only practical but also easy to implement.”

Key Results: Impact on NRR and Business Growth

The partnership between Basecone and RevGuides led to substantial improvements in key business metrics, particularly in Net Revenue Retention (NRR):

• Added Revenue: A significant increase in monthly recurring revenue (MRR).
• NPS Increase: Significant improvement in Net Promoter Score, indicating higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• NRR Growth: A noticeable increase in NRR, driven by improved customer retention and upsell opportunities.

The Best Aspects of Working with RevGuides

Basecone’s success story highlights the profound impact RevGuides had on both their customer success processes and bottom line. The combination of expert advice, streamlined systems, and a focus on data-driven insights enabled Basecone to scale efficiently, create new revenue streams, and enhance the lifetime value of their customers.

Cees concludes:
“RevGuides has been an essential partner in our growth journey. Their ability to implement effective processes and extract actionable insights from our data has transformed the way we approach customer success. With their support, we’re not just focusing on retaining customers—we’re creating long-term value that drives growth for Basecone.”