2025 state of customer experience in software & SaaS

How leading software companies turn real-time feedback into better products, stronger teams, and higher customer loyalty.

In Software & SaaS, every interaction, from logging into a platform for the first time to onboarding a new feature or reaching out to support, shapes how users perceive your product and whether they stick around. In subscription-based models, where switching costs are low and competitors are just a click away, delivering consistently great experiences is mission-critical for retention, growth, and long-term success.

To understand how SaaS companies are meeting these expectations, we surveyed 105 executives across B2B and B2C software companies. Our research explored how organizations collect customer feedback, track key CX metrics, empower employees, and use insights to drive improvements in both product and service.

The findings reveal a clear picture: nearly every SaaS organization recognizes the value of listening to customers, yet there’s a wide gap between collecting feedback and turning it into meaningful, timely action. 

How software and SaaS companies are listening to customers

Collecting feedback is the first step toward creating better, more user-focused experiences, and SaaS organizations are investing in multiple channels to hear from their customers wherever they interact with the product. Our survey shows a strong commitment to listening:

• Email surveys — 87%: Still the most common method, capturing structured insights after key interactions or feature releases.

• In-app surveys — 76%: Reflecting the digital-first nature of SaaS, these surveys provide contextual feedback exactly where users engage with the product.

• SMS surveys — 64%: A convenient way to reach users quickly, particularly for mobile-first applications.

• Phone interviews — 51%: Often used for enterprise accounts or complex onboarding, providing deeper qualitative insights.

• Social media monitoring — 80%: Customers increasingly voice satisfaction—or frustration—on public platforms, making reputation management critical.

• Other methods — 1%

• Do not collect feedback — 0%

Key takeaway: SaaS companies recognize that feedback must be collected across multiple channels to capture the full customer experience. Relying on a single channel risks missing critical touchpoints, from product adoption to support interactions, where friction can erode satisfaction and loyalty.

Measuring what matters: The CX metrics SaaS companies track

Collecting feedback is only valuable if it’s measured and analyzed effectively. In SaaS, organizations track a mix of metrics that capture both immediate satisfaction and long-term customer health:

• Customer satisfaction core (CSAT) — 87%: Measures users’ immediate impressions after interacting with support, onboarding, or using key features.
  
  
• Customer retention rate — 70%: Tracks how well customers stay subscribed over time, a critical metric in recurring revenue models.
  
  
• Customer effort score (CES) — 66%: Assesses how easy it is for customers to accomplish tasks like onboarding, upgrading, or resolving issues.
  
  
• Net promoter score (NPS) — 47%: Indicates users’ likelihood to recommend the product to peers, reflecting long-term advocacy potential.
  
  
• Customer lifetime value (CLV) — 58%: Helps SaaS organizations prioritize resources toward high-value customers and understand the financial impact of satisfaction and loyalty.
  

Key takeaway: SaaS companies are balancing short-term satisfaction metrics (CSAT, CES) with longer-term loyalty and business impact metrics (NPS, retention, CLV). Tracking a combination of these allows organizations to identify friction points, make informed product or service improvements, and ultimately reduce churn while maximizing growth.

Surveying customers: Timing and response rates

When it comes to SaaS, the timing and frequency of surveys can make a big difference in the quality of feedback and how quickly it can be acted on. Our research shows how often organizations reach out to their users and what kind of response they see:

Survey frequency:

• After every interaction — 32%
• Monthly — 47%
• Quarterly — 11%
• Annually — 9%
• Other — 1%
  

Average response rates:

• 0–10% — 1%
• 11–25% — 10%
• 26–50% — 32%
• 51–75% — 40%
• 76–100% — 17%
  

Key takeaway: Monthly surveys are the most common, but they risk missing real-time opportunities to improve experiences. Feedback collected immediately after product interactions, feature launches, or support tickets allows teams to address issues quickly, prevent churn, and reinforce positive behaviors. Keeping surveys short, focused, and contextual helps maximize response rates and capture actionable insights.

Turning feedback into action

SaaS organizations are taking a variety of steps to ensure customer insights translate into better product experiences, support, and overall retention:

• Implementing improvements — 71%: Adjusting product features, workflows, or support processes based on feedback.
  
  
• Sharing insights across teams — 70%: Ensuring relevant departments, from product to customer success, have access to actionable feedback.
  
  
• Employee training — 66%: Using feedback to refine onboarding, support skills, and product knowledge.
  
  
• Following up with customers — 67%: Acknowledging concerns, clarifying issues, or celebrating positive experiences.
  
  
• Integrating feedback into strategic planning — 60%: Leveraging insights to guide roadmap decisions, feature prioritization, and business initiatives.
  

Key takeaway: SaaS companies that systematically act on feedback not only improve customer experience but also create a culture where insights are connected directly to product evolution, support excellence, and business growth.

Empowering teams through feedback

Frontline teams (customer success managers, support agents, and product specialists) are the ones shaping day-to-day experiences in SaaS. Our research shows that when employees are actively involved in the feedback process, both customer satisfaction and team performance improve:

• Performance reviews & goal setting — 77%: Feedback informs objectives that align with customer experience priorities.
  
  
• Real-time access to feedback — 70%: Teams can adjust approaches immediately, improving interactions in the moment.
  
  
• Feedback-based incentives or bonuses — 68%: Recognizing customer-focused behaviors motivates employees to consistently deliver excellent service.
  
  
• Recognition programs — 48%: Celebrating achievements reinforces a culture of customer-centricity.
  
  
• Training — 57%: Insights guide skill development, ensuring teams are equipped to resolve issues and enhance experiences.
  

Key takeaway: When employees see the direct impact of their work on customer satisfaction, they’re better positioned to personalize interactions, solve problems proactively, and contribute to overall business growth. Empowered teams create a positive feedback loop, better service leads to happier customers, which in turn motivates employees.

From insights to strategy: Managing feedback across teams

Turning feedback into actionable insights across multiple teams and locations is what separates high-performing SaaS organizations from the rest. Our survey shows a mix of approaches:

How feedback is coordinated:

• Regular cross-functional meetings or huddles — 20%
• Centralized feedback management systems — 21%
• Automated feedback distribution — 6%
• Department- or location-specific action plans — 26%
  Integration of feedback into team KPIs — 28%
  

Analysis approaches:

• Basic manual review — 30%
• Intermediate (trend identification, sentiment analysis) — 25%
• Advanced (AI-driven themes, predictive analytics) — 31%
• Fully integrated real-time systems — 15%
  

Key takeaway: Many SaaS companies still face fragmentation, with feedback living in silos across product, support, and customer success. Organizations that centralize and analyze insights (especially using advanced tools) can detect patterns faster, address recurring issues proactively, and make strategic decisions that improve both the customer experience and business outcomes.

‍Customer experience as a growth engine

In SaaS, customer experience isn’t just about satisfaction in the moment, it directly influences retention, expansion, and revenue. Our research shows that nearly all SaaS executives (95%) see a clear link between CX metrics and business growth objectives.

Metrics tied to growth:

• CSAT — 73%
• CLV — 65%
• CES — 60%
• NPS — 45%

Measuring ROI of CX initiatives:

• Increased revenue — 77%
• Higher customer acquisition — 83%
• Reduced churn — 38%

Challenges:

• Data integration — 61%
• Aligning departments — 50%
• Insufficient analytics — 46%
• Lack of executive buy-in — 34%

Key takeaway: SaaS organizations that tie feedback to actionable metrics gain a competitive edge. By linking CX improvements to measurable outcomes, like retention, advocacy, and revenue, they can justify investment in experience initiatives and make more informed product and operational decisions.

How Sangoma transformed CX through centralization, coaching, and cultural alignment

Many of the trends uncovered in our research come to life in the experience of Sangoma Technologies Corporation, a global provider of unified communications solutions serving more than 100,000 customers across 187 countries. Like many SaaS organizations, Sangoma set out to reduce churn, strengthen customer relationships, and build a more consistent service experience across a large, distributed team. Their challenge was familiar: feedback lived in silos, coaching rhythms varied by team, and leadership lacked a unified view of what was driving customer loyalty—or customer frustration.

By centralizing their voice-of-customer program and adopting a daily feedback loop, Sangoma shifted from reactive problem-solving to proactive, insight-led improvement. Teams at every level, from frontline support agents to the executive suite, gained real-time visibility into NPS and CSAT data, enabling faster coaching, more aligned decision-making, and clearer accountability for outcomes. This mirrors a key trend in our data: SaaS companies that democratize feedback and empower frontline teams see the greatest improvements in both customer satisfaction and internal performance.

Sangoma’s results were significant. Within their first year of operationalizing feedback, they increased NPS by 28.9 points and lifted CSAT from 73.8% to 94.6%, while reducing the number of agents falling below their performance benchmark from 56 to just 17. These gains weren’t driven by one-off projects—they came from consistent coaching, cross-functional visibility, and leadership engagement grounded in customer insights. Their “One Sangoma” initiative unified teams across product, support, and success around a shared CX standard, reinforcing another trend from our research: organizations that embed CX into culture, not just process, achieve faster and more sustainable improvements.

Sangoma’s transformation underscores the key message of this year’s SaaS CX landscape: collecting feedback isn’t enough. The real competitive advantage comes from operationalizing insights, closing loops quickly, using data to drive coaching and strategic decisions, and aligning teams around a common definition of excellence. As more SaaS companies adopt similar models, these practices are quickly becoming essential for reducing churn, strengthening customer trust, and driving long-term growth.

Read the full customer story here. 

Key lessons and opportunities for SaaS companies

The research highlights that in Software & SaaS, customer experience is a powerful growth lever. Companies that successfully integrate feedback, empower teams, and act quickly on insights can improve retention, drive advocacy, and accelerate product success.

Key lessons:

• Act quickly on feedback: Collecting insights is essential, but the impact comes from timely action. Use closed-loop systems to ensure feedback reaches the right teams and drives meaningful improvements.
  
  
• Empower frontline teams: Customer success, support, and product specialists shape every user interaction. Provide real-time feedback, coaching, and recognition to ensure consistent, excellent service.
  
  
• Centralize and analyze data: Feedback often exists in silos across email, in-app, support tickets, and social channels. Centralizing insights allows teams to spot trends, act proactively, and make data-driven decisions.
  
  
• Align CX with business objectives: Tie metrics like CSAT, NPS, CES, and CLV to retention, revenue, and growth goals to demonstrate the value of CX investments.
  
  
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement: Customer expectations evolve quickly in SaaS. Encourage teams to treat feedback as a learning opportunity and celebrate progress to sustain engagement and innovation.
  

Opportunity: By systematically listening to customers, acting on insights, and linking CX to growth, SaaS companies can not only improve satisfaction but also strengthen product adoption, reduce churn, and drive scalable revenue growth.

Elevate your SaaS customer experience today

AskNicely helps organizations collect real-time feedback, empower teams, and turn insights into action across product, support, and customer success.

With AskNicely, you can:

• Close the loop quickly: Address customer concerns and celebrate positive experiences in real time.
  
  
• Empower employees: Give teams visibility into feedback, actionable coaching tips, and recognition programs that motivate excellence.
  
  
• Spot trends early: Consolidate insights across channels to make informed, proactive decisions.
  
  
• Link CX to business outcomes: Connect feedback to metrics like CSAT, NPS, retention, and revenue growth.
  
  

By integrating feedback into every aspect of your SaaS operations, you can improve product adoption, reduce churn, and create loyal advocates who fuel long-term growth.

Ready to turn customer feedback into a growth engine? Learn more here.