One of the things every product manager needs is excellent tools in everyday work. Some of the most used tools are roadmapping and product analytics software.
However, for most SaaS product managers, more than these are needed to cover all the areas and responsibilities in everyday work. Here are the tools every SaaS product manager needs to have.
What Does the SaaS Product Manager Do?
Let’s start by explaining what a product manager is. It is a professional in charge of developing the product for a company while following customers’ needs. A product manager needs to understand why customers buy certain products and what the competition is doing.
A SaaS product manager does similar work, only with Software as a Service (SaaS) products. The key difference is that the focus of a SaaS manager is to create an excellent customer experience and anticipate customer needs in order to design features that will meet them. Also, the SaaS product manager focuses on developing processes that will deliver products quickly and easily.
Customer Survey and NPS Tools for Obtaining Feedback From Customers
One of the essential tools product managers must use are the surveys they send to customers to obtain feedback on their product. With the survey data, product managers can improve their overall customer experience and product features to meet the customers’ needs.
The most popular web-based survey tools most SaaS product managers use are SurveyMonkey or Typeform. Both are excellent since they already have pre-formatted questions you can easily change to create your desired survey.
Another great tool based on NPS or Net Promoter Score is AskNicely. It’s online survey software that can help managers collect customer feedback in real-time.
Product Analytics Tools Analyze Customers’ Interaction With a Products
Other must-have tools for SaaS managers include product analytics tools. These tools are the best way to get objective insights and customer feedback about certain digital products. Product analytics software helps managers collect data about how their customers interact with particular features of their digital products.
With collected data, product managers can develop products that enhance the customer experience. Amplitude analytics tool provides real-time analytics and cross-platform tracking, while Mixpanel is an excellent tool for those who primarily analyze collected data. InnerTrends is a tool that can help you target the changes you need to make to your digital product or app.
Roadmapping & Feature Request Tools Every SaaS Product Manager Must Have
Roadmapping software is one of the most important tools managers must have to communicate the strategy and plans for digital products successfully. One of the most user-friendly road mapping software programs is ProductPlan.
The platform allows managers to build roadmaps and collaborate with other team members. The platform has customizable layouts and unlimited roadmaps you can share among the users.
Regarding feature request tools, the one that stood out the most is the Noora HQ tool, which allows you to collect feedback from your users and team members. Through this platform, users can vote on feature requests to highlight the most crucial aspect of your product that needs fixing or changing.
Best Industry Analyst Accounts
Another critical aspect of the product manager’s task is staying updated with recent industry trends and observing the competition, market, and niche in order to move their product forward. Among the best platforms that allow you to take a look at the competition and get customer reviews are Capterra and G2.
Both platforms allow users to search among thousands of digital products, rate them, and leave reviews.
Process Wireframing Tools to Develop Your Idea Easily
A good wireframing tool allows the product manager to easily collect feedback from the team members and other stakeholders about the design and look of their digital product before the development stage starts.
Figma is an online wireframing tool that allows you to easily communicate your idea and get live feedback from other team members.
Miro is another great wireframing tool that helps you to make app and website wireframing templates you can share among team members. It also has a UI library that allows you to instantly create lo-fi prototypes for a website without any design experience.
Project Management Tools You Need for More Efficiency
SaaS products demand good organization since you, as a product manager, will be in charge of the whole process. Project management tools are there to help you track and document your project’s details and tasks.
Tools like Trello and Asana are great for keeping track of multiple tasks and team members at once and knowing at any time at what stage your product is.
Heatmapping & Session Recording Tools to Get the Best Insight Into Product Experience
With heatmapping and session recording tools, product managers can get an insight into the user’s experience on their apps or websites. The heatmapping tool collects data to help you know what users on your website are looking for most.
Tools like FullStory, SmartLook, and Hotjar can give you visual insights into customers’ behavior and suggest what changes you need to make to level up your user experience.
Video Recording Tools for an Easy Introduction to the Product
Instead of having animation videos that explain certain products or services you provide, the better option is to create in-person videos. They are considered to be more compelling to the users. To create videos of your product, you can use tools like Loom and Vidyard, which are excellent screen recording tools.
User Onboarding Tools Will Help Your Users to Get on Board Quickly
Product managers use user onboarding software to create user-friendly walkthroughs of the product for every new user. UserGuiding, Stoonly, and UserPilot are great tools that collect live data from users to create customized interactive onboard tours for every user. A good onboarding tour is vital for each user’s thorough and efficient product introduction.
Wiki & Idea Capturing Tools for Better Productivity
You never know when a great idea will strike you or some of your teammates. To capture that idea and make it a reality, you need a way to write it down, so it doesn’t get lost.
Yes, you can use pen and paper for this purpose, but you will be more organized if you have one place where you capture all the ideas and notes.
Also, to maintain productivity, you need to organize your everyday work in the best possible way. With tools like Workflowy and Notion, you can do precisely that. These tools can combine all your apps in one place and help you stay connected with your team and ongoing projects.
To Conclude, SaaS Product Management Tools Will Make Your Life Easier
Ultimately, a good SaaS product manager is as good as their tools.
As you can see, to create a good SaaS product, you need to dig deep and do constant analytics so you can build better features in the future. By analyzing and monitoring customer feedback and behavior patterns, you can identify opportunities and stay in tune with your customers’ needs.
With the help of the right tools, not only can you boost your efficiency, but also easily obtain a vast amount of data that can help you to create a competitive product that stands out from the crowd and earns only rave reviews.
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