What does the "service" component of SaaS businesses look like to you?

Having someone to email or talk to when I get stuck in the digital experience! This has usually happened to me when facing particular edge case situations (imagine the difference between booking a standard trip at an airline's website vs. when there's been missed flights / urgent deadlines / etc. situations). I've had wonderful experiences with both Wealthfront (www.wealthfront.com) and Carta (carta.com) in this regard.

In my opinion, adding a service component to a SaaS offering is most crucial when the underlying problem requires a certain degree of technical expertise. One related company supporting customers through a hybrid software/services offering in the accounting space is Trullion (https://trullion.com/). Trullion's model is particularly crucial in addressing the complex areas of lease accounting and revenue recognition. Their AI tool automates the technical requirements related to these areas, but due to the intricate nature of the subject matter, customers commonly also require additional support in the form of expert guidance. This is where Trullion's access to accounting partners becomes invaluable, as they provide guidance on best practices and help interpret technical the accounting jargon.

When I think of "service" in a SaaS business, it's not the ease of functionality, it's definitely the human element involved to help onboard the end users, provide best practices and opportunities to connect with other customers and peers and share ideas, and problem solving when (inevitably) something goes wrong on my end or theirs.