Some feature requests are in direct opposition to the direction you wish to take your company. Many of them are items you had planned to construct in the first place. However, some of them are both surprising and great. Regardless of the quality or kind of feature requests that consumers make, you must respond to them. You must react, thank the consumer for their input, and eventually determine what to do with the suggestion. You want to perform all of this in SaaS because you’re establishing a SaaS product. 

The following is a list of topics covered in this article: 

1. There are three primary categories of feature requests. 
2. How can I compile all of my feature requests into one place? 
3. Why should you urge other users to upvote and comment on your posts? 
4. There are five different techniques to rank feature requests. 
5. How to make your screening process more systematic

1. Three primary categories of feature requests. 

•  Enhancements to a product or feature 

Many feature requests are for enhancements to existing goods or features. An email service provider whose customer requests a data import functionality with automated field matching is a good illustration of this.

•  Issues and bugs 

A user may report a bug or issue to the feature request channel you’ve set up. Even though you have a customer service channel, some consumers will utilize your suggestion board to report an issue. When this happens, take it off the board and have someone from support contact the consumer

• New features or goods 

Completely new features—or perhaps entirely new products—are the third category of feature requests. Some of these brand-new feature requests will align with your SaaS company goal, while others may not.

2. How can I compile all of my feature requests into one place? 

You need to collect all of these sorts of feature requests in one tool to deal with them efficiently (as much as possible). Provide a dedicated location for users and customers to leave comments and suggestions. If you don’t set up a dedicated communication channel for this, you’ll get these ideas via customer support, which is difficult for product managers to access. In essence, you should complete the feedback loop and connect your consumers with the people who make decisions about your product plan.

3. Why should you urge other users to upvote and comment on your posts? 

Customers should be able to view what other users have recommended inside the suggestion board. This allows them to see if the idea they wish to contribute has already been submitted. They may also leave comments and upvotes on other people’s ideas. 

Allow consumers to remark on and upvote ideas in your marketing materials so they don’t feel obligated to come up with anything fresh. You’ll get a better idea of which feature requests are popular if you encourage people to upvote and comment. Of course, that isn’t the only criterion you should consider. We’ll go through each significant factor to consider when prioritizing and refusing feature requests in the sections below.

4. 4 Ways to prioritize feature requests:

1. When you get a feature request, you need to make a decision:
2. Build it soon Build it later
3. Re-consider it later
4. Most likely never build it

The most essential screening elements to consider while making this selection are listed below.

• Comments and upvotes from other people 

You might start by looking at other users’ upvotes and comments. If you get 5 to 15 upvotes, or perhaps more, you might want to give that suggestion some more thought. Similarly, if a large number of people remark on a feature and explain why they need it and why it’s vital, it’s a strong indication that the feature is significant. They’ve taken the time to explain why they, too, require the functionality.

• Adherence to the present plan 

You may create a SaaS monster if you build what everyone wants (also known as committing feature to overwhelm). Examining how well an idea fits into your present roadmap is one smart method to approve it. If you were already intending to construct a tool to incorporate Google reviews, you might as well include a function to embed Yelp reviews as well. It might make sense to build a feature request if it’s a simple or related addition to something you’re already working on. You won’t irritate customers by releasing something that is almost—but not quite—what they wanted.

• Ideal Client profiles are aligned 

How closely does this concept correspond to your ICP? Is the individual who came up with the concept a good match for your ICP? If not (the user has a small number of workers, or the persona is slightly different, etc. ), you should reconsider the notion. Make sure it’s something your ICP need.

• 4. Profit potential vs. cost 

How much would you have to put into this request, and how much would you be able to gain in return in terms of membership upgrades or new market access? You can learn a lot about your rivals’ triumphs via podcasts, media coverage, and social media dialogues.

• Profitability vs. cost 

How much time and effort would you have to invest into this request, and how much would you be able to get in terms of membership upgrades or new market access in return? Podcasts, media coverage, and social media conversations may teach you a lot about your competitors’ victories.

5. How to make your screening process more systematic:

Step 1: React 

1. To begin, react to the concept: 
2. Thank you to the individual who submitted the suggestion. 
3. Let them know whether a speedy response is possible (it’s already on the schedule). 
4. If you need to think about it further, tell them you’ll get back to them in a few weeks after consulting with the team. 
5. If you want further information, inquire with the customer. 

Step 2: Go over your prioritizing criteria again. 

1. It’s now time to go through your criteria again. (The vetting requirements are outlined in the preceding section.) Take into account things like roadmap alignment, cost investment, vertical and ICP targeting, competition features, and so forth.

Step 3: Respond again, this time categorizing the notion based on your selection. 

1. Then, if the notion hasn’t been addressed yet, answer again with a fast first response. Tell the customer whether or not you’re going to construct it and why. Then, in the proper column, move the concept so that other consumers are aware of it.

Step 4: Construct it, shelve it, or revisit it later. 

1. If you choose to reconsider it later, make sure you have a strategy in place. We retain an “Under contemplation” category at Frill so that we may save ideas that we want to revisit later. 

Step 5: Make sure your roadmap is visible to your customers. 

1. Customers will notice that you are a customer-centric organization if you have a public roadmap. It also allows them to double-check for crucial features. This may result in a significant reduction in churn. 
2. Check to see if the idea board you’re using has a public view roadmap so that new ideas may be quickly posted.

Step 6: Make it available to a select group of people, or everyone. 

1. You should provide fixes and necessary requests to all of your users. However, you may test most feature requests on a small group of people first and receive feedback before pushing them out to everyone. If you have corporate clients, you might limit access to certain services to those accounts alone. 

Step 7: Make an announcement! (no matter how little)  

1. Make sure you have a product announcements page where users can access product updates at any time. To keep an interesting diary of updates, we use Frill’s Announcements function. And, for major announcements, we’ll send out an email with a link to the announcement site, where users may discover more details and gifs. The main point to remember is this: It’s all up to you. You have complete control over which features are prioritized. Just make sure you have a single location where you can gather and communicate these ideas so you can focus on vetting rather than squabbling.