Eight Essential Customer Onboarding Practices

If customers cannot use your product, then they may learn that they can do without it. Worse, they may find a competing product that they CAN use successfully. Both of these outcomes pose risks to Customer Success and recurring revenue—risks that effective customer onboarding practices can avert.

A successful customer onboarding process is the vital first stage of any productive, long-term customer relationships. It demonstrates your company’s commitment to setting up customers to use and adopt their new product as needed to achieve their desired outcomes — of setting them up for Success!

 Customer onboarding can occur via automated or guided processes. In either case, the core goals are:

• helping customers engage with your products by eliminating barriers to use
• introducing them to necessary self-help, assisted support, and training resources that can help assure continued Customer Success

To accelerate customer time-to-value, sustain long-term relationships, and advance recurring revenue goals, implement these eight proven customer onboarding practices:

1. Communicate with all new customers. Use automated (e-mail, recorded videos) and guided (phone, video conference, on-site, in-program) methods to initiate contact.
2. For customers with named or assigned account resources (TAMs, CSMs, etc.), introduce the customer to the account team and share contact information.
3. Assess the customer’s ability to access and apply products.
4. Identify and remove barriers that may inhibit initial use of the product with setup assistance, training, support, and recommendations for self-help or self-guided resources.
5. Introduce customers to the services they are entitled to through a welcome kit that describes service program entitlements, including steps for getting help, and how to submit new support cases.
6. Communicate expectations, responsibilities, and timeline for major onboarding milestones to ensure the best possible time to value.
7. Establish outcomes and milestones and monitor customer adoption progress to ensure successful initial onboarding.
8. Assess customer expected outcomes and begin development of adoption and success plans.

How effective are your current customer onboarding practices?

We can help you make them better

Reach out anytime to get answers and insights about the best ways to engage and retain your customers. Use the chat button at bottom right, send an e-mail, or click on my calendar to schedule a specific time to talk.