Did you know that you make a first impression only in five seconds?
Well, the first customer experience of your service or product is a slightly longer but just as important journey.
In this article, we delve into the subtleties of customer engagement and explain why it’s the core of reaching the full potential of your customer base.
We’ll uncover the key elements that make the customer onboarding process effective and share best practices for customer onboarding strategy for creating and implementing a successful onboarding experience that wows customers from the start and boosts conversion rates.
What is a customer onboarding process?
In general, the customer onboarding process is when new customers start using your product or service. In this customer experience phase, new customers sign in and learn how to use your service or product, how the product fits into their lives, and what value it can bring to them.
Why is customer onboarding important?
The importance of customer onboarding cannot be overstated.
By simplifying the process of introducing your products to your customers, you provide them with a simple and seamless experience, which in turn builds trust and establishes customer loyalty.
Effective customer onboarding has a direct impact on Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), reduces churn, and can even drive new customers into becoming brand advocates. It is just some of the reasons why it is so important for businesses to engage consumers.
Statistics show that the largest share of revenue comes from existing customers, and satisfied customers can become your main sources of recommendations.
It not only reduces the cost of acquisition but also increases revenue. Overall, user onboarding is crucial for customer retention, leading to business growth.
What is good customer onboarding?
Any business that practices the customer onboarding process helps its client create a solid user onboarding experience and make new users feel comfortable with the service.
Is the quality of customer onboarding important?
Definitely.
A great customer onboarding program includes many elements. Here are some of the main characteristics of a good customer service system.
Clear communication
Customers should communicate clearly and on time so that they understand what to expect, what value they will get, and how to get started.
Personalization
Tailoring the induction process to the specific needs and goals helps to create a sense of importance and shows that their success is a priority.
Step-by-step attitude
Detailed instructions, overviews, and resources help customers understand how to use the service or product effectively, increasing their confidence and reducing frustration.
Proactive support
Providing support during the onboarding process helps to address any questions or problems customers may have and prevents problems from becoming a barrier, ensuring customer success.
Celebrating milestones
Recognizing and celebrating customers’ achievements and the milestones they have reached during their journey can increase their motivation and engagement, and gain loyal customers.
Continuous feedback
Creating channels for customers to provide feedback, share experiences and pain points of customers, and suggest improvements helps the company to refine and improve the onboarding process based on real user insights.
Ongoing training and resources
A guided tutorial, product tour, knowledge bases, webinars, or community forums ensure that customers have access to resources to help them better understand the service or product and provide the most value they get from it.
Progress monitoring
Check-ins with the customer let assess the progress, address concerns, and provide additional support to help maintain an ongoing relationship and ensure all customer expectations are met.
What is a customer onboarding checklist?
Though the customer onboarding process may look like a challenging task, there is a simple checklist that can guide you while establishing a customer onboarding strategy. There is a structured list of onboarding tasks and actions to be carried out:
- Set up an automated welcome email that is sent to a new user signing up.
- Ensure that after two days of user inactivity, a follow-up email is sent to the client, prompting them to log into the software.
- Create a welcome message for the initial login, including a call to action (CTA) directing the user to the first step.
- Produce feature callouts that appear when new users first log in to the app and draw attention to the main features.
- Develop content for empty app states with informative and engaging messages.
- Create a comprehensive knowledge base with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and ensure its frequent updates.
- Schedule tasks for regular follow-up calls or emails to keep in regular contact with new customers.
- Install a celebratory message that is received when a customer reaches an important milestone.
What is an example of a customer onboarding process?
There are various strategies for creating a smooth customer onboarding process and avoiding onboarding flows.
So, where to start?
We offer you a short guideline on how to establish a smoother customer onboarding experience.
Step 1: Welcome email
After customer signs in, they should receive a personalized welcome email thanking them for choosing the service or product and providing important information such as login details and links to crucial resources.
You can choose from various templates or create your unique welcoming letter that suits your preferences and needs as long as it works for you.
In addition, using marketing automation platforms like ConvertKit, MailChimp, or Hubspot frees up valuable time and energy to focus on unleashing creativity and solving critical problems that require a human touch.
Step 2: Video tutorials
In this customer onboarding phase, the company provides training videos explaining how to use the product. These videos are usually available on the company’s website or via a link in the welcome letter.
Step 3: Personalized setup
At this part of the new customer journey, the company offers personalized setup support to get the customer up and running successfully.
The user onboarding process can include new account setup, customization of settings or one-to-one coaching, or a quick call with a customer success team.
Step 4: Educational resources
Educational resources are an important stage of the customer onboarding process. In order to ensure a smooth onboarding process, the company should provide new customers with training resources. It can include articles and blog posts that can help the customer better understand the service or product and how to use it effectively.
It is an additional value and a perfect solution for the most frequently asked questions, allowing new users to solve problems quickly and independently.
Step 5: Periodic check-ups
The company’s customer success manager should frequently contact the user and receive customer feedback on their own onboarding process. They should make sure the customer experience is a positive one and answer any questions or concerns, and keep customers engaged.
Not only does it give the new customer a better understanding of the product, or enhance customer retention, but it also helps to create more value, improve the product or service itself, and avoid customer churn rate.
Step 6: Mini endorsement
These little celebrations are similar to periodic check-ups and yet different. Recognizing achieved customer success is considered a key to keeping them engaged and motivated. Celebrating these milestones with new customers can create excitement and help them feel closer to achieving their goals.
You have several options to express your celebration, such as sending an in-app message, a welcome email, or a quick phone call. By showing a genuine interest in their success, you’ll strengthen customer loyalty and encourage them to continue using your solution.
Remember: there is no one correct way.
This is just one of many models of the customer onboarding process. You can always choose different variations of the different stages of the process based on your needs and the needs and opportunities of your business.
The onboarding process is part of the customer journey
Throughout the entire customer experience, the onboarding process is essential. It symbolizes the beginning of a customer’s contact with a good or service, signifying the change from being a prospective customer to an active user.
The onboarding procedure establishes the tone for the whole relationship between the customer and the company as part of the customer journey.
By ensuring that customers know how to use the product or service efficiently, addressing any early concerns, and laying a solid platform for further participation, it seeks to deliver a seamless and positive experience.
An effective onboarding procedure guides clients through the initial phases of their journey, building confidence and trust while setting the foundation for enduring happiness and creating loyal customers.
Each touchpoint throughout the customer onboarding paves the way for additional encounters and presents possibilities for organizations to further improve customer satisfaction, drive value, and cultivate strong connections.
TOP 3 customer onboarding software
Customer onboarding software, sometimes referred to as a digital adoption platform or customer onboarding platform, is a tool made to speed up and improve the procedure for assisting and guiding new clients.
The software enhances the user experience for consumers and provides a range of onboarding assistance options, such as email, live chat, and tutorials. In this case, businesses may effectively manage and automate many areas of the onboarding process using this single platform.
With the aid of these tools, any business can design individualized onboarding processes, present step-by-step instructions, and offer appropriate resources to aid clients in swiftly and successfully adopting their goods or service.
This customer onboarding tool not only handles the bulk of the work and serves as an excellent project management tool, but it also enhances the client retention of your companies.
Here are a few tools for the smooth new customer onboarding experience of your business:
HubSpot
HubSpot is the leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform offering a set of marketing, sales, customer service, and customer engagement tools.
This software is widely recognized for its enhanced user interface and marketing approach and provides businesses with the tools to attract, engage and delight customers.
In addition, HubSpot lets businesses create automated email sequences to guide customers through the onboarding process. It helps ensure consistent communication and timely delivery of relevant information.
HubSpot enables businesses to segment customers based on criteria and provides a personalized onboarding experience tailored to their specific needs and interests.
Furthermore, with HubSpot’s workflow automation feature, any business can automate and streamline tasks and processes related to the recruitment process, such as assigning customer tasks, sending notifications, and tracking progress.
HubSpot also provides features to create a knowledge base or help point out where a business can pull together resources, FAQs, and educational content to help customers through an onboarding process.
One of the most important features – HubSpot offers comprehensive reporting and analysis. It lets companies monitor and measure the customer-defined success of their onboarding efforts. It helps identify areas for improvement and optimize the onboarding process to achieve better results.
This software has a free plan, but a credit card is required if you wish to use more features. Initial packages cost USD 45 per month. Professional packages cost $1600/month, and Enterprise plans cost $4000/month.
Arrow
Arrows is a visual tool for collaboration and communication that helps teams simplify workflows, improve collaboration and project management.
Arrows stand out because it allows users to create visual representations of their ideas, processes, and projects. Users may design diagrams and flow charts to illustrate workflows, organize information and convey complex concepts more clearly and effectively.
Also, Arrows offers real-time collaboration features that allow team members to work together in real time. Users can invite team members, share documents and work together on projects to encourage effective communication and improve teamwork.
Arrows integrate with other popular platforms, enabling seamless data sharing and workflow integration. It also offers automation features to simplify repetitive tasks and increase productivity.
Furthermore, Arrows allows users to easily share visual content with team members, stakeholders, or clients. Users can create shareable links or export visuals in a variety of formats, making it easy to collaborate and showcase their work to others. It is crucial for customer onboarding.
You can get a free plan if you connect your HubSpot account. Paid plans start at $300 per month.
Userlane
Userlane is a digital onboarding platform designed to help companies improve user, engagement, onboarding, and training. It is a detailed guidance solution to help users navigate complex workflows, applications, and software platforms.
Userlane offers guided tours that provide users with detailed recommendations on how to complete each task. These tours can be tailored according to different user roles, skill levels, and preferences. This feature aims to help users learn new processes and master new tools.
It also provides a personalized learning experience based on user behavior and performance data. It tailors instructions based on the user’s skill level, needs, and learning style, thus ensuring a more efficient and effective onboarding process.
Userlane also automates the recruitment and training process. This reduces the time and resources needed to place new users in employment. The platform allows the creation and delivery of personalized learning experiences on a large scale, allowing team members to focus on more strategic tasks.
In addition, the software has analytics and insights into user behavior, performance, and engagement. Using these, companies can optimize their recruitment and training programs. Users can track progress, identify knowledge gaps and measure the return on their induction training efforts.
One of the benefits of Userline is that it integrates with other popular platforms, including CRM, LMS, and HR systems, making it easy to integrate into existing workflows. The platform is also highly customizable and adaptable, allowing companies to create guidelines and content.
The pricing of this software is available upon request.
Conclusions
Customer onboarding is a complex element of a successful business strategy in today’s cut-throat marketplace.
Businesses can foster long-term relationships, boost customer loyalty, reduce churn rate, and ultimately spur growth by devoting the time and effort necessary to develop a seamless onboarding experience for new clients.
Companies can design a remarkable onboarding process that sets the tone for the entire journey of the customer and guarantees a successful and positive experience for both customers and the business with the right techniques.