Onboarding Clients With Different Needs And Goals

When I was head of growth, our team reached 40% activation rates, and onboarded hundreds of thousands of new users. Without knowing it, we discovered a framework. Here are the 6 steps we followed. 1. Define value: Successful onboarding is typically judged by new user activation rates. But what is activation? The moment users receive value. Reaching it should lead to higher retention & conversion to paid plans. First define it. Then get new users there. 2. Deliver value, quickly Revisit your flow and make sure it gets users to the activation moment fast. Remove unnecessary steps, complexity, and distractions along the way. Not sure how to start? Try reducing time (or steps) to activate by 50%. 3. Motivate users to action: Don't settle for simple. Look for sticking points in the user experience you can solve with microcopy, empty states, tours, email flows, etc. Then remind users what to do next with on-demand checklists, progress bars, & milestone celebrations. 4. Customize the experience: Ditch the one-size fits all approach. Learn about your different use cases. Then, create different product "recipes" to help users achieve their specific goals. 5. Start in the middle: Solve for the biggest user pain points stopping users from starting. Lean on customizable templates and pre-made playbooks to help people go 0-1 faster. 6. Build momentum pre-signup: Create ways for website visitors to start interacting with the product - and building momentum, before they fill out any forms. This means that you'll deliver value sooner, and to more people. Keep it simple. Learn what's valuable to users. Then deliver value on their terms.

I improved retention and onboarding success by making a change to the first step in the onboarding process. A few years (and a few companies) ago, I made a small tweak to the way we onboarded new customers—a tweak that ended up making all the difference. We stopped diving headfirst into the technical implementation. Instead, we started with what I called a Partnership Kickoff. This one shift transformed the customer experience, boosting retention and improving onboarding success rates. Here’s why: The Partnership Kickoff brought intention to the relationship right from day one. Instead of rushing to “get things done,” we: 1️⃣ Engaged all the key stakeholders in the partnership 2️⃣ Discussed goals and confirmed success criteria upfront 3️⃣ Set proper expectations on BOTH sides 4️⃣ Clarified roles and responsibilities for onboarding and beyond 5️⃣ Created space to ask questions and address concerns This wasn’t just a feel-good meeting. It was about getting ahead of risks, ensuring alignment, and setting the stage for success. Here’s the secret sauce: ⚫️ Set expectations early Sales aligned on the importance of this meeting, and CSMs communicated the who, what, and why in their first email. ⚫️ Use a New Customer Intake Form We asked customers to provide key information upfront—no assumptions or overreliance on Sales handoffs. ⚫️ Prep the right way Sending the kickoff deck in advance meant our meeting focused on conversation, not presentations. ⚫️ Lead with goals and expectations Capturing customer goals was the priority, setting the tone for how we’d measure success. ⚫️ Clarify next steps We left every kickoff aligned on what happens next and who’s doing what. The result? Customers felt heard, understood, and set up for success. It wasn’t magic, but it sure felt like it. That small change? It delivered BIG impact—the kind every CS leader dreams about. Are you being intentional about how you’re starting your partnerships? If not, maybe it’s time to rethink step one. ________ 📣 If you liked my post, you’ll love my newsletter. Every week I share my learning, advice and strategies from my experience going from a CSM to CCO. Join 12k+ subscribers of The Journey and turn insights into action. Sign up on my profile.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 I asked the founder of a million-dollar app, OneClick App, how they onboard their clients like Chik-Fil-A. They went from endless customer support with onboarding that would drag on for months to a process that was much faster and set their clients up for success.. Here's what they do: • 𝟰𝟱-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 tailored to the client’s needs. • 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 for ongoing support. • 𝟯𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 to ensure they’re up and running smoothly. • $𝟰𝟵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 after the first month. The big shift? 1️⃣ They capped the time clients had unlimited support to 30 days. This incentivized fast action on the client’s end, making them more likely to stick with the product in the long term. 2️⃣ They customized the onboarding path. Instead of a cookie-cutter implementation, they ask: • 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 #1 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦? • 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸? When you help clients achieve their specific goals, they feel seen, valued, and—most importantly—successful. The takeaway? Treat onboarding like Success as a Service: 👉 Get to know your client’s individual challenges. 👉 Adjust your approach to make solving those challenges the priority. 👉 Deliver quick wins that keep them excited and engaged. #CustomerOnboarding #SaaSSuccess #SuccessAsAService

In the last year, Demandbase has cut our TTV (time to value) by 55%. How? Our onboarding leader Graham Grome redesigned our onboarding process around 6 core principles: 1. Start Onboarding During the Sales Process Onboarding doesn’t start with the onboarding kick-off meeting, it starts with the first conversation with the customer. The very first interaction begins the process of understanding needs, roles and responsibilities, and timelines. Through the sales process the scope plan is in development and it is essential that this is handed off to CX and the onboarding team (and that pre-Sales resources stay involved) after the deal is closed. 2. Ground in Strategy to Generate a Value Roadmap Even with the scope in place, it’s critical to begin with strategy in onboarding (not dive into tactics and tasks). You need to know what the business outcomes the customer wants to achieve and the path to get there. That is why we begin with GTM Strategy Discovery sessions and deliver a Value Roadmap with clear now, next, and later actions that align to the customer’s GTM goals. 3. Tailor Configuration to Outcomes Every onboarding should be tailored to customer priorities. No two GTM’s are the same, being flexible in configuration is really important. Out-of-the box will not grow with your goals. We keep projects moving on target, surface risks early, and ensure that platform configuration supports business outcomes, not just your setup. The goal is to help you drive measurable value as quickly as possible. 4. Bring Customer Success into Onboarding As you grow, Onboarding and Customer Success become specialized functions. To maintain a “zero hand-off” approach make sure to include the Customer Success team members who will work with the customer moving forward through the onboarding process. 5. Make sure you leave Onboarding with a Value Measurement Plan You cannot show value without it. Every customer leaves onboarding with a Value Measurement Plan aligned to their objectives, so progress and impact are clear from day one. 6. Measure CSAT Post Onboarding It all sounds good, but how do you know it’s actually happening and where the process can improve? Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys. Feedback on onboarding has to be operationalized, it’s too important to have any blind spots or to stagnate as customer needs evolve. ——— Customers have more options than ever, they are under pressure to justify their spending, they want results now (as they should!), and they know new AI-driven solutions are coming out every day. If you don’t adapt your onboarding to meet these demands, you will be in a world of hurt on churn.