Customer Onboarding – 3 ways to learn what to do and what to avoid

Customer experience

Customer onboarding means collaborating with the customer post-purchase to ensure they know how to use the product to its fullest extent. This helps them receive the benefits offered in your marketing and it results in excellent customer satisfaction. When customer onboarding is done correctly, it leads to higher customer retention and more lifetime value for each customer.

Unfortunately, customer onboarding is not always done well. In fact, it can be a total disaster. To help you plan the right process for your customers, here are the acceptable, unacceptable, and worst methods.

What Is Acceptable Customer Onboarding?

Here are the elements of an Acceptable customer onboarding process.

A Consistent, Seamless Process. The experience for the customer should be seamless from the first touchpoint with your business to the last. A consistent experience engenders trust and reassures the customer that they will keep receiving the value they expect.

Starting off on the Right Foot. Acceptable customer onboarding starts immediately after the purchase is made. You should send your customer a welcome message that thanks them and gets the process of educating them about the product started.

Good Communication with the Customer. Throughout the process, there should be plenty of two-way communication where you can learn about the customer’s journey, and they can get the help they need along the way. A good strategy is based on feedback and data from users, so you need multiple points of direct communication.

Small Wins along the Way. The experience should be full of milestones where the user experiences a small win. Gradually these experiences build up as they get more benefits from the product.

Where Customer Onboarding Turns Unacceptable

There are several reasons why customer onboarding fails, and you lose your users.

The process should proceed in a logical order, giving the user what they need when they need it. Unacceptable customer onboarding dumps the entire knowledge base on the user all at once, overwhelming them and making them give up.

Unacceptable onboarding runs totally on autopilot. While you can automate many aspects, you must offer a personal touch. This is what is often lacking when we make purchases from companies online. Personalize and customize the process as much as possible so you can meet your users’ diverse needs.

Another mistake businesses make is that they over-promise. The experience the user has with your product should align with the promises your marketing makes. If the customer cannot get the full promised benefits, they’re not likely to buy from you again.

The Worst Mistake You Can Make in Customer Onboarding

The worst mistake you can make is to neglect this vital process entirely. A shocking number of businesses do not bother with it, assuming customers will reach out to them if the product does not deliver. This is like leaving money on the table. By creating a system and taking control of this process, you can deliver more value and keep customers.

Businesses should focus on customer onboarding because it is much cheaper to keep customers buying from you than to gain new ones. The benefits you will receive in higher customer satisfaction, higher retention, and more lifetime value make it well worth it.

Customer Onboarding Is Just the Beginning

It’s not just the beginning of your customer journey, but also a crucial part that can help you grow from one-time buyers into loyal ones with deep connections. Done right, you will convert each one-time buyer into a repeat customer with a strong relationship with your business.

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