The customer onboarding process flow can vary somewhat, depending on your business and industry. However, the nuts and bolts really don’t change much.
What is Customer Onboarding?
Put simply, similar to a sales funnel, customer onboarding is the process anyone new to your brand goes through to gain access to your products and services. The customer success onboarding process maps a customer’s journey with your brand from start to finish.
For instance, if you are in the tech industry, customers might start with setting up an account, then activating a chosen service or product, and finally, the product or service’s first use.
The importance of successful customer onboarding cannot be overstated; it sets the tone for your customer-brand relationship.
In essence, it’s the first impression a customer has of your brand and the quality of your customer service. It’s always best to start on the right foot because a happy customer is a loyal customer.
Customer Onboarding Process
The goal of customer onboarding is to help customers make the most of their purchased service or product, right off the bat. If you offer discounts or free trials to get people to try your products, the initial onboarding phase is when you have to make the best impression.
Internally, your brand should automate as much of the customer onboarding process as possible. Externally, your customer onboarding process checklist should cover the following key points.
Signup and First Login
When setting up your signup page for your website, it is imperative to remember the phrase “too much, too soon.” This is to remind yourself that if you ask for too much information on initial signup, it can be off-putting and cause you to lose potential customers.
Make the signup process as short and sweet as possible. Allow easy options like logging in with Google or Meta. If you can’t avoid asking for extra information, it is best to split it into segments and pages so it doesn’t become overwhelming. Similarly, don’t show too many callouts with the first login. Show them around, but don’t force them around.
Greeting Notification and Welcome Email
Your welcome email should be designed keeping in mind two points; make it polite and welcoming, and make it straightforward, taking you directly to the product. Don’t forget to thank the customer for trusting your brand. Share a link to the product and any resources they might use for guidance. Once the user follows that link, there should be another popup or notification to welcome the user.
Product Setup
Depending on the type of products you offer, you may need to provide different guidelines for product setup. For example, a tech product that has to play nice with other tech gadgets might require some guidance on how to set it up and connect it to various devices. Provide clear guidelines on how the user can integrate your product into their life and consider offering an option of real-time support from customer service for any snags they encounter.
Interactive How-To Guides
Product onboarding is incomplete without the inclusion of interactive how-to guides and walkthroughs of the product and its various features. Include videos of how to set up the product and use it to the fullest.
Follow-Up Emails
Finally, the onboarding process doesn’t end once a customer starts using your product. Keep in touch by sending follow-up emails. Inform them about changes or added features in their product, as well as offers or discounts on similar or related.
As with all things in life, moderation is key. Overwhelming them with too many emails means they’ll simply unsubscribe.
The customer onboarding process doesn’t have to be complex, but it should be thorough. When done correctly, you give your customers a reason to remain happy and loyal to your brand.
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