Best Practices for Onboarding New Customers

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.

🧠 The Psychology Behind Successful Customer Onboarding A hard truth I've learned as a CS leader is that perfect features mean nothing if your onboarding fails. Another hard truth: Psychology matters more than process. You must focus on human behavior rather than just feature adoption. Here are my three principles to live by in onboarding: The Momentum Principle: We discovered that customers who achieve value in the first 48 hours are 3x more likely to become long-term advocates. So we redesigned our onboarding to focus on quick wins before complex features. By breaking down the journey into smaller, achievable milestones, we create a pattern of success that builds confidence and momentum. The Ownership Effect: When customers invest time in customizing their setup, they're significantly more likely to stick around. We now encourage early personalization through guided setup sessions. Rather than doing it for them, we coach customers through the process. This has increased product stickiness by 47% and reduced early-stage churn by 34%. The Contextual Learning Framework: We stopped treating onboarding as a linear checklist. Instead, we now adapt the journey based on user behavior and role. Our data shows that contextual learning – delivering guidance at the moment of need – increases feature adoption by 68% compared to traditional training methods. The results speak volumes: Time-to-value was reduced from 45 days to 15 and adoption rates increased by 56%. Successful onboarding is about building confidence and creating habits. Every friction point isn't just a technical issue; it's a psychological barrier waiting to be understood and removed. Are you designing your onboarding for features or humans? #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #Onboarding #CustomerExperience

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.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆? It’s not the demo. It’s not the renewal. It’s not even the cold call. It’s the 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹. This is the moment where your client’s belief in your product is either validated… or tested. 🚀 If you deliver value or even a small win early, their belief in you goes up. 💔 If you ask for too much effort and the patch to value is unclear, their belief is tested. 👉 Belief drives action 👈 As soon as your clients stops believing you can help them, they stop taking action.. So... here’s how to run a Kickoff Call that builds confidence and drives momentum: 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭: 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 This process starts before the kickoff call. The sales rep closing the deal needs to hype up the CSM. It can sound something like this: "𝘏𝘦𝘺 [𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵], 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 200 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵." This simple step helps transfer the trust and authority built in the sales rep to the CSM as they take over. 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Once you're on the kickoff call, make sure you; 1. Start with an 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 to position yourself as the expert. 2, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 by reviewing what was shared during the sales process. 3. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 by providing a high-level overview of the onboarding process. Keep it clear and simple so they understand the journey without feeling overwhelmed. 4. 𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 by identifying what is needed for implementation, both from your side and theirs, to ensure a smooth process. 5. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Make sure to highlight responsibilities, timelines, and who will be involved at each step. 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 Now, it’s time for quick wins. Get something—anything—done early. It could be as small as exchanging logins or getting them into the system. Then, book a meeting from a meeting. Confirm the next steps and schedule the next call to keep the momentum rolling. There you have it: a Kickoff Call that sets you up for success. Want the full breakdown? Check out my YT video: https://t2m.io/LW2Jbrw9 Or DM/comment "KICKOFF" and I’ll send over our Customer Success Kickoff Call SOP + a rubric to audit your calls. Let’s go! 🚀