A sale transaction is only the beginning of a relationship. Customers that have great early experiences are much more likely to be loyal than those who have difficulty during onboarding, or worse, never really engage with your products and services. Some organisations delight Customers from the first moment.
- Uber can have a car in front of your door within minutes of entering your email address and credit card information.
If you want to create a success culture that embraces your Customers, you need to think of the sales transaction as the starting line not the finish. Especially if your business model includes subscription pricing. In these situations, the Customer needs to recognise value from the start.
Onboarding offers new Customers a road map of how to get the most out of their relationship with your organisation. Similar to employee onboarding, membership onboarding ensures that the member has knowledge, habits and cultural mindset to be successful in this new community.
Many companies have sales organisations, and Customer service teams, but no one truly focused on the onboarding process. As a result, many Customers are frustrated as they try to learn how to use your products and services, and by the time they contact Customer Service, they are already really frustrated.
Customer Service departments need to define this critical step in the Customer relationship – and where the Customer will need the most information and support as they begin to engage.
A successful onboarding process has three key steps; removing friction, delivering immediate value, and rewarding desired behaviours that will drive member success.
Some tips for making it easy so you don’t lose your Customer before they’ve been engaged and then they may not experience your value:
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Make the engagement process as frictionless as possible. They should get something from you just for providing an email address, and if they pay you they should get something really good!
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Make sure they know what they signed up for
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Thank them for joining
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Providing initial value (a “how-to” book to make using your service a pleasant experience)
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Ask for feedback, call, email or intercept within the first week and be ready to listen
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Encourage member to invite other friends in first 30 days
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Continue to provide information to help them optimise their experience.
Onboarding is critical when an organisation depends on recurring revenue and loyal Customers in order to generate the kind of Lifetime Customer Value they need to be successful. Customers need to have a meaningful experience from their very first day. Customer Service can use their expertise to design a Customer journey that goes well beyond “support” to an experience that delights and engages Customers every time.