Those first weeks and months after gaining a new buyer are crucial. Customers are much more likely to churn during the first couple of months, so it's essential that they receive great customer service. Indeed, a report from Walker states that when 2020 arrives, customer experience will be a bigger priority than price or product in remaining competitive.
This is where a smooth and well-organised client onboarding process comes in, and in today's article we'll explain exactly how to make yours as efficient as possible.
What is Client Onboarding?
In basic terms, it simply involves making a new buyer feel welcomed into your brand. While it is sometimes tempting to allow the newest purchasers to fall from the radar, this approach is actually imperative. Don't assume your new buyer already has all of the facts and details they need and no further steps form you are required; it's during this period your team is required to answer potential queries and allow buyers to develop a complete comprehension of their new product and your brand overall.
Client onboarding is not too different from its employee counterpart, as the aim is to try and guarantee retention by being as proactive as you can during those beginning stages. Attempting to develop a solid rapport with your buyers is essential for sales success, but as this image found on Sprinklr’s blog shows, the journey of all buyers is becoming increasingly devoid of any human touch. Nowadays having a decent onboarding program has become vital.
Why Solid Onboarding is So Essential
The best client onboarding processes give your new buyers all the details they need to make the most out of their purchase. It highlights the value to their business and also helps to set realistic expectations ensuring that there are fewer problems further down the line.
Your company can enjoy a number of advantages by setting up a decent process for onboarding:
New Clients Cost More
Studies have consistently proven that it is more expensive (and time-consuming) to attract and convert new customers, in comparison to existing ones. As the infographic from Vtiger below shows, it costs around five times more to acquire new customers, as well as the fact it's three times harder to convert them into purchasers.
By providing a great customer experience in the beginning through effective onboarding, you'll be able to ensure your current buyers are kept happy and reduces requirements for spending so much time chasing new ones.
Better Customer Experience Reduces Churn
According to a survey by American Express, 78% of consumers have changed their mind about a purchase as a reaction to bad service. To reduce these chances of churn and increase hopes of retaining customers it's essential to put in the world in the early stages.
A boring, confusing system is likely to see new buyers becoming frustrated, and could potentially send them over to a competitor. In contrast, efficient onboarding that gives them the details they require a clear but concise way will allow them to make the most out of the product, resulting in better satisfaction long-term.
Happy Customers Spend More
As well as being cheaper and easier to convert, previous customers who have enjoyed great customer experience are also more valuable in terms of sales revenue. Research from Temkin Group states that loyal clients are five times likelier make another purchase, and four times as likely to tell others about your offerings. Loyal customers also spend around 67% more, as states a study from Thanx.
Keeps Things Efficient
Having a clear and effective onboarding process gives you gains in efficiency, resulting in lower outgoings and better sales. When you have a well-planned system in place, it will mean you're able to welcome new customers very smoothly and at a quicker pace. It also means you're reducing the risk of having to deal with buyer issues further down the line, as they'll have the details needed to get enough value from their purchase from the start.
The Onboarding Process Flow
Onboarding starts from the moment your prospect agrees to go ahead with the purchase. There a number of steps involved in order to complete the process efficiently, ensuring the new clients have everything they need, but once you've got the system in place your team will be able to use it as a template for all sign-ups.
4 Stages in the Onboarding Process
After the purchase is made, or contract is signed, it's time to start onboarding. The following are the steps involved:
1: Build the Right Team
The first step in making the onboarding process as smooth as possible is to ensure you have the right team in place to deal with that particular client. This will obviously vary greatly depending on your business type and the type of product or service you're offering but might include people such as a project manager, a strategist, a marketing officer and designer.
Determine which team member is going to act as the main point of contact to your client, and wherever possible choose an employee who seems to have some common ground with the buyer, to make it easier to build a natural rapport. After you've got a team organised, hold a meeting between them in order to do the following:
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The scope of the project
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An idea of how long the project is likely to take (if applicable)
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Share all of the information you currently have about the client
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Details of previous interactions with the client
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Any concerns about potential issues that may arise
2: Welcoming the Client
Once you've got your team in place and everyone is clear on what the client needs and their individual roles, it's time to welcome the client. If you're providing a longer-term project or service, this is likely to be in the form of a meeting. This is the opportunity to start building a good working relationship, as well as setting clear aims and milestones.
If your business is solely online, or your product or service doesn't require a face-to-face meeting, send a well-crafted welcome email. This should be friendly but professional and set the right tone for things to come. Thank them for their purchase, and show that you're enthusiastic about having them onboard. Keep in mind that the Hubspot research shows welcome emails provide a particularly strong open rate at 50% - this makes them 86% more effective than email newsletters.
A good example of a friendly welcome email from clothing retailer ASOS
Regardless of if you're welcoming your buyer face-to-face or through email, aim to do the following:
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A short introduction to the team
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Set out goals
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Provide details on who their point of contact at your company will be
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Ask if they have any questions
3: Handing Over the Information
If you're providing a product or service, you'll need to make sure that your client has all the information they need to be able to use it confidently. This will probably start with a guided setup so that your clients can be taken through the process step-by-step to stop them from becoming overwhelmed.
You may then want then provide a walkthrough of your product, particularly if it is particularly complicated and/or there are many different elements in using it effectively. You could do this as a video tutorial, although an interactive guide usually works best as it enables clients to get to grips with the product as they go.
After the client has their product set up, it's a good idea to provide some kind of knowledge hub where they can go if they have any questions about the product at any point. This could be a special section on your website, a forum, or a chatbot.
4: Check In
Check-ins should always be a vital aspect of any onboarding process. This an opportunity to check that they're getting the most out of the product, if they have any issues or concerns, and to ask for any more information you might need from them.
It's also an important part of showing your clients that you value them - helping to reduce churn as a result. As the image below from Kolsky shows, customers are much more likely to walk away from your business without letting you know that they’re not satisfied - reaching out regularly allows you to solve these problems before they become more serious.
How to Create an Effective Onboarding Plan
The onboarding process is likely to be a bit different depending on your company; for example, the industry you're in, the type of product or service you're offering etc. With this in mind, you may need to adapt the steps above to better suit the needs of your customers.
The length of time that the process takes is also hard to define; it could vary greatly based on how complex your product or service is, and the amount of information and guidance your clients will need. Creating a careful map of the customer journey for your offerings will give you a good idea of the kind of timeframe required, though.
Ultimately, the onboarding process should aim to do the following:
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Give your clients a friendly welcome into your business
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Provide them with the information they need to feel confident using your product or service
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Let them know the limitations of your offering, and manage expectations
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Make sure they’ll feel comfortable asking for help should they need it, and that they are clear on the contact point for doing so
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Provide them with access to any tools they’ll need
Don't give into the temptation to pass up the chance to develop a thorough onboarding plan; research from RightNow states that 85% of buyers will pay up to 25% more for better customer experience.
What is KYC?
Know your customer, or KYC, is the process of gaining a deep understanding of who your clients are in the earliest stages. While it is traditionally associated with financial institutions, it is increasingly being used by businesses of all types as an important part of onboarding.
By carrying out background research and asking your clients for enough information beforehand, you can better protect your business. These types of checks can help you spot any fraudulent activity, or other illegal dealings - essential considering that fraud cost UK businesses £262 million in 2017 according to ActionFraud.
It also means you can ensure that the client has the budget required for your product or service, and helps you gain an better overall understanding of their needs.
Successful Onboarding Process using KYC
The KYC approach helps to create a more efficient and smooth client onboarding process for several reasons. It not only protects your business from risks but also provides you with enough information about the new client to be able to shape your interactions with them. It saves time in the long run too, as you're less likely to have to reach out for more information from them further down the line.
When client onboarding, KYC can easily be integrated into the process as the very first stage. Here's what you'll need to do for an effective and thorough KYC process:
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Carry out research on the client, including collecting data and any documents needed to confirm their identity
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Perform background checks to make sure they're who they say they are, and to help identify any related companies or individuals.
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Carry out further due diligence into the company's history, and possibly their financial records.
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Use the information gathered to establish whether the client poses a risk to the company, and if so avoid taking business any further.
As well as running identification checks, you may want to use this stage to also learn more about your clients on a holistic level. This will help to prepare for an easy onboarding process as you'll have a better idea what their needs are, and be able to predict any potential concerns they may have.
A short survey can be a good way to do this, alongside your own research from sources such as the company's website and annual reports. Some potential questions for your survey might include things like:
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How do you make decisions in your organisations?
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Have you worked with similar companies in the past?
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What are your main signals of success for this project?
Client Onboarding Checklist
To summarise, here's a quick overview of everything your client onboarding process should involve, for your reference:
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Research client and carry out background checks
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Ask them to fill in a short survey
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Welcome them into the business enthusiastically and aim to build rapport
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Set goals and manage expectations
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Make the setup process as simple as possible
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Provide a resource to give them access to further knowledge
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Check in with the client regularly
Customer Onboarding Best Practices
In order to make sure your client onboarding process is as efficient and effective as possible, be sure to keep these tips in mind:
Know Your Client
Having an in-depth understanding of your clients is one of the most important onboarding best practices. Not only does it help to protect you from risk, but also helps you to provide a much better customer experience. As the chart below from Accenture shows, customers nowadays definitely have a preference for a personalised experience.
Take the time to look at the history of each of your new clients, and ask them questions to establish the motivating factors in them choosing your company - this will make it easier to ensure you're meeting their needs.
Having a strong overview of each client will also help you to identify their goals more efficiently, and manage their expectations. This will keep you both on the same page and prevent them from becoming frustrated or disappointed if they've started out with unrealistic targets.
Inform Your Team
It's always a bad idea to meet with a potential client, or even to start reaching out via phone or email, before giving all of the members of your team a rundown of the customer. The first few interactions with the client are essential in making a good impression, and if members of your team are asking basic questions or mention inaccurate details, it's immediately going to see your clients losing faith in your company.
Make sure your team have a briefing before onboarding new clients, where everyone's roles are assigned, and important details about the client are shared.
Keep Listening
It's essential that you keep reaching out to clients after the initial onboarding stage. This helps to build a rapport and shows that you value them and care about their progress. It will also give you the chance to gain vital feedback about how to improve your product or service, as well as how to provide a better customer experience.
If your buyers know you're genuinely taking their concerns and suggestions to heart, they're less likely to turn to your competitors. According to research from Kolsky, 66% of clients who changed brands did so thanks to bad service, and 85% of churn could be prevented.
Stay Organised
In order to keep the onboarding process tight and as efficient as possible, your team needs to use the right tools and systems. Cloud-based tools are a good idea in order to give everyone access to all of the information about each client, such as where they are in the onboarding process, their goals and milestones, and interactions you've had with them so far.
There are plenty of other platforms and technologies to keep your onboarding process running smoothly, here are some of the best onboarding tools:
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Intercom - A messaging service that allows you to target specific segments within your customer base. For example, you can filter your clients based on their previous downloads or purchases from you, and then send an email to those who haven't tried your latest offering.
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Tutorialize - Allows you to add tips to your website or platform in order to make it easier and clearer for new users to use. It also enables you to highlight certain elements on your site, while the rest stay shaded.
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Chameleon - An in-app messaging service that provides interactive guidance for your products. Can also be used for upselling or collecting feedback.
Companies with Best Onboarding Practices 2018
In order to illustrate what an effective onboarding process looks like, here are some examples from leading brands. These companies have streamlined the process as much as possible, while providing clear instructions and ensuring the user is given all of the information they need to get the most from each product or service.
Duolingo
Duolingo has an interesting onboarding process, as it allows users to try the product before providing any personal information to sign up.
Instead, users can start learning a language straight away, seeing the value of the product before they’ve even entered their email address.
After completing a language lesson of their choice, they are then given the option to sign up to the platform in order to continue learning.
Canva
Canva is another great example of a company providing a very effective and engaging client onboarding process. Firstly, after signing up, users are offered a video tutorial that’s just 23 seconds long - and they make it very clear that it won’t be another drawn-out, pointless tutorial from the get-go.
The site also offers a simple interactive walkthrough, with fun little tasks to help familiarise users with the platform.
The result? Users learn how to use the product without having to sit through dull videos or read endless FAQs.
Quora
Knowledge-sharing site Quora also provides a simple yet effective onboarding process to its users. After signing up, users select their preferences so that the site can personalise their experience.
After choosing the topics they’re interested in and searching for Facebook friends already using the site, users are presented with a personalised feed featuring questions on topics they’re most likely to be interest
Client Onboarding with Global Database
There are several ways that business intelligence platform Global Database can help make the onboarding process smoother and more efficient. These include:
Automating the Process
While automating the onboarding process may seem cold and therefore counterintuitive, in reality, it will save you a lot of time, and you can segment and personalise the experience to suit different types of clients. Global Database allows you to integrate seamlessly into Salesforce or other CRMs, filling your sales pipeline with highly qualified leads in an instant.
You can then make the onboarding process as smooth and efficient as possible by automating it in the CRM. This not only shortens the system but also keeps things accurate and consistent.
Find New Leads
Finding a steady stream of qualified leads can be a challenge for any business; in fact, a recent report shows 80% of businesses state their lead generation isn’t currently successful. Global Database makes this incredibly simple. Our carefully verified databases offer a wide range of filter tools, so you can narrow the records down to the companies that fit your exact requirements.
Whether you're looking for businesses in a certain location or industry, with a specific budget, of a certain size or using a particular technology, our filters allow you to build your ideal contact lists within a few clicks. You can then view a wide range of information about each prospect, as well as direct contact details, making it easy for your sales team to pitch to decision makers right away.
Global Database provides numerous filter options to narrow the database quickly and easily
Check for Risks
As we explored earlier, taking a 'Know Your Customer' or KYC approach when onboarding is a good way to avoid potential business risks and also create a more personalised user experience. In order to do this, it's essential to have access to highly accurate and regularly updated company data.
Global Database provides an in-depth look behind the curtain of millions of companies worldwide. You can view a client's financial records past and present, its credit score, details about the company structure and its employees, and any negative records against them.
Not only is all of our data regularly updated and subjected to consistent checks, but we also make it easy for you to request alerts on specific companies. We'll then send you an email whenever their record is updated, so you can immediately see any changes to their financials, structure, ownership, or business credit score.
Global Database provides a wide range of essential financial details about each company
To Sum Up…
Having a smooth client onboarding process is essential in reducing churn and retaining customers. Research has proven time and time again that previous customers are more lucrative to a business, and by ensuring that the customer experience is positive from the very beginning, you'll have a much better chance at keeping hold of these valuable clients.
While crafting a successful client onboarding plan may seem like too much work initially, once it's set up it will only require minor alterations to suit each client, and your team will soon know it back to front. Breaking things down and using a checklist will make things more manageable, and using a tool such as Global Database will reduce the need for admin tasks such as research and manually identifying and qualifying new leads.
