Onboarding Tips - Week 6

Week 6 | Idea 6 | Focus on Value Delivery / ROI

Q: So when does onboarding end? Is it when you set up all the configurations and integrations for the customer? Is it the "go-live" even when the customer cuts over from another system to yours? Is it when you finish training sessions for the customers to start using your product the right way?

A: None of the options above. To successfully onboard a customer means for them to successfully realise value from your product - based on what you set out to accomplish with your initial rollout.

When a customer buys your software, there's an expected value or ROI - which should justify the money, time, and energy that goes behind the initiative. So your onboarding is successful when the customer has realised that value, or is clearly on a path to realise it.

This is also why "Time-To-Value" and "Time-To-First-Value" are key metrics that companies track for their onboarding teams. You want teams to understand that their goal isn't "time to go-live", but rather to track how long it took to get the customer to that moment that they've realised value from your product. Qualifying "First Value" is a way to ensure there's some value unlocked and the project is in the right direction moving forward.

Another metric to track for this is 30-60-90 day ROI. It helps us all actively track the right metrics and be on the same page on the value realised by the customer.

How else does having a "Value Orientation" help during Onboarding?

1. It helps keep the scoping conversations (implementation scope) focused on the agreed upon value and ROI numbers. This way, we can clearly ask "how does this integration or customisation help us achieve the first ROI goal?". If the answer is that it doesn't, then you don't do it.
2. Teams know their job is to deliver Value, and also help the customer see the value. So they are more pro-active and intentional about the communication around value delivered.
3. This helps ensure that teams take the efforts to measure the actual value itself - like using pre / post metrics influenced by your product, or $$ value ROI, etc. When its time for your marketing team to do a case study, you already know how the customer is deriving most value, and what the $$ value ROI is for them.
4. Customer success teams that take over the account have an easier time after the onboarding, as the customer is already set up to be successful with your product.