Your brand gets only one chance to make a great first impression, and memorable experiences start with seamless onboarding. Unfortunately, 90% of consumers think businesses could do better when onboarding new customers.

It’s never too late for brands to implement or improve their onboarding programs. Robust customer onboarding strategies can reduce churn, boost retention, and drive profits.

Use these three tips to enhance your onboarding processes to turn new customers into brand loyalists.

What is customer onboarding, and why is it important?

 

Onboarding is the first stage of a buyer’s journey. It is educating new customers about your products or services, the value they add to their lives, and helping them achieve success. Customer onboarding involves three core phases, including:

 

  • Sign-up: Onboarding doesn’t start until a shopper purchases or signs up for your products or services.

 

  • Welcome messages: After the customer signs up, they should receive a welcome email or SMS text. This personalized message should thank them for signing up, share resources to help customers get started, and links directing them back to your products.

 

  • First log-in: Customers might need to log in to your website or app depending on your product or service. Guide them through their experience with clear next steps.

 

Building a solid foundation for the remainder of a customer’s journey is essential for reducing churn. Customer success consultant Lincoln Murphy said, “The seeds of churn are planted early.” If a customer’s onboarding experience falls flat, they’re more likely to jump ship.

Acquiring new customers is up to 25 times more expensive than retaining existing ones. And since a bump in retention of just 5% can boost profits by as much as 95%, brands must deliver impactful onboarding CX.

You can use these three best practices to nail your customer onboarding strategies.

Three proven strategies for onboarding CX success

 

1. Personalization is key 

 

Every piece of content, from welcome messages to post-support, should be tailored to individual customers. About 91% of consumers are more likely to do business with a brand again if its content is tailored to their unique needs and wants.

Think of how you’d like to be treated as a new employee. You wouldn’t want HR to send you generic content that had nothing to do with your role or responsibilities, would you? Customize the onboarding experience to customers’ preferences, needs, and goals.

A few strategies to try include:

2. Clear next steps

 

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. This adage is especially true when it comes to onboarding new customers. If you bombard them with long video tutorials or hefty guides that feel like epic novels, customers will procrastinate or not read the information at all.

Give your customers clear, concise next steps as they move through their onboarding journey. This ensures they know exactly what to do next and won’t get bogged down or overwhelmed by too much information. For example, provide a link for users to set up their profile in a friendly, short SMS message.

Today’s consumers love self-service options. Along with clear next steps, give new customers opportunities to find answers on their own. In your welcome text message, include a link to your brand’s FAQ webpage. Highlight your top support channels, including chatbots and your online community. Lastly, callout your company’s support hotline if customers want to talk to a live agent.

Need inspiration? Check out Slack’s straightforward onboarding strategy. Users can easily understand how to get started and what to do next.

 

3. Continuous support 

 

During and well after onboarding is complete, you should support new customers. In addition to providing them with self-service resources and clear-cut guidance, keep communication flowing long after they’ve been onboarded. Send them follow-up tutorials, product capability guides, and additional information via SMS.

This is an excellent opportunity for cross-selling. Send customers SMS discounts on new product features or upgrades that optimize their experience and are relevant to their goals.

Nail customer onboarding with Mitto

 

With Mitto’s omnichannel communications tools, brands can make a great first impression with stellar onboarding experiences. Use Conversations to engage new customers in personalized, two-way conversations on their favorite platforms, including Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. Or, use Mitto Campaigns to send consumers customized SMS messages with rich, dynamic content, including sign-up and resource links.

Want to learn more? Contact Mitto today.