If you run an ecommerce store, SaaS application or service-based business, adopting new customers successfully is essential for growth. But poor onboarding leaves money on the table due to high churn. The right onboarding software can help you retain up to 91% more first year customers through great early impressions. [1]
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore:
- Categories of onboarding software
- Benefits of great onboarding
- Features to look for
- Leading tools
- Implementation best practices
- Making the business case
Let’s get started!
Why Do You Need Customer Onboarding Software?
Onboarding encompasses all experiences helping new users get set up successfully – from initial signup to first value realization.
Instead of leaving customers to flounder alone, quality onboarding ramps them up quickly on using your product or service effectively. This leads to happier, longer-paying clients less likely to cancel.
For example, Userpilot achieved a 23% increase in conversion rates by optimizing their onboarding flow using their own software. [2]
Top benefits delivered by good onboarding include:
Shorter time-to-value: Well designed onboarding minimizes the effort for users to get their first “aha!” moment where the product clicks. This leads to higher product adoption and loyalty.
Appcues customers see users completing planned onboarding workflows have 30% higher weekly engagement compared to others. [3]
Higher expansion revenue: Good first impressions make customers more receptive to upsells later on. Products like in-app surveys during onboarding help identify expansion opportunities early.
Win back time for CX teams: Self-service onboarding via tutorials and checklists scales much better than manual efforts. This frees up human agents for higher value support issues.
WalkMe claims capable self-service onboarding experiences can yield over 50% reduction in support calls – saving huge operational costs. [4]
Continuous feedback for improvement: Analytics and session recordings reveal exactly where users struggle during onboarding. This allows you to iteratively refine journeys over time.
So whether an independent creator or enterprise team, onboarding software should be fundamental to your customer success stack if you care about retention.
Next let’s explore the capabilities to look for when evaluating options.
Key Features of Customer Onboarding Software
Effective onboarding platforms offer functionality like:
Interactive walkthroughs prompt users at the right times via step-by-step guidance on important workflows. These increase self-sufficiency faster than leaving users reading manuals.
Product tours give overviews of how your offering works and capabilities available. Things like first run video walks users through what your software does.
Assessment surveys gauge user sophistication levels, challenges faced etc. so you can personalize onboarding paths accordingly. Quizzes reinforce key learnings too.
Progress tracking via task lists and milestones lets users know where they stand. This provides positive reinforcement as they move through key activation events.
Multi-channel engagement orchestrates journeys spanning different touchpoints – email, in-product, web push, customer portals etc. according to user preferences.
Analytics give visibility into behaviors during onboarding- from engagements per step to overall funnel drop off rates. This allows continuous tuning to optimize conversions.
With those basics covered, let’s explore categories and top examples of onboarding software available…
Categories of Onboarding Software
Onboarding tools fall into a few main buckets depending on capabilities:
1. Interactive Guides & Tutorials
These focus specifically on step-by-step walkthroughs for completing tasks or learning concepts.
Examples:
WhatFix – Simple interactive walkthroughs
Userlane – Focused on personalized tours
Use cases:
Guide users to successfully fill out complex forms, complete intricate workflows within products, follow protocols etc. without hand holding.
2. Customer Education Platforms
Robust portals with extensive content like courses, docs and assessments for ramping up users.
Examples:
Gainsight – Product adoption platform for customer success teams
WalkMe – Enterprise-grade solution for total digital adoption
Use cases:
Train users thoroughly across all aspects of complex systems like healthcare software, financial tools etc. Content can span onboarding to ongoing learning.
3. Workflow Automation Tools
Map out and automate multi-step processes with conditional logic across applications.
Examples:
Appcues – Specializes in onboarding workflow automation
Pendo – Automates nudging users to drive desired actions
Use cases:
Model step-by-step user journeys customized based on attributes to increase self-service adoption. Works for both onboarding and re-engagement.
4. Surveys & Assessments
Specialty tools focused exclusively on surveys to segment users and gather in-depth insights.
Examples:
Typeform – Beautiful survey builder with easy analysis
SurveyMonkey – Popular general purpose surveys
Use cases:
Personalize onboarding paths and content based on user sophistication, role, interests etc. Focused market research and user research use cases.
This overview shows the breadth of capabilities spanning onboarding software solutions today.
Now let’s explore top all-around options offering robust feature sets…
10 Top All-In-One Customer Onboarding Software Tools
Here are well-rounded onboarding software platforms capable of handling everything from interactive tutorials to automated workflows across channels:
| Software | Best For | Key Capabilities | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appcues | Product Teams Focused on Adoption | Workflow automation, analytics, surveys, multi-channel engagement | $420+ per month |
| WhatFix | Simple Interactive Walkthroughs | Lightweight guides, styling, dynamic checklists | $250+ per month |
| Inline Manual | Affordable Quick Implementation | Customizable step-guides, help widget, basic analytics | $15+ per month |
| Userlane | Non-Technical Personalization | Codeless interactive tours, advanced branding, conditional logic | $999+ per month |
| Pendo | App Adoption & Data Analysis | Robust analytics, automated nudging, enterprise security | Custom Quotes |
| UserPilot | Optimizing Onboarding Conversions | Identifying usability obstacles, session recordings, funnel analytics | $399+ per month |
| Chameleon | Tailored Enterprise Application Training | Advanced interactive walkthroughs, robust customization, enterprise security | Contact for Quote |
| CloudApp | Visually Engaging Interactive Content | Gif creation, screenshots, webcam recording, annotations | $10+ per user/month |
| MyNewUsers | Affordable Freemium Offering | Library of user guide templates, custom flows, multi-language | $15+ per month |
| Whatfix | In-App Interactive Assistance | Walkthroughs, dynamic checklists, advanced targeting, analytics | $250+ per month |
This overview provides a starting point of top-rated platforms across budgets and needs.
I recommend identifying 3-5 options most aligned to your use case for trials before purchasing. Most offer free tiers or trials – take advantage of these to confirm the best fit.
Now that we’ve covered the landscape of onboarding software, let’s switch gears to tactics for succeeding with implementation.
Best Practices for Customer Onboarding Process Success
Beyond having capable software, effectively ramping up customers requires cross-functional collaboration.
Here are fundamental best practices any business should follow:
Define measurable goals – What key results do you want onboarding driving? Activation rates? Time to first value realization? Retention after 90 days? Outline specific quantitative targets.
Map ideal user journeys – Outline step-by-step what the workflows should be for new users from entry to first value indicator. Identify key milestones and tasks for different user segments if relevant.
Confirm business metrics prioritization – What matters most – new conversions, lowering churn, increasing referrals etc? Use this perspective to guide program focus areas and measurement.
Leverage direct customer insights – Surveys, NPS responses and customer support conversations reveal obstacles prospects faced. Incorporate this feedback into journey mapping.
Automate repetitive tasks – Offload manual efforts around account setup, orientation scheduling, product walkthroughs etc to software for efficiency and consistency.
Create frameworks aligned to segments – Build reusable onboarding templates, playbooks and design frameworks suited for different user personas and use cases.
Measure behaviors showing traction – Leverage analytics tools to monitor engagement across onboarding journeys – step completion rates, funnel drop off etc. Continuous improvement depends on data!
Evolve over time based on data – Regularly assess performance metrics to find bottlenecks in current paths. Use these insights to optimize flows across channels that lift conversions.
Now that we’ve covered best practices, let’s switch gears to making the business case to leadership.
How to Pitch Investing in Onboarding Software
Gaining executive support for a customer onboarding software purchase requires tying it back to clear revenue impact.
Here’s how to make the pitch:
Share benchmarks on the revenue upside – Present stats showing the profit boost achievable through higher activations and retention from quality onboarding.
For example, Appcues customers see users completing onboarding convert into paid accounts at 40% higher rates on average. [5]
Calculate expected value using ROI studies – Credible research from McKinsey and Aberdeen Group demonstrates ~30-40% first year ROI achievable from onboarding programs. Apply similar assumptions for your business model using a simple ROI forecast. [6]
Compare costs of customer acquisition vs retention – The economics favoring retention are staggering – data shows acquiring new customers can cost 5-25X more than keeping existing ones happy. [7] Spending on onboarding pays back by reduced churn and referrals.
Highlight support cost reductions – Good onboarding powered by help articles and webinars minimizes basic questions to agents. Studies indicate over 50% potential support cost savings by lowering inquiry volumes. [8]
Note competitors with mature onboarding – Research competitor programs and capabilities they use to showcase what sophisticated players invest in for experience. This can help expose glaring gaps.
Use free trials to test concepts – Start with a limited pilot leveraging free tiers from vendors before committing. Gather data showing efficiencies gained to make an expansion case.
Sway stakeholders by quantifying both monetary and customer satisfaction benefits. Now let’s wrap up with key takeaways.
Recap and Summary
We’ve covered a ton of ground on why onboarding software should be core to customer success technology stacks:
Onboarding drives growth metrics – Higher activations, faster value delivery, greater referrals, reduced churn and lower acquisition costs.
Top capabilities transform uptake – Interactive tutorials, tailored assessments, automation and analytics radically accelerate self-sufficiency.
Categories meet different needs – From basic walkthroughs to in-depth training and workflow personalization for complex systems.
Best practices bridge strategy to execution – Outcome setting, journey mapping, continuous optimization and cross-team collaboration unlock success.
Proven ROI justifies investments – Quantifiable cost savings and revenue gains make the business case to leadership easy.
With more companies fighting customer attention overload, excellent onboarding is truly the new competitive differentiator driving sustainable growth.
I challenge you to identify one improvement opportunity from this guide – whether adopting new tactics or evaluating software to eliminate an onboarding obstacle for your users. Small steps compound over time into seasons of lasting customer relationships instead of short-term transactions.
What’s one key insight you’ll take away or discuss with your colleagues? Share your thoughts below!
References:
[1] https://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-onboarding-statistics/
[2] https://userpilot.com
[3] https://www.appcues.com/resources/onboarding-experience-report
[4] https://www.walkme.com/walkme-realize-value-faster/
[5] https://www.appcues.com/customers
[6] https://www.aberdeen.com/techpro-essentials/customer-onboarding-improve-user-experience/40-percent-revenue-increase/
[7] https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers
[8] https://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-onboarding-statistics/
