Selecting an onboarding service model: Part 1

(bright upbeat music) - Deciding on exactly what you will offer to your customers as an onboarding experience is, of course, very important. This is a decision for senior business leaders to make since it will affect both the costs of providing the service to customers and the level of outcomes that customers, and therefore the company itself, could expect to obtain from it. This course is aimed at customer success managers themselves rather than at senior business leaders, so we will focus on the role of CSMs once this decision has been made, rather than spending time thinking about and discussing how to calculate the pros and cons of different onboarding models, and what criteria to use to determine what is best for your company's products and services. It is worth while our noting however, that when it comes to onboarding, one size does not necessarily fit all, even within one company or sometimes even within one product or service. It may make sense to offer different levels of onboarding service for different products and services. For example, because some products and services are more complicated, or expensive, or time consuming to understand and/or to get up and running and generating value than others. It may also make sense to offer different levels of onboarding service for different customers since some customers may not require so much onboarding help and assistance as others, perhaps due to a less sophisticated or complicated way in which they'll be using the products and services they've purchased, or due to their existing experience of, and understanding of how to generate value from those products and services, or simply because of the size and financial value of the deal that makes more in-depth onboarding too expensive to provide for smaller customer purchases. CSMs might therefore encounter a range of different onboarding service models and levels, even within the one company that they work for. A generic onboarding service is one in which all customers get the same service, and the process followed, together with an resources used and assets provided, are not modified or customized in any way to suit the specific needs of each customer. Except, perhaps, to replace a small amount of very basic contextual information. Things like the stakeholder's names, quantities purchased, start dates, log in names and passwords et cetera that will, of course, be different for each customer. For a generic onboarding service the CSM's job is to provide the customer with, or if already provided by someone else, then to ensure they have and know that they have, the onboarding kit or welcome pack, or whatever other name is given to the basic set of information that customers are provided with after purchasing the solution they have purchased. And to make sure that the customer understands what the information contained within this welcome kit is, why it is important, who should have access to it, and what they need to do next to get themselves started. Particularly in the case of generic onboarding, I see the CSM's role as akin to being the host at a party or other event, welcoming in the new guest, handing them their preferred drink, showing them where all the facilities are, explaining what will be happening later, introducing them to a few of the other guests, and generally spending time making sure they're comfortable and happy. Perhaps you've been to an event before where the host has done a fantastic job of ensuring you feel welcome and wanted and that you know what the rules and expectations are, that you know where everything is, and that you know what to expect from this point forwards. If so, then this is what you want to try to capture and emulate as a customer success manager during the customer onboarding process. Perhaps also you've been to an event before where this didn't happen. Perhaps instead you had to ring the bell and knock at the door for a long time before eventually it got opened by someone who gives the appearance of not fully expecting you. But then, grudgingly, they usher you in, tells you where to go to help yourself to a drink, which perhaps turns out to have omitted key information such as which cupboard the glasses are kept in, and then rushes off to do something important. Leaving you standing there feeling rather awkward, unsure of your surroundings and unclear as to what you should do next. If so, then this is an example of what you want to try to avoid at all costs in terms of the onboarding experience you offer your customers. The secret to hosting a great event, I am told, is in the preparation. As for party hosts, so for customer success managers. If you want to provide a great onboarding experience for your customers, you are unlikely to be successful if you just show up to do the onboarding without having prepared the way first. CSMs must make sure they are familiar with three key information areas. The customer, i.e. who they are and what they do, what their initiative is, what outcomes they're looking to achieve, who the key stakeholders are, and which users, in general terms, will be impacted by the implementation of the solution they have purchased from you. The solution, i.e. what products and services they have purchased, the core features and functions of each component, what quantities have been purchased, and what additional services such as customization, installation, configuration, management, maintenance, support, et cetera, have been purchased. Adoption requirements, i.e. what the customer needs to do in order to get up and running and ultimately to fully adopt and generate value from the solution in terms of how to access and use the solution, what, if any, steps need to be taken to get the solution ready for users to start using it, the training and certification requirements, the communication of change to end users' needs, and what the options are for providing end user training and support, for example, online learning versus classroom courses. Armed with the relevant information for these three key areas, and having, of course, familiarized themselves with the contents of the welcome kit itself, the CSM should be ready to contact the customer, introduce themselves if necessary, and make an appointment, either online or face-to-face, with the relevant key stakeholders to provide them with the welcome kit if they do not already have it, and to review its contents with them, answer any questions, and make sure the stakeholders understand what now needs to be done to get their initiative under way. (bright upbeat music)