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The way customers interact with software has changed significantly in the current era. When customers purchase or subscribe to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product, there’s a certain expectation involved in the process. Part of it is onboarding the customer and helping them learn about how to use their new service. Just like when they get a new job, onboarding is an integral process that should go as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately, mistakes and errors can occur along the way. Here are five mistakes to avoid with your customers while helping them onboard with your software.
Not Making An Easy Transition
When you sell a customer a product or service, it can be tempting to completely forget about them and just set them free with your product. That’s a big mistake. It can make for a clunky transition that sets the customer up for failure before they can even begin using the software. Ideally, your team should want to know why the customer purchased the product in the first place so they can help them figure out how to use it effectively. This is still part of onboarding and should not be overlooked. Remember that onboarding doesn’t happen in a vacuum or as a one-time event. It’s a full process. Good customer service will win over customers, especially if it’s at the beginning of the relationship.
Going Beyond The Basics Too Early
Customers purchase SaaS software for a reason. Usually, it’s for a specific purpose or task. Although the software might offer some truly amazing functions, it’s never a good practice to try to explore all of them during onboarding. Give your customers time to acclimate to the functions of the software they want to use initially. Try not to inundate them with too much info, or too fast. The problem with doing that is while you’ll be showcasing your amazing product and its abilities, you might end up isolating that customer. Unfortunately, some customers simply might not be interested in the fantastic functions of your software and only want to take advantage of its base form. Balance is important to making onboarding as easy as possible for every customer, every time.
Refusing To Listen To Your Customers
Part of the new customer onboarding process is taking the time to listen to your customers and address their needs. No one wants to feel as if they’re being lectured all the time or made to feel like their own thoughts/feelings are invalid. Listening is the only way to encourage customers to tell you what they’re thinking, what they need, and what they want to help them find success. Your role is to help them articulate their needs and understand them so you can lead them to success using your SaaS product.
Failure To Track Early Success
As part of your onboarding process, you should always help customers track their early success. Some critical questions to ask during this process are how much of the product is being used? Can you measure customer milestones against their goals? What kind of ROI are your customers getting from your product? How your customers feel about the product and how successful they are using it better relationships with them and also improve the product over time. Support tickets can also help you clean some insight into how successful people are using your product. If there is a high volume of support tickets, there might be a bigger problem that needs to be addressed. Presales, closing deals, and full implementation that can help both your company and the consumer succeed
Misunderstanding Feedback
Feedback is integral to running any business, but is particularly critical for understanding your customers. If you aren’t listening to feedback properly, problems will occur, which could lead to customer churn. Never mistake a happy person for a satisfied person. Solicit individual feedback. They might be happy with a certain aspect of your product but dissatisfied with others. Underlying problems could potentially go unresolved, resulting in dissatisfaction that will only be apparent when it’s time for renewal. To avoid such an eventuality, you’ll need to understand the feedback your customers provide and work with them throughout onboarding to ensure they’re completely satisfied with your service.
