What is SaaS onboarding?

After a Software as a Service solution completes the acquisition phase with the customer, onboarding comes in. It is the service that SaaS providers should give to their customers by understanding the business set up, their primary concern, and what the company wants to attain when it comes to the software they use.

No matter how attractive your product is, its effective marketing strategies, features, and excellent product design, it does not guarantee customer retention. Helping the customers familiarize themselves with the product or service and benefit from it will make them loyal to the software.

SaaS onboarding assists its new user by using the appropriate applications to understand the product deeply. SaaS development services create customized plans that perfectly fit the company’s needs up to its implementation. 

How to Build a Good SaaS Onboarding Experience?

Good onboarding doesn’t start from the point of purchase and ends when the provider finishes the setup assistance. It should carry on even after sales, keeping the customers up to date and informing them about its features changes.

Good Impression

It should make an excellent impression to the user to retain the customers and mitigate attrition. Keep the customer in focus by setting the right expectation about the product. Make it clear to the user what the product offers and what it cannot. 

Interactive Support

Good onboarding Customer experience should be interactive, especially the support team that helps the user even after the onboarding. The goal is to give the user a complete walkthrough of the product’s features and not just let them do self-learning. Problems can occur while using the software, and it is the vendor’s responsibility to assist and provide support to the user.

Clear and Concise

Give short and clear instructions to the customer that are easy to understand. Learning a new process or software can be difficult to absorb in a short period. Let the customer learn at their own pace to figure out things thoroughly.

Why is SaaS Onboarding Important?

Increase Customer Retention

The proper onboarding can reduce the attrition rate and instill loyalty to the user. When the customer is satisfied with the onboarding process, there is a slim chance that they will switch vendors and most likely stay with the current SaaS provider.

Resort Less to Customer Support

When the customers are taught thoroughly and understand every bit of learning from the onboarding process, they will less likely need to contact customer support for assistance. This can result in preserving valuable resources and effort instead of repeating the process repeatedly.

Eliminating Pain Points

The ultimate goal of SaaS onboarding is to provide solutions to organizational problems and remove the things that may hinder seamless operation. If the product solves these bottlenecks, then the customer will most likely rely more on it and use it regularly. 

Build Assurance

The certainty in using the software by having deeper learning about it through the onboarding process will give confidence to the user. It will keep them engaged with the service and will likely continue patronizing the product.

How To Onboard The User?

Sign-up Process

Keep the sign-up process as simple as it can be. Several pages of it can be displeasing to the user and might terminate the process. It can discourage the users from accomplishing the forms and hinder the chances of achieving the desired outcome. Only ask for the necessary information or integrate Google sign up for a faster turnaround.

Create Welcome Email

Start with a compelling intro and attach a call to action in your product’s welcome email. Keep it simple, comprehensive, and informative. Although its main objective is to convey pleasant acceptance to the user, it should also encourage them to explore the product as soon as they receive the mail.

Gain Access Screen 

Engage the user with a product walkthrough that warmly welcomes users. Your customers do not know what to do with the product first, so it will be great if the chatbot or AI can help with the onboarding process. 

In-app Messaging 

Use In-app messaging to notify the users about the product upgrades, offer support, and send promotions to engage users and expedite onboarding. Customize In-app messaging design and content appealing to your target audience.

Research in the Harvard Business Review found out that the key to customer retention is not by delighting them; it’s by reducing their efforts.

A successful onboarding process is your gateway to success. Increase customer retention and decrease attrition by implementing effective SaaS onboarding.