Customer onboarding is all about momentum. You’re either trying to build it or figuring out how to maintain it. One thing that stops that momentum dead in its tracks? Customers having 17 tasks assigned to them and not knowing which one is the highest priority.
Stuart Balcombe
August 22, 2022
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4 minutes
Customer onboarding is all about momentum.
You’re either trying to build it or figuring out how to maintain it.
One thing that stops that momentum dead in its tracks?
Customers having 17 tasks assigned to them and not knowing which one is the highest priority.
"It just feels like chaos – whenever I login the list is always too long, no matter how much I get done, I feel like I didn't do enough"
That's just one reason – 3 more below – why project management tools are a terrible way to give customers a great onboarding experience.
Would you invite a pushy used car salesman to a meeting with a new client?
This is exactly what happens when you invite customers to your onboarding plan in a project management tool.
That's before they even get to YOUR product.
This distraction leads to confusion. Confused customers get stuck, not onboarded.
Project management tools are notoriously messy because we love to fill them up with every possible task we could work on.
But, you can’t expect your customers to bushwhack their way through the clutter and find a clear path to successful onboarding.
Project management tools feel like "work", customers want "progress".
Customer onboarding is not a check the box exercise.
Successful onboarding results in customers realizing value and adopting your product to reach their desired outcomes.
Ultimately, project management tools cause customers to lose, not build momentum in onboarding.
Here's what to do instead:
Your customers already have a list of tasks to complete in their own project management tool. Instead of giving them the work of deciding what to do next, serve it up to them at the right time.
Your customers signed up to solve a problem that you have solved for customers before. You know the best path to take to help them be successful. Stay focused on that direct path instead of creating an unscoped project.
The more momentum you build with customers, the faster they see value, the faster they go live, and the less likely they are to be thrown off track and get stuck.
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