User Onboarding Best Practices

Your first 90 days with a customer can make or break the entire relationship. I've seen it happen too many times: - Great sales process - Solid product demo - Strong contract value - Excited stakeholders Then onboarding happens. And everything falls apart. Why? Most companies treat onboarding like a checklist: - Setup call ✓ - Product training ✓ - Technical integration ✓ - Documentation shared ✓ But here's the truth about onboarding: It's not about your process. It's about their success. After managing hundreds of onboarding sessions, here's what I've learned: The best onboarding isn't standard. It's personalized. Think about it: - Every customer has different goals - Every team has different challenges - Every organization has different paces - Every stakeholder has different priorities Your onboarding needs to reflect this. Here's what works: 1. Start with clear expectations - Define success metrics upfront - Set realistic timelines - Map out key milestones - Align on responsibilities 2. Build a dedicated team - Assign specialists who understand their industry - Create cross-functional support - Have clear escalation paths - Enable quick problem-solving 3. Monitor health signals - Track early usage patterns - Watch engagement levels - Note stakeholder participation - Measure progress velocity 4. Automate the right things - Regular check-in reminders - Progress updates - Resource sharing - Usage alerts But here's where most companies fail: They don't plan for challenges: - Low customer engagement - Complex technical integrations - Unclear success metrics - Resource constraints - Scalability issues The solution? Build feedback loops: - Collect input at every stage - Adjust plans based on signals - Iterate on materials - Improve processes continuously Remember: Onboarding isn't about getting customers to use your product. It's about helping them achieve their goals through your product. The first 90 days set the tone for everything that follows. Make them count. What's your approach to customer onboarding? What challenges have you faced? ------------------ ▶️ Want to see more content like this and also connect with other CS & SaaS enthusiasts? You should join Tidbits. We do short round-ups a few times a week to help you learn what it takes to be a top-notch customer success professional. Join 1993+ community members! 💥 [link in the comments section]

Most apps lose 80% of users in the first 3 days. Users decide to stay or delete faster than you think. One of the main reasons is your onboarding. Here are 8 onboarding tips we use to boost apps retention to 40%+ 👇 1/ Show value before asking for anything TikTok starts playing videos immediately - no sign-up required. Users experience the core value (entertainment) within 3 seconds. Only after they're hooked does TikTok ask for an account. Lead with value, follow with commitment. 2/ Use progressive onboarding, not feature tours Slack doesn't explain every feature upfront. Instead, it guides users through sending their first message. Advanced features appear contextually when users need them. Teach through doing, not through talking. 3/ Personalize from the first interaction Spotify asks for music preferences during signup. This data immediately customizes the experience. Users see relevant playlists instead of generic recommendations. Personalization makes users feel understood from day one. 4/ Create quick wins early Duolingo lets users complete their first lesson in under 2 minutes. The immediate success builds confidence and momentum. Users experience achievement before encountering difficulty. Early wins create psychological investment in continuing. 5/ Ask for permissions at the right moment WhatsApp doesn't request contacts access during installation. It waits until users try to message someone for the first time. Context makes permission requests feel helpful, not invasive. 6/ Set expectations with progress indicators LinkedIn shows profile completion percentages. Users see exactly what's needed to finish setup. The progress bar creates a clear goal and path forward. Gamify completion to increase follow-through rates. 7/ End with a clear next step Notion's onboarding concludes with creating your first page. Users don't finish setup wondering "what now?" The final action becomes the bridge to regular app usage. Great onboarding transitions into the core experience seamlessly. 8/ The best onboarding should feel invisible. Users accomplish something meaningful without realizing they're being "onboarded." When first-time experience creates immediate value, retention follows naturally. As always, I hope this was helpful. Appreciate all the likes and comments. Enjoy your day! 👋

🧠 The Psychology Behind Successful Customer Onboarding A hard truth I've learned as a CS leader is that perfect features mean nothing if your onboarding fails. Another hard truth: Psychology matters more than process. You must focus on human behavior rather than just feature adoption. Here are my three principles to live by in onboarding: The Momentum Principle: We discovered that customers who achieve value in the first 48 hours are 3x more likely to become long-term advocates. So we redesigned our onboarding to focus on quick wins before complex features. By breaking down the journey into smaller, achievable milestones, we create a pattern of success that builds confidence and momentum. The Ownership Effect: When customers invest time in customizing their setup, they're significantly more likely to stick around. We now encourage early personalization through guided setup sessions. Rather than doing it for them, we coach customers through the process. This has increased product stickiness by 47% and reduced early-stage churn by 34%. The Contextual Learning Framework: We stopped treating onboarding as a linear checklist. Instead, we now adapt the journey based on user behavior and role. Our data shows that contextual learning – delivering guidance at the moment of need – increases feature adoption by 68% compared to traditional training methods. The results speak volumes: Time-to-value was reduced from 45 days to 15 and adoption rates increased by 56%. Successful onboarding is about building confidence and creating habits. Every friction point isn't just a technical issue; it's a psychological barrier waiting to be understood and removed. Are you designing your onboarding for features or humans? #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #Onboarding #CustomerExperience

A better onboarding is not the one where you explain every feature. It’s the one where the customer leaves knowing what to do next, why it’s worth doing, and how the product connects to the reason they bought. If you’re in CS and want to get better at onboarding, start before the kickoff call. Read the sales notes, the deal context, the customer’s website, the use case, and anything they already told your team. You should know why they bought before you start showing them how the product works. Then keep the first call focused. Don’t turn it into a tour of everything the product can do. Start with three things: 1. What are they trying to accomplish? 2. Who needs to be involved? 3. What needs to happen first for them to get value? That will tell you more than asking, “Do you have any questions?” at the end of a demo. A good onboarding also needs ownership. Before the call ends, the customer should know what they’re responsible for, what you’re responsible for, and what date you’re both working toward. If there’s no owner and no next step, the account can look fine while quietly losing momentum. The recap matters too. Don’t send a generic “great speaking with you” email. Send a recap that includes the goal, the next step, who owns it, the due date, and any risk you noticed. If the customer needs to invite a teammate, upload data, complete setup, schedule training, or make a decision, say that clearly. Pay attention to where customers stall. If new customers keep missing the same step, asking the same question, or needing the same clarification, don’t treat it as a one-off. That’s something to fix in your onboarding flow, your help docs, your email sequence, or the product itself. The best onboarding CSMs are not just good presenters. They’re good at setting expectations, creating momentum, noticing confusion early, and making the next step obvious. Your goal is to help the customer start using the product in a way they can actually continue.

𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀. Your onboarding is the user’s first impression of your app, and like it or not, it’s 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. You could have a revolutionary product, but if the onboarding isn’t spot on, you’re practically inviting users to walk away. Here’s what to consider when building your flow: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁? The KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle is key for product onboarding. If your grandma would struggle with your flow, it’s probably too complicated. This doesn’t mean removing all the friction. The goal is to make the process simple enough so users can complete it without bouncing. 𝟮. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘆? A good onboarding flow guides users through the essentials without boring them. It excites and builds anticipation. A longer flow is sometimes necessary to deliver the app’s “aha” moment, but if it drags or repeats, you risk losing users before they even get started because of boredom or frustration. 𝟯. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹? The era of one-size-fits-all onboarding is over. The purpose of onboarding is to show users that your product is exactly what they need, and personalization is a powerful weapon for that. Tailor the flow based on different data points like how users discover your product and their specific goals. 𝟰. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸? Users should know why they can’t live without your product 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟯𝟬 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀. Understand your audience’s problems, identify your product’s top value proposition, and make it front and center during onboarding. 𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙥: 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙥 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝟱. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆? A great onboarding flow leads users to the product's "aha!" moment early. Find ways to get users invested quickly: First actions, quick wins, rewards, or anything else that encourages them to return. 𝟲. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹? Onboarding should be so smooth that users don’t even realize they’re being onboarded. Remember, it is not separate from the product, but an integral part of the overall experience. 𝟳. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲? The best onboarding flows weren’t built overnight. They’re the result of countless iterations. Keep refining your process as you gather more data, and make sure your onboarding flow can evolve without needing a complete design or code overhaul. Remember, in the end, it's all about getting users to that “holy sh*t” moment as fast as possible. Nail this, and you've won half of the battle. Follow me for more insights on product design, startups, and entrepreneurship!

AI products like Cursor, Bolt and Replit are shattering growth records not because they're "AI agents". Or because they've got impossibly small teams (although that's cool to see 👀). It's because they've mastered the user experience around AI, somehow balancing pro-like capabilities with B2C-like UI. This is product-led growth on steroids. Yaakov Carno tried the most viral AI products he could get his hands on. Here are the surprising patterns he found: (Don't miss the full breakdown in today's bonus Growth Unhinged: https://lnkd.in/ehk3rUTa) 1. Their AI doesn't feel like a black box. Pro-tips from the best: - Show step-by-step visibility into AI processes - Let users ask, “Why did AI do that?” - Use visual explanations to build trust. 2. Users don’t need better AI—they need better ways to talk to it. Pro-tips from the best: - Offer pre-built prompt templates to guide users. - Provide multiple interaction modes (guided, manual, hybrid). - Let AI suggest better inputs ("enhance prompt") before executing an action. 3. The AI works with you, not just for you. Pro-tips from the best: - Design AI tools to be interactive, not just output-driven. - Provide different modes for different types of collaboration. - Let users refine and iterate on AI results easily. 4. Let users see (& edit) the outcome before it's irreversible. Pro-tips from the best: - Allow users to test AI features before full commitment (many let you use it without even creating an account). - Provide preview or undo options before executing AI changes. - Offer exploratory onboarding experiences to build trust. 5. The AI weaves into your workflow, it doesn't interrupt it. Pro-tips from the best: - Provide simple accept/reject mechanisms for AI suggestions. - Design seamless transitions between AI interactions. - Prioritize the user’s context to avoid workflow disruptions. -- The TL;DR: Having "AI" isn’t the differentiator anymore—great UX is. Pardon the Sunday interruption & hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did 🙏 #ai #genai #ux #plg

Most HR teams think their onboarding is solid. → Laptop ready. → Paperwork completed. → First day meet and greet? Check. But here is the truth we see behind the curtain: Most teams skip the parts that matter most for long-term success. Here are two steps most teams forget during onboarding and what to do instead. 1. 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 Telling someone your values is easy. Showing them how the team 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 works is the magic. New hires do not struggle with the handbook. They struggle with the unwritten rules. Give them real language instead of vague gestures. For example, instead of asking… "Do you use Slack?" Try saying… "Our team lives in Slack during business hours. We expect same day responses for most messages and a quicker reply if it is from your manager or during core hours." Other examples to spell out clearly: • How often leaders drop in for updates • When cameras are expected on • How people give feedback • When it is okay to block focus time • Preferred communication style (short pings or detailed notes) And pair them with a culture buddy. Someone who can answer real questions like "Is it normal to send a calendar note before messaging the VP?" That saves so much social anxiety and avoids awkward first month missteps. 2. 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 A job title is not direction. People want to know exactly how to succeed. → Get specific. → Paint the picture. Instead of saying… "You will lead onboarding." Try… "In your first 30 days, you will run onboarding for three new hires. Success looks like zero missed system access steps, plus a feedback survey score of 4.5 or higher." Then schedule a 30 day check in. Not to judge. To support. Ask questions like: "What has been clear so far?" "What has been confusing?" "Where do you need resources or examples?" And tell them one thing they are doing well. Everyone needs a confidence anchor early. Strong onboarding is not fancy. It is clear, human, and consistent. Which onboarding detail made the biggest difference for you in a new role? If this sparked ideas, share it with another HR pro building better onboarding. #OnboardingTips #HRLeadership #PeopleFirst ♻️ I appreciate 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 repost. 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗥 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀? Click the "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" link below my name for weekly tips to elevate your career!

I spent 5 years scaling Superhuman's white glove, concierge onboarding. …and another 2 years rebuilding it in product. My biggest lessons on effective product onboarding: It must be *opinionated*, *interruptive*, and *interactive*. ••• 🧐 Opinionated There's a million ways to use Superhuman, but only one correct way. We had unopinionated steps in the onboarding, like teaching "j" and "k" to navigate. But what really matters is Inbox Zero. Marking Done. Our most extreme form is Get Me To Zero — a pop-up that practically coerces you to Mark Done *everything*. This experience gets an astonishing 60% new user opt-in. New users want to experience something different; they want to learn. We pruned away the bland, and left behind pure, unfiltered opinion. Exactly what made our concierge onboarding effective. 💥 Interruptive We've all seen them before: checklists, tooltips, nudges. Inoffensive growth clutter that piles up in the corners of your app. We shipped all this and more. But it had precisely zero impact. Our most impactful changes were interruptive: on-rails demos, full-screen takeovers, product overlays. Arresting user attention is critical: if an experience is tucked away in the corner, it will be ignored. If it's ignored, it may as well not exist. 🕹️ Interactive You can't be Opinionated and Interruptive without being Interactive. It's a crime to force users to engage with non-actionable information. Instead, provide functionality: an action to take, setting to toggle, CTA to click. It's more fun AND users build muscle memory. There is something to do in every step of our onboarding. Perhaps that's how we get away with an onboarding nearly 50 screens long 🤭 ••• Final thought: if you're struggling with this flow, simply watch new users. Note all the places you want to jump in — there's your onboarding 👌 s/o to the very thoughtful Superhumans building this: Ben ✨Kalyn Lilliana Kevin Peik Erin Gaurav 💜 #plg #onboarding #activation

Churn hits hard. It’s not just about losing revenue - it feels personal. Someone came to you, believed in your product, and then left because you didn’t meet their expectations. A year ago, at SmartReach.io, we faced this head-on. Users would sign up, try the platform, and then quietly leave. It wasn’t because the product didn’t work. It was because we weren’t showing them how it could work for them. [Btw, SmartReach.io is a sales engagement platform to automate cold outreach to a list of prospects via email, LinkedIn, calls or WhatsApp] It wasn’t an easy fix, but we made two key changes that turned things around. 1. Onboarding = First wins Onboarding is more than a tour. It’s the moment to help users win with your product - And quickly. At SmartReach.io, we saw a pattern; users who didn’t launch their first outreach campaign within the first week were more likely to churn. Why? They didn’t see the value fast enough. What we did? We ditched generic onboarding and started reaching out personally to new users. A quick one-on-one Zoom call to understand their outreach goals worked wonders. We redesigned the setup flow to help them create their first multichannel outreach campaign in less than 10 minutes. What changed? Users who got their first win during onboarding were 3x more likely to stick with us. They didn’t just try the product - they saw it work. The takeaway? Your product’s value isn’t what you say—it’s what your users experience. 2. Talking to Users after they start We realized something important; churn often happens after users try the product. Not because they don’t like it but because they stop seeing it as their solution. That’s where ‘Defining Success Calls’ came in. What we did? After users launched their first campaigns, we called them to check in. What were they hoping to achieve? Were they seeing the results they wanted? These calls weren’t about selling—they were about helping. Sometimes we’d coach users on campaign strategies; other times, we’d point out features they hadn’t discovered yet. For select enterprise Users, we even assist in data migration from their prior cold email software. What changed? Users who joined these calls were 40% less likely to churn. Why? Because they felt heard, and they started to see how the product fit into their long-term goals. Here’s the truth - Churn isn’t just a numbers game. It’s about trust. If your users don’t see value quickly or feel like you’re there to help, they’ll leave—even if your product is great. These two strategies didn’t just help us lower churn at SmartReach.io. They gave us something even better - loyal customers who stuck around, got results, and became advocates. What about you? Have you found ways to fight churn in your business? Let’s share ideas—I’d love to hear what’s worked for you! If you plan to add demand generation (generate sales qualified leads) as a marketing strategy then do give me a shout. We could walk your team through the hoops.

6mo ago → 70% of users skipped onboarding. How we reduced this to 22%: A bit of context: - Our activation sucked (~25%) - People got to the ‘Aha-moment’ too late — Some never got to it at all — Others gave up before they got to it So we asked ourselves: "How can we front-load the 'Aha-moment' and get people to experience it as early as possible?" So we launched the "Playground": → Fully interactive demo on homepage → All features from the Studio → No signup needed Early data showed it was working: → Prospects familiar with Studio before demos → Website traffic (+100% on release week) → Signup% (2% → 5%) But this didn’t improve activation: People needed to get value from our product. We’re a playful team. But we know some people have sh*t to get done. We have 2 different "types" of signups: 1. Explore the product (to see if worth switching) 2. Set up their first event and landing page Everyone thinks of onboarding as linear. But by definition: that won’t work for everyone. Introducing: Flexible funnels We have a lot of gamers on the team. So that’s where we looked for inspiration. Games let you roam free (even through tutorials). This gives users a sense of control. And discovery. So we created a new onboarding flow: (See gif below) And the first results are promising: → 55% of people explore the Studio → 22% of people set up a webinar Only 22% of people skip (mostly post-demo signups). What prompted us to make the change? We thought about what would help users. Instead of pushing them down the path we wanted them to follow.