Onboarding: the first 30 Days
The first 30 to 90 days of any customer relationship are crucial. They not only set the tone for your relationship with your customer but it is also when you get the best feedback on your solution, and when you get the best chance to ensure your customer is implementing your solution well.
Why is the first 30 days so crucial?
First impressions matter, and this is your customer’s first real impression of you. That is, their impression of the solution you offer – not just what you are promising.
Your relationship with a customer does not end when they sign an agreement or send through a purchase order. In fact in the customer’s eye, their relationship with you is just beginning. It is now that they actually get to see and experience the solution you have been discussing with them.
Give them some extra love
It is well worth your time to invest additional time in ensuring that the first 30 days of a customer relationship is really great.
Having a strong starting relationship gives you a solid base to grow from. It means that your customer is more likely to be understanding when things don’t quite go to plan. It also means that you get real-time feedback on your customer’s experience with your solution or product.
Even more importantly, if you invest time with your customer while they are first using and implementing your solution, you can ensure that you guide them through the best way to use your solution from the word go. You can catch any problems before they get started.
They are comfortable to reach out
By being available and present at the very start, customers are much more likely to be comfortable to reach out to you with questions further down the track. Rather than stewing over issues, they are more likely to pick up the phone or drop you an email to ask for advice. This is hugely helpful – as it ensures you have the chance to rectify things if they do go wrong at some point.
You set a pattern for future contact
The first 30 to 90 days set the pattern for your future contact with the customer. It means you can set an expectation that you will be checking in regularly to see how things are going, and this is part of the service you offer from the word go.
Setting the pattern of contact, with providing your customer with great service at the centre, means that it flows as a natural part of your relationship.
If you are selling an ongoing service or consulting, I would even recommend including regular ongoing Customer Success Health Checks as part of your offering, when proposing your solution.
To learn more about how to do a great job of onboarding your customers, manage ongoing engagement and other ways to build business with existing customers, join me on our 4-Week Customer Success Course starting 1st Nov.
