The best businesses are the ones that deliver what they promise. According to the Harvard Business Review, every five years the average American business loses 50% of its customers. The reason being that two-thirds of those surveyed said they received inadequate customer care.
If you think that you have done your job once you’ve made a sale, then you’ll have to think again because selling is only half the job. There is still an entire other half, which includes making sure your customer makes the best use out of their purchase. Onboarding new customers is about making their experience as smooth and pleasurable as possible.
What exactly is customer onboarding?
Customer onboarding covers the entire process that a user goes through; from becoming a customer and beyond. A good user onboarding process has the potential to increase engagement up to four times. In a nutshell, onboarding is welcoming your new customers or clients in a way that makes a great first impression, keeps the customer satisfied, and raises your customer retention rate. When you fail to do that, customers will just leave. A good onboarding practice usually involves 2 main factors:
1. Successfully introducing your customers to your business and making sure all their questions and understanding of your products or services have been met.
2. Gathering the correct information of your customers in order to provide you with insightful information on what you can do for them and how they could benefit from you.
To improve and enhance customer engagement, here are some things that an onboarding process can do:
Change the mindset
The change of focus from product/sales-centric to customer-centric is a crucial shift which establishes a meaningful relationship between you and customers. You’ll be building relationships in a smart way because relationship building is based on customer feedback. You can maximize customer exposure to your full product or service value. When you listen to customers, you’ll also be learning how to improve your product/service. This priceless feedback will likely spread into other areas of your business.
Provide instant gratification
This is a fast-paced digital world and clients want immediate responses, feedback and confirmations. With onboarding software you save time, money and other resources by using a visitors onboarding form which eliminates the time that customers would usually go through to fill out forms. This is typically clear in the banking and insurance industry, for example, where form filling is often a time consuming, slow process for customers and you. Take advantage of onboarding by engaging your customer in innovative ways that work, ensuring that they do not get disappointed.
Keep it simple
A strong first impression depends on several factors of customer on-boarding. On mobiles, these include clarity of feature categories, visual layout, and ability to easily navigate from one step to the next by creating a simple interface. Make a simple, engaging interface by offering users a chance to go further. Highlight and pinpoint key features and calls to action (CTA) or create opportunities for users to engage with the platform on a more profound level.
Keep communication open
Silence after a sale is a deadly business sin. This the time your customer is most vulnerable. You might not be engaging with your customer as you should, but rest assured the customer is engaging with others on social media or online reviews, and poor feedback will damage your business. Do your customer relationships a favor and keep the channels of communication always open.
Provides an alternative
It’s easier and more convenient for customers to use their mobile devices, as well as being more personal and accessible than on desktops or laptops. Giving customers the advantage of using their personal smartphone removes obstacles, and gives customers the freedom to choose their method of transaction which makes for easier engagement.
The ideal scenario
In an ideal scenario, both your customers and your business will benefit. Since it takes so much time, effort, and money to recruit new customers, it doesn’t make any sense to lose them because you have not fulfilled your end of the deal. Surveys show that 81% of consumers want brands to understand them better and know when and when not to approach them. Creating a positive customer service experience before and after a sale is what makes one brand standout from another.
