Lower support costs with customer onboarding videos

Customer onboarding is the process of welcoming new customers and getting them oriented to your product or service. In-product SaaS onboarding videos are perhaps the most common type of customer onboarding, but the general concept applies to any new customer of any company.

Depending on the service/product (and its cost/scope), the customer onboarding process may include several different touch points: kickoff meetings, in-product tutorials, screencast videos, self-paced video modules, written documentation, regular check-ins with customer success, etc.

A successful onboarding experience will make customers feel more comfortable, answer their questions, validate their decision to purchase from you, and ultimately improve the chances of retaining them over the long term.

There are a number of ways to improve the customer onboarding process, and they all stem from the same basic question: How can we be more proactive in nurturing this relationship and ensuring its continued success?

A good rule of thumb is to start onboarding as soon as possible and to pay special attention to the transition from the sales funnel to the customer pool. This is often a point of confusion for customers (and even for staff!) and can sour the relationship if not done well.

Another common problem with product onboarding is a lack of self-serve options. Ideally, your customer would be empowered to learn on their own without having to rely on a customer success manager. Asynchronous videos and customer-facing help desks can be a huge win in this regard.

Finally, make sure that you’re speaking to the two most essential pieces of great customer onboarding: helping users understand how to use the product and helping them see the bigger picture of its value in their lives.

Onboarding plays a significant role in how a new customer perceives a company, product, and/or service. A poor onboarding experience will actively push new users away, with 74% of people saying they’ll leave if the process is too complicated.

Beyond the positive brand associations created by a welcoming customer onboarding process, there’s an additional benefit, too. If you can successfully communicate the value of your product early on—highlighting how it solves specific pain points—you’ll find that your customers are far more loyal over time. After all, no one else can solve their problem like you can!