The Customer success function is about anticipating customer problems and offering proactive solutions to them. Customers’ needs are constantly changing and businesses need to adapt their strategy to keep up with them. We have listed the key strategies that should be included on your Customer Success checklist.
Customer Success Checklist
A customer success checklist is a tool used by customer success managers to help them keep track of their customers’ success. The checklist includes items such as customer satisfaction levels, product usage, and support interactions.
The checklist helps customer success managers identify areas where their customers are struggling and provides a way to track their progress over time.
The 5-Step Client Onboarding Checklist for Your Customer Success Team
We’ve been working with many B2B software clients to help them onboard their customers. Through that process, we’ve found that the ideal process has only five essential steps that we’ll outline below.
1) Welcome your clients
Start by thanking your new lead for reaching out to you. Welcome them with an email and set the tone for your relationship with them.Your ultimate goal is to retain clients and build a high LTV, but making a good initial impression and setting the stage for what comes next is the first step.
When welcoming a new customer, it’s best practice to include an invitation to your “onboarding” materials and any “educational” or “tutorial” content that make sense for your product or service.
Be sure to set clear expectations with your client when onboarding them.
Your new customer welcome plan doesn’t need to be kept under wraps. Keeping your clients out of the loop rarely helps them.
Rather than just sending a checklist, send a transparency and onboarding report that outlines what steps will be taken to on-board them and what to expect from the process. This can also be used for external use.
Imagine yourself as a potential customer with no prior knowledge of your product. You wouldn’t want just to be told how to be successful.
You’ll want to know what the company’s plan is for getting you up to speed and comfortable with the new role.
Another key part of managing customer expectations is making sure you properly transfer the customer to your customer success team.
When a customer account is transferred from Sales to Customer Success, the sales rep should introduce the CS rep to the customer in a way where the client feels fully supported and is confident they are on the right path to achieving their business goals.
When a customer account transitions from your sales department to your customer success and support team, it’s important that your sales team introduces the new team member to your client. This initial introduction will help to strengthen your relationship with your clients and set them up for success.
Client Homework During Onboarding Process
To get the most out of your product, you’ll need to do a little bit of work on the client’s part too. These “touchpoints” should be when you provide them with “tasks.”
During the client’s onboarding, you can gather data on their existing systems, configure your tool for integration, sign up for other needed third party tools and platforms and anything else that will ensure a smooth and successful transition.
As part of our initial consultation, we like to give our clients some tasks to complete. This gives us a better idea of how they want to use our service. We also ask clients to fill out a client on-boarding form that collects additional information about their needs and goals.
Collect Necessary Details From the Client
When welcoming a new customer, make sure you collect their contact information, including their names, job titles, and emails. Also, clarify who your contact person is if you don’t already.
Be sure to include your contact’s name, title, email address, phone number, and who your direct point of contact is.
2) Get New Clients Fully Signed Up and Logged Into Your Product or Service ASAP
The first stage of your on-boarding plan is crucial, but you don’t want your clients to spend too much time there. You want to move clients through this stage as quickly as possible.
The more complex a SaaS product is, the harder it is for customers to reach value. The longer it takes them, the more likely they are to leave.
Even if a customer is not ready to purchase your full product, help them take small steps towards it.
Get Your Clients to Login and Configure Tool Configurations
Make sure you’re checking in with your clients regularly to make sure they have everything they need to login to your service. If they need to integrate your tool with something else, make sure they know how to set it up.
Go Over Legal Requirements and Payment Methods
Be sure to fully understand all legal documents associated with your type of product or service. If there are any contracts or forms that will need to be filled out, make sure both you and your client are on the same page.
If your client hasn’t paid you yet, double check that you have a payment method on file.
3) Start direct communication
Meeting with clients in person (or via video conference) is incredibly important. Here are the key things to remember:
Get Your First Intake Call and Schedule Future Talks
Your first meeting with the prospect is where you can really start customizing your services.
It’s important to understand your client’s goals so that you can provide a solution that meets their specific needs. By understanding the desired outcomes or deliverables, you can ensure that your solution will help them achieve their objectives.
Don’t just solve a client’s pain, but make sure you do it in a way to achieve the client’s goal.
Once you’ve completed the initial training, you’ll want to set up a regular meeting or talk to keep the customer engaged. This will strengthen the relationship going forward.
B2B SaaS Customer Onboarding Guide – Clarify the Process and Next Steps
Now that you’ve finished your introductory calls and emails, it’s time for your client to take the next step. If you haven’t already, send a helpful guide to your new clients or provide them with a plan of action. This will ensure a smooth implementation and successful launch of your software.
For instance:
How long does the on-boarding process take? New hires will go through a 3-4 week training program where they will learn the ins and outs of the company. By the end of this, they should be fully up to speed and able to work independently.
Check out our customer onboarding guide for tips on how to keep your clients motivated and engaged as they work through your program.
4) Create project management tools and onboarding platforms
Now that your team members have completed their initial training, you can move on to organizing the project management tool or platform you’ll use to track their progress. By setting this up now, you’ll be able to easily monitor everyone’s progress and ensure that they stay on the right track.
Project Management Tools – Add the Client Into Project Management Tools
High touch sales processes often involve using popular project or task management tools like Asana, Trello, or Basecamp.
If you’re working with a client, now’s a great time to create their project in your project management tool. Include any account information they need, and share it with the appropriate team members. This will ensure everyone is on the same page and that the client has a smooth transition.
High-Tasking Onboarding Platform – How Arrows Can Transform Your Onboarding Experience
There are a lot of moving pieces in an effective high touch sales cycle. Spreadsheets and manual tracking quickly break down when you’re scaling up.
We believe that using a dedicated software, such as Arrow, is the best way to onboard new reps. There are several benefits, such as organization, accountability, and streamlining. If you’re looking to implement an on-boarding program, book a 30-minute demo with us.
If you’re looking to simplify and streamline your high-engagement customer success strategy, then schedule a free demo with us to see how Arrow’s Customer Success Platform can help.
Once you’ve completed your coaching sessions, you can mark them as complete and assign tasks to your clients.
5) Bring Your Client Into a Shared Ecosystem
When you’re ready to invite your client’s team to any shared folders or workflow tools, make sure to do so in a helpful and friendly manner. This way, they’ll be more likely to accept the invitation and get started using the shared space right away.
This will help your clients to better understand the work being done, what needs to be accomplished and when they can expect to see results. By having access to this information, it will allow them to provide feedback and collaborate more effectively.
Make sure to check that they have access so you can avoid any potential issues.
Conclusion
By following this customer success checklist, you can be sure that you’re providing your clients with the resources they need to be successful. By doing so, you’ll improve their experience and build a strong relationship with them.
