The importance of onboarding in the B2B customer experience

In a post-2020 landscape, consumer profiles have evolved, demanding greater speed and quality in their relationships with companies. This trend is especially relevant in the B2B context, where personalization and customer data insights are essential. According to a Gartner survey, 86% of B2B customers expect companies to understand them well, pointing to the growing need for personalized service. A critical component in this landscape is onboarding, which remains a challenge, as more than 90% of customers believe companies can do a better job integrating new users. The B2B onboarding process can take up to 100 days and requires a data-driven approach to strengthen the relationship between the customer and the company. Ivan Cheung, vice president of customer experience at Liferay, emphasizes that effective onboarding is built around product usage data and continually adjusted to meet customers' expectations and goals.

Fundamentals of effective onboarding

Successful onboarding should be sophisticated and take customers' shared goals into account. Customers want to quickly understand how a product will solve their challenges or help them achieve their goals. Successful integration not only builds loyalty but also strengthens the customer-company relationship.

Digital and interactive processes

To optimize the user experience, onboarding should be digital and interactive. Cheung emphasizes the importance of building a strong relationship, clearly understanding why the customer chose the product, and suggests adapting the process based on product usage.

• Build strong relationships
• Understand how the customer uses the product
• Monitor and adjust continuously

The role of the human touch

Digital integration should retain a human touch, such as direct contact with account managers. Different milestones throughout the onboarding process provide opportunities to adjust the customer experience to align with their expectations. Companies that master B2B onboarding can gain a competitive advantage, improving retention rates and positively influencing customer lifetime value (LTV).

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Onboarding as a competitive advantage

An effective onboarding approach enables new customers to quickly understand the value of a product or service. This not only improves retention rates but can also positively influence customer lifetime value (LTV). As Liferay points out, the ability to demonstrate value early is crucial to turning the initial experience into lasting loyalty, giving companies a significant competitive advantage. This content was produced based on material originally published in MIT Sloan Review.