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ABOUT THE 2021 REPORT
FOREWORD
WHO'S IN THE 2021 REPORT?
Foreword
CUSTOMER ONBOARDING
Customer Onboarding
CUSTOMER ONBOARDING MATURITY MODEL

Precursive's on-going annual research program reveals that there is a maturity gap between companies of all sizes including those across Enterprise, SMB and Hyper-Growth. Using data from the survey over multiple years alongside industry best practices, Precursive helps companies to benchmark any organization to see where it sits against others. Based on the survey results we have created best practices, separated into 4 categories where specific people, process and technology innovations exist.

CUSTOMER ONBOARDING FOR ENTERPRISE
You are never too big to improve your process

More than half of all enterprise companies surveyed want to improve their onboarding process, with every company believing that in doing so would result in the biggest impact on the performance of Customer Onboarding. Enterprise companies are wary of what customer success means to their partner ecosystems and as the volumes and diversity of Customer Onboarding projects increases, companies are looking for ways to use technology to enable a human touch at a greater scale.

MATURITY
SCORE
1
5
5

100% of Enterprise organizations have a Customer Success Department

74% have a dedicated Customer Onboarding team

82% of Enterprise organisations rate their onboarding approach as a key driver of value

Maturiy Score

KATIE

GOUYETTE.

HEAD OF GLOBAL CUSTOMER ONBOARDING

GOCARDLESS

We have some great success stories with customers who have increased their usage of GoCardless once they have been onboarded because they are so happy with the product and the way it fits the business.”

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PEOPLE
People of Customer Onboarding
WHO TOOK PART

Over the last two years there has been a demonstrable rise in seniority in the Customer Success department. In 2020, near 50% of respondents sat at the VP or CXO levels compared to 34% in 2019 and 18% in 2018.

 

As customers consistently demand outcomes and value, Customer Success is rising in importance, with a corresponding seat at the table.

SAM

SMITH.

SENIOR CUSTOMER SUCCESS SPECIALIST LINODE

The more I talked to other people in customer success, the more I feel like everybody does it differently depending on their company. There's so many factors, like how big your customers are and what stage the company is at.”

Process of Customer Onboarding
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PROCESS
ACCOUNTABILITY

Q. Which team is responsible for the post-sales stage of the customer journey?

100%

75%

50%

25%

Customer Success

Customer Onboarding

Professional Services

ENTERPRISE

HYPER-GROWTH

SMB

EARLY STAGE

Impact of Customer Onboarding
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IMPACT
IMPACT OF CUSTOMER ONBOARDING

Customer Onboarding has a significant influence on the Customer Lifecycle with retention acknowledged as the area of greatest impact.

1

Customer Retention

2

Customer Health

3

Customer Satisfaction e.g. NPS

4

Lifetime Value

5

Up-Sell

Customer Retention

Customer Health

Customer Satisfaction

Lifetime Value

Up-Sell

PRECURSIVE VIEW

CO has an impact on the whole customer lifecycle, especially in SaaS “land and expand” models where Onboarding needs to be repeated across a business to grow an account. Customer Retention and Health are closely linked impacts which all segments agree on.

  1. Wrong product fit
  2. Lack of engagement
  3. Poor onboarding
  4. Change of management
  5. Not enough support
  6. Reduction in budgets
PRECURSIVE VIEW

Every company in the survey stated that product fit has a direct impact on churn. Customer acquisition frequently includes closing deals whereby the customer isn't a great fit for your product.

Many of things that influence churn are outside of your control but customer onboarding is an area where you have a significant role in controlling the outcomes.

When you consider that the uncontrollable factors will likely persist and that unfortunately mis-selling may also continue in pockets, then your ability to onboard customers effectively carries an outsized importance.

WHAT DRIVES CHURN?

MELISSA JURKOIC.

CHIEF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE OFFICER ADDAPPTATION

As you expand you still want every customer to feel like they're your only customer.”

The Future of Customer Onboarding
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FUTURE