Closing an enterprise deal is just the beginning. Successful onboarding and ongoing customer success are crucial for long-term retention and growth. This chapter outlines four key steps for customers to get maximum value from your product.

1. Understand your customer's workflow.

2. Data migration and setup

3. Onboarding meetings and training.

4. Periodic follow-ups to manage customers

1. Understand the customer's workflow.

Before onboarding, identify the customer’s workflow that your product will impact. This understanding is critical for SaaS products.

• Example: For an ATS(Applicant Tracking System) SaaS, understand the customer's hiring process.

• Build on previous sales calls, filling gaps.

This insight allows you to proactively suggest how your product can optimize their workflows. You can tailor your onboarding approach and demonstrate the product's value in their specific context by understanding their processes.

2. Data migration and setup

It's crucial to finalize data migration from their previous tools swiftly for customers to quickly experience the value of your product. This process can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, especially for enterprise customers with large volumes of data scattered across multiple systems.

• Offer guidance on setup and customization to fit their workflow.

• Be prepared to handle the setup yourself if needed. (Crucial for early-stage startups closing the first enterprise deals)

For example, at Rippling, which automates payroll, they request admin access to the customer's previous system (e.g., Gusto). The team then exports and migrates the customer's data to Rippling once granted access.

Assisting with data migration and setup before the onboarding meeting provides a great onboarding experience and lets customers see the product's value immediately.

3. Onboarding meetings and training sessions

Once you understand the customer’s workflow and finish data migration and setup, schedule onboarding and training sessions. Consider segmenting onboarding meetings for different user groups:

• Split sessions between admin and user groups.

• Customize the experience for each team or department.

Instead of cramming everything into one session, schedule follow-up meetings and additional training sessions. This approach prioritizes information and helps customers get the most out of your product over time.

Your onboarding meetings should focus on showing customers how your product solves their needs, not just introducing features.

4. Manage your customers with regular follow-ups.

Successfully closing an enterprise deal is just the beginning. True success is maintaining long-term customer satisfaction.

A common mistake in B2B sales is letting customers churn quietly. How to prevent this:

• Follow up regularly.

• Monitor product usage data.

• Address issues proactively.

Regular communication provides opportunities to:

• Gather feedback for product improvement.

• Share your product roadmap to maintain customer engagement.

In SaaS, keeping existing customers is crucial for recurring revenues. When customer satisfaction and product improvement align, you can generate larger revenue through upsells and cross-sells. This approach is often more effective than acquiring new customers.

Conclusion

Effective onboarding and customer success strategies are vital in B2B SaaS. Understanding the customer's workflow, facilitating data migration, providing tailored onboarding, and maintaining regular communications pave the way for long-term satisfaction and business growth.

Remember, your goal is to ensure successful integration of the product into your customer's workflow, not just to sell the product.