Customer onboarding · from signature to activation

Onboarding is the object that tracks each new customer coming on board, with a status, a schedule, an owner and a progress figure. Inside the record there is a structured checklist, with an item, an owner and a due date, and progress starts being calculated on its own from the completed items. Templates generate the whole checklist in one click.

A badly run onboarding is the quietest cause of churn there is: the customer bought, never really got the thing working and does not renew. The Onboarding object exists so that every customer's implementation has an owner, a deadline and visible steps, instead of living in the team's spreadsheet.

Fields on the record

• Onboarding: required, the name of the process. For example, Acme onboarding.
• Customer: the company being onboarded.
• Status: Not started, In progress, At risk or Completed.
• Start date and Target date: the agreed schedule.
• Progress: the percentage completed.
• Owner (CSM): who runs the implementation.
• Notes: notes, milestones and open items.

In the menu, the Onboardings item opens as a board by default, grouped by Status, which gives you the portfolio view: how many customers are in progress, how many are at risk and how many are already done.

The checklist inside the record

Open any onboarding record and you will find the Onboarding checklist block, below the form. It turns the Progress field, which used to be a number typed in by hand, into a number derived from the actual work.

1. In the Onboarding checklist block, type the step into the New step field.
2. Enter the owner and the item's due date, if you want them.
3. Click Add. Repeat for each step of the implementation.
4. Check items off as the work moves along.
5. The progress bar and the counter show the completed share, and the record's Progress field updates on its own.

If your organization has onboarding templates registered, an Apply template picker appears at the top of the block. Choose the template and click Apply: the items are created at once, and those with a due date defined in days get a date calculated from the start date.

Limits and permissions

• As long as the onboarding has no checklist items, the Progress field stays whatever value you type. As soon as there is at least one item, the number becomes calculated and typing it in no longer counts.
• The Owner (CSM) field and the owner of each checklist item are text: you type the name. They are not linked to the user directory and they do not send notifications.
• A checklist item's due date does not raise a reminder on its own. To be alerted, also create an activity linked to the record.
• Creating and editing onboarding templates and items requires write access. Read-only users see the checklist but cannot change it.
• The onboarding's progress feeds the account's adoption score, alongside activity recency and the existence of an active contract.

Common questions

• Why do I not see the Apply template picker? Because there is no template registered in your organization yet, or none is active.
• I deleted an item by mistake. Progress is recalculated right away, using the remaining items. Just create the item again.
• Does the onboarding disappear when I mark it Completed? No. It moves to another column on the board and stops counting as an open onboarding for the automatic sales handoff.
• Can I have two onboardings for the same account? You can, by creating them manually. It is the automatic creation from a won deal that avoids duplicates while one is still open.
• Where do I follow all the onboardings at once? On the object's board and in the accounts in onboarding indicator on the Customer success screen.

Open this article inside the system →