Onboarding vs. Implementation: Do You Need Both?

Introducing new clients to your service (or new services to your clients) involves onboarding. But when your customers are using your CSM – particularly if it has white label features – you’ll inevitably need some kind of implementation process too.

These terms get used together a lot, but there are some important differences. In this article, we’ll look at customer onboarding and implementation to help you understand why you need both.

What is Client Onboarding?

Client onboarding, in short, is the relationship you establish with your new client to set them up with your service. It is your process of managing their setup to make sure they can be fully self-sufficient users. 

Generally, client onboarding will involve:

• Welcome emails
• Product demonstrations
• Tailored support
• Access to guides, ebooks, and other useful resources

For example, if you’re an IT consultant onboarding a new customer onto your software, you’ll likely need to show them how it works. This could be an in-person demo, online meeting, or access to a video-based training pack. The goal is to get them to the point where they can use your product or service as part of their general workflow. This directly affects the customer experience. 

What is Client Implementation?

On the other hand, client implementation is the process of integrating and tailoring your product to fit into the client’s workflow. Rather than teaching them how to use it, implementation is more about getting your product to align with your client’s needs.

This will usually involve:

• Adjusting settings
• Testing integration into other products or services
• Training on more specialized features
• Tailoring front-facing aspects to align with the client’s branding

To return to the IT consultant example above, the implementation stage would involve fitting your service into the client’s general workflow. For example, your product is a CRM tool. Implementation would involve setting it up on their website (chatbots and contact forms) and integrating the client’s accounts (such as their business email).

Implementation vs. Onboarding: The Key Differences

When it comes to difference between onboarding and implementation, there are 3 most important ones. They may already be clear based on the explanations above, but below is an explicit list of what sets implementation apart from onboarding.

1. Implementation is Just One Stage of Onboarding

Onboarding is a relatively lengthy process that involves establishing a strong client relationship. It’s fairly holistic in that it should cover everything the client needs to understand and use your product or service.

Implementation is one stage of this larger process. Specifically, your clients need a product that’s set up and ready to go live just as much as they need to know how to use it. You can’t have a complete onboarding process without implementation.

2. Onboarding is Finite, Implementation is Ongoing

As anyone working in a client-facing role will know, the onboarding process has a clear end point. Once your new customer knows how to use your product and everything is set up on your end, onboarding is complete. Of course, this isn’t to say that you won’t maintain your relationship, but rather that they are now officially a set up client.

Implementation, on the other hand, is generally an ongoing process. The main portion of implementation occurs when setting up the product in the customer’s workflow but it’ll involve some fine-tuning and maintenance after.

Specifically, some issues might not be obvious until the client has actually used your product for a while. If you’ve set up an automated tool for them, for example, they might find that some aspects of their workflow are getting missed, or there are functionality clashes with their other tools.

3. Implementation is a Far More Flexible Concept than Onboarding

Sure, onboarding will look different for every company. For example, a creative design agency will have a drastically different onboarding process than a freelance project manager. However, the key concept is the same: bringing your client into your service through education and relationship management.

Implementation, however, is a lot more flexible in its process. Returning to the two examples above, a creative design agency’s implementation process would involve designing, building, and launching a website. This would then be integrated into the client’s workflow and existing tools.

On the other hand, a project manager might implement a CRM tool specifically to deal with their client. This wouldn’t be a customer-facing tool on the client’s side, but would still need to be implemented into their workflow for the project manager to do their work.

Onboarding vs Implementation: Do You Need Both?

So, when it comes to implementation vs. onboarding, do you need both? The short answer is yes. If you want a successful client relationship and full integration of your product or service into their general workflow, you’ll need to ensure proper integration during and after your onboarding process.

A client can only do so much with a non-implemented product. Say you’ve finished your onboarding process and you’re happy with the level of knowledge you’ve imparted to your customer. What’s next?

Well, they actually need to use your product. You can’t expect your client to introduce your product into their workflow, even if you feel you’ve given them enough information to do so. First, this is arguably part of the service you’re paid to provide.

But more importantly, they’re still beginners in terms of knowledge level. They might understand the basic functionality, but this doesn’t mean they’ll know how to integrate their email client or use your CRM tool to set up a contact form on their website.

This is why implementation is a vital part of the onboarding process: it ensures your customers are set up for success. It uses your knowledge and experience of your tool to fine-tune their experience and give them a good starting point.

Tips for Successful Implementation and Onboarding

Now that you understand the importance of implementation and onboarding, let’s cover some tips for getting the most value from each process. Bear in mind, though, that these will be unique to your business, your customers, and the niche in which you operate.

Understand Your Client’s Needs

This is a no-brainer but is important to mention regardless. Understand what your client needs to be in the best position for success. Know why they want your service and what you plan to achieve for them. Know their pain points, niche, goals, and specific requirements.

All this information informs your onboarding and implementation process. Specifically, you’ll need to tailor your implementation to ensure your product aligns with their needs and goals. As such, it’s essential to know these before you begin.

Communicate Your Intentions

If you’re lucky enough to have separate onboarding and implementation teams, make sure communication between them is as clear as possible. Both teams should be sharing all relevant information with each other so that everything they do is in the customer’s best interests.

But you should also communicate regularly with the client. They should know they can raise queries or find answers to their questions as soon as possible. After all, onboarding is about establishing a strong relationship, and communication is one of the cornerstones of this.

Establish and Monitor KPIs

During your onboarding process, there are metrics that you can track to refine your processes. For example, time to first value is a commonly-used KPI during onboarding processes.

Importantly, value is defined differently for every business. If your product is a CRM tool, first value could be when your new customer logs in, or it could be when they receive their first query from their own customer.

Whatever this value means to you, define it and establish it as a KPI. You’ll want your time to first value to be relatively low, as establishing value early on will increase your client’s loyalty.

Use A Mature and Flexible Software Platform

One thing we haven’t mentioned yet is how you actually onboard your new clients. Well, the most obvious solution is a software platform that has features for onboarding or client portals to help with implementation part. You can use these to set up your client’s learning resources and as a point of communication for their implementation process.

For this, you’ll want a mature and well-established tool with enough flexibility to provide the level of service your clients expect. Although not a must, something like customization features can be a big advantage for building strong relationships during onboarding.

Similarly, you’ll want a platform that can monitor metrics, generate insights, and provide usable data to improve your onboarding and implementation processes. If you take sales seriously, these are all necessary features.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to client onboarding and implementation, both are important aspects of new customer relationships. To properly manage these processes, use a SaaS tool like FuseBase.

Its client portals and white-label features make it an excellent choice for onboarding, and its file storage features streamline implementation deals. Book a demo today or reach out if you’d like more information. 

FAQ: Key Questions and Answers about Client Onboarding and Implementation

1. What is the customer onboarding process?

Customer onboarding is the process of managing new teams or clients to ensure they are fully set up and can use your service effectively. The onboarding experience may include welcome emails, product demonstrations, tailored support, and access to guides or training materials.

2. What’s the difference between customer onboarding vs implementation?

Customer onboarding is a broader process focused on introducing new people to your service, ensuring they understand and can use your product. Implementation takes place as a stage within onboarding that involves integrating and tailoring your product to the client’s specific workflow and needs. 

3. Why is a successful onboarding process important?

A successful onboarding process ensures that clients quickly see the value of your product, which improves customer satisfaction, loyalty, and long-term success. 

4. How can understanding customer needs improve onboarding and implementation?

Understanding customer needs helps you tailor the onboarding process and implementation to align with their goals, pain points, and specific requirements. This approach ensures a more effective customer onboarding process and increases the likelihood of long-term success with your product or service.