If you’re responsible for onboarding, you’ll likely have a process and structure for your customer calls.
You know exactly what needs to happen to keep their project on track.
But then you realise, you’ve got a talker on your hands.
A real talker.
You find yourself 20 minutes into a story about their previous vendor's catastrophic onboarding while your carefully timed agenda fades away.
These expeditions off track can derail an otherwise impactful call.
That’s why it’s important to be ready for this scenario.
Below are easy techniques you can implement today, will you give it a try?
Shhh… I’m talking. 😉 ↓
🧪 The Project: Master the Pivot
When customers derail your carefully planned onboarding calls, here's how to regain control without causing offence.
Step 1: Pause & bridge
Talkative customers can give you valuable information but they also disrupt momentum.
Aim to get the balance of insights while keeping things on track.
Try this in your next call:
Find the natural pause - Try not to interrupt mid-sentence, wait for them to take a breath or think.
Acknowledge their input - "That's really valuable context..." or "I can see why that's important..."
Bridge to your agenda - "...and what I'm hearing is that we need to focus on X first"
Step 2: Agenda is key
Your meeting structure is your polite way back to relevance when conversations spiral.
Start your call with clear boundaries:
"I have three critical things to cover today to keep us on track for your March deadline"
"Let's make sure we hit the key decisions you need to make progress"
"I want to respect your time, so I've prioritised the most urgent items"
Then if the call starts to deviate from the original plan, you can redirect with phrases like this:
"I’d like to touch back on point two that we outlined at the start..."
"I want to make sure we address your priority concern about..."
"I’ll definitely note that important point and I’d also like to focus on..."
Practice these until they feel natural because your agenda becomes your diplomatic escape route!
Step 3: Practice strategic interruption
Sometimes you do need to interrupt. 🤷♀️
There's a way to do it that makes customers feel heard rather than shut down.
Practice these tools and how you deliver them:
Physical cues first - Lean forward slightly, raise your hand gently. Show that you are wanting to impart some knowledge!
Verbal bridge - "I want to make sure I understand..." or "Let me pause you there so we can align our thoughts..."
Value acknowledgment - "That’s a good point and exactly why we need to focus on..."
Forward momentum - "The best way to solve that is to first..."
If you can get these working in a flow from physical cues through to forward momentum you will come across as very confident, reliable, and knowledgeable.
Everything that your customer will want to see during onboarding!
Step 4: See value & reconvene
I want to address that you don’t want to ignore the possibility of valuable information.
First, recognise that you can gain further knowledge from this stakeholder in a dedicated separate call.
Second, redirect them to give more focus to their topics later on.
For example:
"I can tell that you have valuable insights about this and I want to give them proper attention. Can we schedule 30 minutes next week where we can dig deeper while we keep today focused on unblocking your immediate progress?"
🤓 The Analysis
Loss of direction in onboarding conversations directly impacts time-to-value and therefore revenue. Not to mention the headaches!
Sometimes, it’s due to personality traits. Sometimes, it’s due to past experiences.
As the expert in successful onboarding of your solution, you need to showcase confidence in your process and control of the conversation.
What to expect by making these changes:
Focused meetings
Customer feels trust & confidence in you
Time-to-value improves
