How to Build a World-Class Customer Onboarding Team (Part 2)

Let's continue talking about what to showcase as a candidate for Customer Onboarding

Author

Clare Knight
October 17, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

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This list seems to resonate with a lot of people!

It’s great that customer onboarding roles are seen as a vital part of the customer journey.

It really should be a priority to build the best team you can. Especially for the first stage of the post sales experience.

So if you missed it, go and read part one from last week.

So… how do we get the best of the best? ↓

🧪 5 More Skillsets to Showcase & Identify Talent

1. Get feedback

Job Seeker

Demonstrate your commitment to continuous improvement by sharing how you collect and analyse customer feedback during onboarding.

Explain how you use this feedback to refine and improve the onboarding experience.

 "I implemented a post-onboarding survey that revealed a common pain point in our process. By addressing this, we increased our customer satisfaction score from 7 to 9 within three months."

It's valuable to give an example of how this worked in the past. Don't be afraid to show something that didn't work and how you overcame the challenge.

Also, highlight how you like to receive feedback from your manager. This gives a very clear indication of what you are like to work with and sets the tone for the relationship.

Hiring Manager

Look for candidates who not only collect feedback but act on it strategically.

Ask about a time when customer feedback led to a significant change in their onboarding process and how they measured the impact of that change.

Dig into how they approach receiving feedback from the team or their manager. Use the 5 whys technique to get to the root of why they work this way.

2. Be a cross functional collaborator

Job Seeker

Highlight your experience collaborating with other teams, such as sales, product, and marketing. This is a really valuable skill to have and is really encouraging to hiring managers.

Discuss specific instances where your collaboration resulted in a successful onboarding outcome.

"By working closely with the product team, we developed features that reduced our average onboarding time by 20%. This meant faster time to value and earlier expansion conversations."

Hiring Manager

Seek candidates who can navigate complex organisational structures and build strong relationships across departments.

Don’t just ask about how they've resolved conflicts between teams.

Ask them about creative projects they have worked on with other departments that moved the needle for the company as a whole.

3. Focus on metrics

Job Seeker

Show that you understand the importance of data-driven decision making by discussing the key performance indicators (KPIs) you track to measure the success of onboarding efforts.

Be prepared to share specific metrics you've improved in your previous roles.

"I implemented a new onboarding dashboard that tracked time-to-first value, feature adoption rate, and customer health scores. This allowed us to identify at-risk accounts early and reduce churn by 15%."

Hiring Manager

Look for candidates who can not only track metrics but use them to drive strategic decisions.

Ask how they've used data to justify investments in the onboarding process or to identify areas for improvement.

Look for clear understanding of the power of data. This can help you determine whether the metrics talked about are buzzwords or if their understanding goes deeper.

4. Keen learner

Job Seeker

Showcase your dedication to staying ahead of the curve.

Share how you remain updated on industry trends and best practices in customer onboarding. Tell them if you are in any communities around the topic.

AI will always be a hot topic, so start experimenting with how it can improve your workflow. Have some examples of what you have developed to showcase.

Tell them that you read The Onboarding Lab, of course. 🤓

"I regularly attend industry conferences and recently completed a certification in Customer Onboarding. I applied learnings from this to redesign our onboarding process. I have also been experimenting with AI to find ways to be more efficient.”

Hiring Manager

Seek candidates who are proactive about their professional development.

Ask how they've applied recent learnings to improve their onboarding strategies and how they stay informed about emerging trends in the field.

If they can highlight a number of resources they use then you know they are very involved in the community and topic of onboarding.

5. Commitment to customer success

Job Seeker

Let your genuine enthusiasm for helping customers shine through!

Share personal anecdotes that demonstrate your commitment to customer success.

A story is good. Evidence is better.

Have you won recognition from your team or from customers? Do you have a testimonial?

💡 Suggestion: If you have a great relationship with a customer, ask them to write a LinkedIn recommendation. This is public and genuine.

Hiring Manager

Seek candidates who can adapt their communication style to different audiences.

Ask how they handle communicating bad news or delays to customers.

Ask how they ensure technical information is understood by non-technical stakeholders. This is a big challenge for software companies and is an important part of getting onboarding right.

Look for candidates who genuinely care about customer outcomes, not just completing tasks.

Ask about a time when they went above and beyond for a customer and how they balance customer needs with business objectives.

Once again, if you missed last week’s list, read part 1 here.