Home / Definitions / Definition : Sales onboarding

Definition : Sales onboarding

Sales onboarding is a crucial stage in a customer's purchasing journey. This post-purchase phase is designed to support the customer as they learn how to use the product/service correctly.

1. What is sales onboarding?

Sales onboarding, also known as sales integration, is a set of approaches and processes put in place by companies to welcome and guide customers right from the start of their purchasing experience. This ensures not only a better understanding of the product or service, but also longer-lasting buy-in and high customer retention.

2. Importance of sales onboarding

Sales onboarding plays a key role in the relationship between company and customer. Good onboarding establishes a relationship of trust, improves product knowledge right from the onboarding stage, and increases the chances of long-term customer loyalty.

3. Sales onboarding objectives

The main objectives of sales onboarding include :

• Facilitate access to product or service information.
• Ensure rapid and efficient implementation of the proposed solution.
• Develop a relationship of trust with customers, offering them personalized support.
• Create up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.
• Promote customer retention.

4. The different stages of sales onboarding

Sales integration can be broken down into several key stages:

1. Welcome: this first step aims to establish warm, reassuring contact with the customer, demonstrating listening skills and empathy.
2. Needs analysis: the aim here is to identify the customer's expectations and target the solutions best suited to their needs.
3. Product or service presentation: during this phase, the customer is presented with the functionalities and advantages of the product or service in question, while highlighting its concrete benefits.
4. Negotiation and closing: after gauging the customer's level of interest, we make the necessary adjustments and close the sale.
5. Training and support: to ensure that the customer benefits fully from the acquired solution, we offer appropriate training and regular follow-up.

5. Sales onboarding tools

Several tools can be used to facilitate sales onboarding:

• Communication media: sales brochures, product sheets, videos, tutorials, webinars...
• Digital tools: e-learning platform, CRM, chatbot, collaborative platform...
• In-house training: training sessions dedicated to the product(s) or service(s) concerned.
• Customer support: telephone assistance, online support, FAQ, knowledge base...

6. Customized sales onboarding

To optimize sales integration, it's important to offer personalized support, taking into account the customer's specific needs (business sector, company size, specific requirements, etc.). This helps create a unique, tailor-made experience that will encourage customer adoption and satisfaction.

7. Measuring sales onboarding performance

It is essential to set up indicators to measure the effectiveness of sales integration. These indicators include :

• The conversion rate from prospects to customers
• Average basket and total sales
• Number of products or services purchased per customer
• NPS (Net Promoter Score)
• Customer retention rate

8. Raise sales teams' awareness of sales onboarding

To guarantee the success of sales onboarding, it is vital toinvolve and train sales teams. They will be on the front line when it comes to implementing the procedures and processes required for customer onboarding.

9. Adapt sales integration to the different phases of the purchasing cycle

Sales onboarding needs to be adapted to the different phases of the customer's buying journey, to provide appropriate support from product discovery through to full adoption.

10. Evolve with customer needs and expectations

To remain successful, sales integration must constantly adapt to changing customer needs and expectations. That's why it's crucial to take account of customer feedback, and to take corrective action where necessary.