OnRamp

We are excited to share that OnRamp announced today we have raised $14.2M across a seed and recent Series A funding rounds. We have spent the past few years building an incredible team and product to deliver seamless customer onboarding by automating and streamlining the post-sales process. The funding will be used to enhance our product's leading automation and user friendly capabilities, helping solve the challenge of guiding B2B customers smoothly through even the most complex post-sales processes. https://lnkd.in/g6DU4Wfz

We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Brendan Finigan (aka Fini) as our Enterprise AE 🙌 Fini is a Boston native and will be joining the team in our Boston office. When he’s not closing enterprise deals, he can be found golfing, playing hockey, watching Boston sports or spending time with his family in the Cape. ⛳️ 🏒 🏖️ Fun fact: His legal name is actually Brendon, but his grandma said that’s not how you spell Brendan so his parents told her they legally changed his name, but they never did. So technically his name is Brendon but he’s always gone by Brendan (and everyone here calls him Fini) 🫠 🤣 Welcome to the team Brendan / Brendon / Fini 🫶

"We just need to get through onboarding - our product will make up for it." Famous last words, right? . . . Well thought-out onboarding processes and proper execution are the biggest drivers of successful implementation, adoption, and renewal. 💡As Joey Coleman rightly tells us, "The First 100 Days of working with you has more of an impact on [the customer's] lifetime value to your business than any other metric." 💡A recent, thoughtful LI post about kickoff meetings by Paul Holder of OnRamp got me thinking back to some simple tweaks I made to an onboarding process that brought about some very impactful results. I implemented some steps at the beginning of onboarding prior to the official kickoff meeting to gain trust early and start things off in collaboration mode:   ▶️ 15min "Welcome Call" with the primary stakeholders making sure their/our expectations were accurate, walk them through the onboarding anticipated milestones/timeframes, and provide things they could do to accelerate onboarding/make it more effective. ▶️ 15-30min "Business Objectives Interview" with the primary stakeholders to identify information such as the real business drivers of the effort (over and above what sales learned), what would determine a successful effort (inc. info to begin building a Success Plan), etc.. *Primary stakeholders = 1 Executive & 1 Operational **These steps can be done in-person, via live web meeting or Loom video.   When we started taking this approach...   ✅ onboarding hiccups reduced significantly leading to quicker TTFV ✅ we identified misaligned expectations early (between the 2 primary stakeholders as well between us and the customer) ✅ we gathered/shared info that immediately built trust in the process ✅ and even identified mutually beneficial expansion opportunities right from the get-go. All in all, the vast majority of customers praised this approach and we had regular feedback that our customers clearly understood expectations from our first post-sale interaction. 🎯I'd love to hear about any onboarding processes that you've developed and how they've benefited both you & your customer - drop a comment below! And, if you're looking for a platform to help simplify Onboarding and Implementation, check out OnRamp. (and no, I'm not getting a commission for the mention 😂) #onboarding #CustomerSuccess Jan Young, MBA, CSPO, CSM Jeremy Donaldson Kourtney Ezeamuzie Maryann Lazzeri Golriz Rezaei Brandon Cestrone👋 Jessica Huddleston

There is always another finish line. 🏁 In running, I train for races with a goal in mind, planning and working hard to perform at my best 🥇🏃🏻♂️ Similarly, in customer onboarding, there is never just one finish line. Implementation or go-live dates mark progress, but they are not the end of the customer relationship 🤝 It is crucial to approach benchmarks and cross finish lines in partnerships with fuel in the tank to get to the next task ⛽️ OnRamp ensures companies reach these partnership benchmarks and cross these crucial finish lines! 🏆

The kickoff meeting sets the stage for everything that follows. It’s your chance to build trust and rapport with your champions. How to run an effective kickoff call with new customers: - Be prepared. Ensure all internal stakeholders have reviewed the client's goals and history (see my last post on the Sales to CS Handoff) - Your customers are busy. Create a clear agenda and let them know ahead of time what to expect. - Clearly outline next steps. Review action items so you and your champions are aligned. Define who will do what on both sides to avoid confusion later. - Keep the focus on the customer’s needs and goals. Understand their individual and team pain points and what success looks like for them. - Lay out a realistic timeline with key milestones working backward from their goals. Use a tool like OnRamp to make help manage expectations and keep everyone on track. - Be realistic about what you'll need from your customer (personnel, time, approvals) to make them successful. This should have started pre-sales! - Encourage open communication. Give permission to interrupt you with questions and share the floor. This shouldn’t be a one sided presentation.  - Always send a follow-up email with the meeting notes, action items, and deadlines. A solid kickoff meeting can set the tone for a successful partnership. Get this right, and you’re setting your customer up for a successful onboarding and long-term loyalty.

The Customer Success function has always been a critical driver in SaaS. Recently, enterprises in almost every industry have begun slowly adopting CS models to help customers get more value from their products and services and unblock stuck revenue. Building a CS program enables non-SaaS companies to onboard, educate, and retain customers and improve brand advocacy — just as SaaS companies do now. That said, you'll need to take a slightly different approach for the best results. Check out our newest guide to CS for non-SaaS teams 👇 https://lnkd.in/gqccnnBU

Investing in top-tier software only to be handed a clunky spreadsheet for onboarding is like getting a luxury car with a manual that’s impossible to read. The initial user experience should match the promise of the product—simple, intuitive, and friction-free. Why settle for less when a smooth start can set the tone for long-term success?

We talk often about the importance of a seamless customer journey. But often there’s friction before the journey even begins...starting with the handoff from sales to customer success. A few best practices I’ve seen work well for the Sales to CS handoff: 1) A CSM shouldn’t be learning about a customer on the same day they are meeting them for the first time.  2) Ensure your CS team reviews CRM notes, contracts, and any notable calls before the handoff. 3) Sales should communicate early and often with CS - this means before the contract is signed Key Questions for Sales & CS to Review: 1) My favorite: Why WOULDN'T this customer be successful? 2) Success criteria? 3) Key stakeholders? 4) Relationship map: who’s who, who matters, blind spots? 5) Executive sponsorship? 6) Is there any Account expansion potential to coordinate on upfront? At OnRamp, we define and build the handoff checklist within our onboarding playbooks. This enables us to stay aligned and ensure a smooth transition, as well as making sure we're not asking our customer to repeat themselves. What tips would you add for a smooth sales to customer success handoff?

This week I kicked off my 2024 New York City Marathon buildup! 🍎 🗽 On November 3, I will be running my first New York Road Runners NYC Marathon! 🍂 🏃♂️ This is the biggest race in the world with over 50,000 runners, and it has been a huge bucket list race for me for over 6 years. This week I begin my 3 month marathon training cycle and I kicked it off yesterday with a great 12 mile workout on my hometown track 🔥 To be honest, kickoffs have been on my mind a lot lately. In running and in life, I believe that kickoffs set the stage for attacking big goals 🏆 In SaaS sales and customer onboarding, kickoffs are crucial. These initial engagements in partnerships set the tone for the entire relationship. Poor onboarding experiences often result in churn and massive revenue loss 👎 It is great to see leaders in the customer onboarding & engagement space like OnRamp focusing on nailing customer onboarding and engagement to eliminate poor customer experiences and churn 🎉 Cheers to a positive end of summer training, operating, and working for all 👏 #TCSNYCMarathon #NYCMarathon #Running #CustomerOnboarding

How much of your week is spent following up and reminding clients to complete tasks, provide information, or send status updates? Let us know in the poll below 👇