10 Essential SaaS User Onboarding Tools to Drive Growth

Got onboarding on the mind?

Yes, you say? 

That makes sense because you did start reading this article…

Anyways, it’s a good thing you’re thinking about customer onboarding because it plays an essential role in getting users to fully adopt your product and remain loyal customers for a long time.

However, getting it right isn’t easy. 

Deep breath, you have nothing to worry about. 

More and more solutions are being created to make this task much less daunting for you. 

So, join us as we break down everything you need to know about SaaS onboarding tools and which ones you should be adding to your sales tech stack. 

Introduction to SaaS onboarding tools

We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today. 

But don’t worry, we’ll ease into things to make it a little less overwhelming. 

So, before we jump right in, let’s start by going over the basics. 

What are SaaS onboarding tools?

In short, SaaS onboarding tools are software or platforms that can be used to help you show new users the ins and outs of your product. 

These software tools should help you make the customer onboarding process more efficient and as easy as possible for the client. 

They should also enable you to provide a realistic and welcoming space for your new customers to get the hang of your product and help you showcase the value of your product.  

Why are SaaS onboarding tools important?

Well, you ask a very intriguing question, my friend. 

Customer onboarding is what sets the tone for your relationship with the customer. So, this means that it’s critical your customers have a positive first impression when it comes to using your product. 

On top of this, during onboarding, your goal should be to get users to the “aha!” moment, or the moment when they understand the value of your product, as quickly as possible. 

Why? Because the faster customers get value from your product, the higher the chance they’ll stick around for the long haul. 

And the right customer onboarding tools will enable you to give your customers everything they need to achieve success with your product.

The importance of SaaS onboarding for business growth

Like we mentioned before, customer onboarding is where you lay the groundwork. That is, when it comes to building a solid relationship with your customers.  

Because the fact of the matter is that even if you’re making sales left and right (which is awesome BTW), it will cause problems down the line if customers can’t figure out how to start using your product.  

When you get customer onboarding right, there are tons of benefits that can contribute to the growth of your business.

Here are just three:

1) Improve user experience

No ifs, ands, or buts here. 

It’s all about the customer. 

And customer onboarding is no exception to this. 

So, your onboarding program should make it as easy and as seamless as possible for customers to do everything from setting up the product to achieving success. 

By keeping things straightforward during the onboarding process, it will help you improve the experience the user has with your product. 

2) Boost customer retention

Nobody wants unhappy customers. 

Because unhappy customers are much more likely to jump ship and ultimately churn.

And while taking steps to reduce churn is super important, it’s also essential to understand why it happens in the first place. 

In many cases, if a customer churns, it could signal that something is going wrong during the onboarding process. Maybe customers never quite understood how to use your product or how to get value from the product. And this can lead to frustration and in turn, a lack of engagement. 

So, when customer onboarding is able to successfully show customers the ropes, it can go a long way in helping you prevent churn and boost customer adoption. 

3) Increase revenue

We all want customers to love our brand and the product we offer. 

Because when your customers are satisfied, they can become a major source of referrals. 

Plus, as we mentioned before, when you follow the customer onboarding best practices and get onboarding right, it can also help you boost retention. And higher retention can result in lower customer acquisition costs and revenue growth.  

10 essential SaaS user onboarding tools for driving growth

1) Walnut

Walnut enables customer success teams to create interactive tutorials that can help you simplify the onboarding experience.  

Not only does the platform allow you to personalize your training materials and interactive tutorials, all without any code, but you can also add annotations to help customers get the hang of your product on their own. 

Plus, Walnut allows you to track how your customers used these materials so you can gain insights about what parts of your product made sense and which might be more confusing for users.  

2) WalkMe

Next up to bat, we have WalkMe, which offers a digital adoption platform. 

What the heck is a digital adoption platform? 

Essentially, it’s a type of software tool that makes it easy to learn how to use different applications. It does this by making the user experience as simple as possible so that users can seamlessly adjust to new and evolving technologies.

Specifically, WalkMe’s solution allows you to offer self-service support and speed up the time-to-value through task-specific training.

3) Userpilot

When it comes to product adoption, Userpilot has you covered. The company offers an engagement layer to help you create tailored UI patterns on top of your product. No code necessary. 

This makes it easier for you to create in-product experiences to help you boost user activation, feature adoption, and retention. 

The product also allows you to nudge users based on their in-app behavior, so you can engage with them at the right times.   

4) Pendo

Pendo gives its users tools to create better software onboarding experiences. 

Not only does this solution offer product analytics to help you learn why features are either loved or get ignored, but it also allows you to provide in-app guides that help get users from the first login to their “aha!” moment.  

On top of this, Pendo lets you add more complex tasks for users to complete as they progress through your onboarding program. 

5) Userlane

Userlane is another digital adoption platform that is all about making customer onboarding less frustrating.

By offering in-app guidance and context-specific support, this solution tries to make it easy for any user to use any software. 

With customers able to realize the value of a particular software from the get go, Userlane’s solution can help improve trial conversions and customer retention. 

6) Userlist

Userlist is a SaaS email automation platform that was built with customer onboarding in mind. 

Using user behavior data, the platform allows you to create onboarding campaigns to convey the right information to users at the right time. 

And this can make a major impact when it comes to helping customers arrive at their “aha!” moment. 

7) Customer.io

Helping clients build perfect messaging flows is Customer.io’s bread and butter.

The solution focuses on building automations to help you communicate with users through email, push notifications, and text messages. 

Plus, you can also take advantage of real-time customer data to send messages based on customers’ behavior. 

8) Help Scout

Even with the best interactive tutorials and in-app support, your new customers still might get stuck. 

It happens. 

And this is where a helpdesk platform like Help Scout will come in handy. 

The product allows you to respond to customer concerns through a shared inbox, create knowledge bases, offer self-assist options, and communicate with customers using a real-time live chat. 

9) Zendesk

When it comes to offering support during the onboarding process, Zendesk has your back. 

Zendesk’s platform allows you to live chat with users as well as provide email and phone support. The product also lets you build a help center and a community forum to offer self-service onboarding support. 

10) Userflow   

Want fast onboarding?

Well, that’s exactly what Userflow was designed for. 

The solution gives you and your team the ability to create customized in-app tours, checklists, and surveys. All without any code. 

And this can help you boost your customer retention. 

Enhancing the customer onboarding experience with interactive tutorials 

We at Walnut love a good joke. 

Shocking, right?

But putting all jokes aside, getting customers to become full-fledged users of your product won’t happen unless they have a positive first impression.

And that’s why you need to do everything you can to make sure their onboarding experience is as seamless as possible and that customers quickly understand your product’s value. 

And one way to do that is by using a customer onboarding tool (wink, wink like Walnut) to make interactive tutorials that give your new customers a warm welcome to your product. 

The bottom line is that successful product adoption starts with customer onboarding. So, why not give your team the tools (ummmmm, like Walnut) they need to get customer onboarding right?

(Walnut) 

FAQs about SaaS onboarding tools 

What are some important features to look for in SaaS onboarding tools?

When it comes to choosing the right SaaS onboarding tool, you’ll want to make sure you look for features like a code-free editor, so you can easily create interactive tutorials without relying on R&D. 

You also want to make sure it allows you to offer easily accessible guides, communicate directly with users, and gain in-depth insights about the onboarding process so you know where to make improvements.  

How can SaaS onboarding tools improve user experience and customer retention?

If you use a SaaS onboarding tool, it can help you make getting to know your product as easy as possible for the customer. 

So, when the customer clearly understands how to use your product and the value they can get from it, it not only improves the user experience, but also increases the chances they’ll stay with your brand for the long run. 

What is the goal of customer onboarding?

Customer onboarding is all about getting users started and engaged with your product, as well as encouraging them to gradually incorporate your product into their day-to-day routine. 

Ultimately, the end goal is to have these new customers not only successfully activate your SaaS product, but also adopt it for the long-term. 

Ready to start boosting your customer onboarding? Book a meeting with us now by clicking that big “Get Started” button on the top of the screen.