Here’s how to win over new customers and build ongoing relationships
As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. This is especially true for businesses honing their customer onboarding process. These early interactions set the tone for your ongoing relationships with customers. Successful onboarding makes customers more likely to stick around long-term. Less successful onboarding practices can cause churn and impact your bottom line.
To make a positive impression right from the start, you need a thoughtful customer onboarding strategy. These best practices will help you put your best foot forward.
Want to connect new customers to first value faster and more reliably? Check out our guide, The Complete Guide to Customer Onboarding.
Keep it simple
Customer onboarding should be straightforward. Making the process too complex runs the risk of overwhelming your new customers. That makes it less likely they’ll want to return. Start by only asking for the information that’s absolutely necessary. Depending on your business, this might be a name and email address, or a username and password. Make customers aware that further resources are available, but don’t force them to read lengthy guides or tutorials right off the bat.
Remember, onboarding is only the first step in what will hopefully be a long business relationship. By removing any unnecessary friction between the initial contact and the first transaction, you’re demonstrating your company’s value and showing customers you won’t waste their time.
Be engaged
It’s important that your customers feel like you’re really listening to them. For that to happen, you need to be communicative, friendly, and available. That means if you’re meeting customers in person, don’t turn your back to them. Greet them quickly and provide immediate validation to start things off on the right foot. Be sure to listen carefully, answer questions, and address any concerns.
For online businesses, your customer onboarding strategy should include a welcome email. Follow that up with links to additional resources the customer might find useful. Consider kicking off your relationship with personalized offers that guide customers to their next purchase. Be sure to follow up regularly and keep your business top of mind.
Did You Know?:TMC named the RICOH fi-8170 as a Future of Work Product of the Year. TMC recognizes "companies that showcase the most innovative and disruptive products and solutions that have positively supported hybrid work experiences across the globe." Click here to learn more.
Process requests quickly
Today’s American customers value their time and hate waiting in any kind of line. Two-thirds of consumers value speed as much as price, and more than half have hired the first business to respond to their inquiries. In other words, customers are impatient. Treat their transactions like a priority and be sure to process their requests as quickly as possible.
For an example of how this works, look no further than the Belvedere Hotel in New York City. The check-in process requires collecting customer information, which can be inefficient if done manually. To speed things up, the Belvedere used specialized software as part of a complete solution. This streamlined the information-gathering process and even ensured accuracy in cases of credit card disputes.
Protect customer data
When dealing with customer data, privacy is of the utmost importance. This is especially true for medical facilities that must comply with HIPAA and other privacy laws. In the case of Sharp Healthcare in San Diego, this means using hundreds of fi Series scanners to quickly scan ID cards, charts, and other protected information. Because the scanners integrated with Sharp’s own internal content management system, the healthcare facility was able to save time and money by reducing rescans and the time needed to set up scanning profiles.
Even if you’re not scanning about 600,000 images a week like Sharp Healthcare does, finding the balance between speed and security is still a top priority. Solutions that plug into your existing IT system and streamline these workflows are essential, particularly if they save time and money like PaperStream IP software.
Did You Know?:The fi-8190 scanner utilizes PaperStream software for speed, image correction, and easy integration with existing tech stacks. Click here to learn more.
Share your knowledge
While you don’t want to overwhelm customers during onboarding, it is important to make key information available to them. Make sure they know where to find this information, whether that’s on your website or a specialized portal. For example, the New Caney school district in Houston created a massive database that allows staff to access records from anywhere. This kind of knowledge portal serves customers well throughout the onboarding process. Enable self-service wherever possible, as customers generally like to be able to solve issues quickly on their own.
However, creating this database shouldn’t come at the expense of good, timely customer service. Be sure to invest in the right equipment when scanning and uploading these documents. Look for scanners with double-sided scanning to speed up the process, but don’t sacrifice image quality. After all, your knowledge portal isn’t going to serve anyone if customers can’t understand what they’re looking at.
Our recommendation: RICOH fi-8190
Those in the market for a high-speed document scanner to assist with their customer onboarding strategy have no shortage of options. We take great pride in having spent the last 50+ years researching, designing, and developing some of the most advanced and powerful electronics in the world, including our professional grade fi and SP series of scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens of thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with all existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that will pay dividends for years to come.
The enterprise-grade fi-8190 scanner was designed to take on heavy workflows without missing a beat. Clear Image Capture technology ensures crisp, easy-to-read scans, while double-sided scanning of up to 90 pages a minute satisfies your need for speed. And because the fi-8190 has an intuitive LCD interface, it doesn’t require excessive training time, so you’ll have it up and running quickly. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our production scanner line.
Note: Information and external links are provided for your convenience and for educational purposes only, and shall not be construed, or relied upon, as legal or financial advice. PFU America, Inc. makes no representations about the contents, features, or specifications on such third-party sites, software, and/or offerings (collectively “Third-Party Offerings”) and shall not be responsible for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of such Third-Party Offerings. Please consult with a licensed professional regarding your specific situation as regulations may be subject to change.
