For many companies, customer service is seen as a necessary cost—a burden to be minimized rather than an opportunity to be maximized. However, wise leaders know that in business, how well you take care of customers can dictate your success. 

That means paying attention to every aspect of service, including onboarding. After all, nurturing those relationships shouldn't end at the closed deal. Your job is just beginning when a new customer comes on board.

It's your chance to make an incredible first impression and set them up for long-term success with your product or service.

In this blog, we'll show you how to use HubSpot's powerful automation features to streamline your onboarding process. We'll share how you can use smart workflows to deliver a seamless experience, reduce repetitive tasks, and keep new customers engaged from day one.

Deal Level Automation for Seamless Onboarding

As a company, you want your customers to succeed with your product. That means helping them get fully onboarded and up-to-speed. 

Failing here has negative consequences. 55% of people admit to returning a product because they don't know how to use it.

Features like deal-level automation in Service Hub can make a big difference by connecting your sales and service workflows. This helps create a frictionless onboarding experience that sets customers up for long-term success. 

Let’s look at how it works.

Closed-Won Deals Triggering Ticket Creation

It starts when a deal is marked as "closed-won" in your HubSpot CRM. This can automatically trigger the creation of a new onboarding ticket in Service Hub. No more manual ticket entry or risk of missing a new customer.

This has two benefits:

1. Reduced administrative burden on your team
2. Enhanced data accuracy since all the deal details flow directly into the new ticket
   
   

Information Transfer from Deal to Ticket

Speaking of deal details, Service Hub makes it easy to transfer relevant information from the original deal into the new onboarding ticket. 

Imagine a new customer just signed a contract to use your software. When the deal is marked as "closed-won" in your HubSpot CRM, all the details—the primary contact name, company address, subscription details, and more—automatically populate the onboarding ticket. 

This eliminates the need for your agents to re-enter that information manually, saving them valuable time.

Onboarding Pipeline Setup

You can set up a dedicated pipeline in Service Hub to streamline the onboarding process. This lets you map out touch points—from kickoff to training to go live and beyond.

As the ticket moves through these stages, you can trigger helpful actions.

Let's say a new customer ticket enters the pipeline. As it progresses through the different stages, like "Kickoff Call Scheduled", "Training Completed", and "Final Walkthrough," you can trigger different helpful actions automatically.

When the ticket reaches the "Kickoff Call Scheduled" stage, the system could automatically assign a task to your implementation specialist to reach out and book the meeting. 

When the customer completes their training, you could send them a congratulatory email and notify your customer success manager to follow up.

How to Set Up an Onboarding Pipeline in HubSpot

Set up a pipeline that kicks into action when a deal is marked as "Closed-Won" in your sales process. This ensures a seamless handoff from your sales team to your onboarding and customer success efforts.

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating an onboarding pipeline in HubSpot:

1. Access the Pipelines Section: Log into your HubSpot account and navigate to the "Objects" section in the left sidebar. Click on "Deals" and then select the "Pipelines" tab.
2. Create a New Pipeline: Click the "Select a pipeline" dropdown menu and choose "Create pipeline." In the dialogue box, give your new pipeline a descriptive name like "Onboarding Pipeline" and click "Create."

3. Define Your Onboarding Stages: Think through the milestones and touchpoints in your onboarding process. These will become the stages of your new pipeline. Common examples include "Kickoff Call Scheduled," "Training Completed," "Final Walkthrough," etc.
   
   
4. Connect to Closed-Won Deals: The final step is to ensure your new onboarding pipeline is automatically triggered when a sales deal is marked as "Closed-Won." This seamless integration will create a smooth handoff and keep momentum going for your new customers.
   
   

Automation and Communication Strategies

It's great to have a streamlined onboarding process, but it's also important to have the right communication channels in place.

After all, timely, personalized outreach keeps new customers engaged and invested in their success with your product or service.

HubSpot's Service Hub helps you achieve this by giving you powerful automation and engagement tools to keep new customers informed and delighted throughout onboarding.

Here’s what you can do with Service Hub.

Task Automation in the Onboarding Pipeline

As tickets move through your custom onboarding pipeline, you can set up the system to automatically assign tasks to the right team members. This ensures nothing falls through the cracks and promotes seamless cross-functional collaboration.

For example, when a new onboarding ticket is created, you could trigger a task for your implementation specialist to reach out and schedule the kickoff call. 

Or, when the client completes their onboarding training, your success manager could be assigned a task to follow up.

Utilizing API Connections for Integrated Workflows

Service Hub also makes connecting with other systems in your tech stack easy. It leverages API integrations to build end-to-end workflows spanning multiple platforms. This could include syncing data, triggering actions, or even pushing updates back to other apps.

Imagine a new onboarding ticket is created. The system could automatically pull data from your billing platform, update the customer record, and then notify your finance team. This automation creates a truly connected customer experience.

Email Communication throughout Onboarding

Of course, you also need timely and personalized email communication during onboarding. With Service Hub, you can set up automated email sequences to keep new customers informed and engaged every step of the way.

For example, a new customer just completed their onboarding kickoff call. Service Hub can automatically trigger a personalized welcome email from their assigned customer success manager. 

This message could include helpful resources, next steps, and even a link to schedule their first training session.

As they progress through the onboarding pipeline, you can send additional automated emails like reminders about upcoming training sessions, congratulations when she completes a milestone, or a quick check-in to see if she has any questions. 

You can even leverage dynamic content to make these messages hyper-relevant to their specific situation and needs.

Using dynamic content for personalization is the most popular tactic among email marketers and the best way to send email.

How to Send Automated Emails in HubSpot

HubSpot makes it easy to create automated email sequences that keep your clients informed and engaged throughout the process. 

Here's a simple, step-by-step guide to creating automated emails that you can then use in your onboarding workflows:

3. Access the Email Tool: Log into your HubSpot account and navigate to the "Marketing" section. Click on "Marketing Email" to access the email creation tool.
4. Select "Automated" Email Type: In the top right, click the "Create email" button. In the dialogue box, choose "Automated" as the email type. This will allow you to use this email in automated workflows.
   
5. Customize the Email: Use the drag-and-drop email editor to customize the template with your branding, content, and personalization tokens. This might include the customer's name, company info, onboarding progress, etc.
6. Set Sending Options: In the "Sending" tab, you can configure additional settings like excluding unengaged contacts or adjusting the send frequency cap (available on Marketing Hub Enterprise).
7. Review and Publish: Once satisfied with the email, click "Review and publish" in the top right to make it live and ready for use in your onboarding workflows.
   
   

Leveraging Service Hub Surveys for Feedback Collection

Finally, don't forget to gather feedback from your new customers. Service Hub makes it easy to send targeted surveys at milestones like the midpoint or end of onboarding. 

This lets you collect structured (CSAT, NPS) and open-ended insights to help you continually improve the onboarding experience. 

For example, you might discover that customers would appreciate more hands-on training or that your welcome email sequence could be streamlined.

Acting on this customer feedback shows your new clients that you're truly invested in their success and gives you the data-driven insights to make impactful changes.

Visibility Across Teams for Comprehensive Onboarding

It's not just your service and support teams that need to be in the onboarding loop. Sales, marketing, and service all ensure new customers are set up for long-term success.

Service Hub’s unified view will come in handy here.

Connecting Tickets to Contacts and Companies

HubSpot lets you tie onboarding tickets directly to the associated contact and company records. Then, cross-functional teams can easily track progress and stay informed. 

Sales reps can quickly see where a new client is at in the onboarding process, while customer success managers can proactively identify any pain points or roadblocks.

This open visibility and information sharing promotes true collaboration, ensuring no one works in a silo.

Let's say a new customer just completed their initial onboarding call. That onboarding ticket is now connected to their contact profile and company record in HubSpot.

Now, your sales rep working with the same company can easily pull up the ticket and see exactly where the new customer is.

Meanwhile, the customer success manager assigned to the company can identify any issues or roadblocks the customer is facing and quickly step in to help.

Post-Onboarding Engagement and Upsell Opportunities

However, the benefits extend beyond just the onboarding phase. With the complete customer data in Service Hub, you can set up automation to prompt relevant team members to engage in post-onboarding conversations, upsell opportunities, or regular check-ins.

For example, when a new customer completes their onboarding, a task can be automatically assigned to their account manager to schedule a 30-day follow-up. 

Or, if certain usage milestones are hit, your customer success team could be alerted to discuss expansion opportunities.

Ensuring Ongoing Customer Success and Relationship Building

Keeping everyone informed and engaged throughout the customer journey lets you ensure a consistently great experience. Your teams work harmoniously to address any issues, capitalize on growth opportunities, and ultimately build stronger, more profitable relationships.

It's an onboarding approach that truly extends the full lifecycle—leveraging HubSpot's unified data, robust automation, and cross-functional visibility to deliver unparalleled customer success.

Imagine a scenario where a new ABC Company user hits a milestone, like completing their onboarding training. 

HubSpot can automatically trigger a task for the ABC account manager to schedule a 30-day check-in call. During that conversation, they might uncover an opportunity to discuss an add-on service or product that could benefit the client.

These proactive initiatives transform onboarding into an ongoing effort to build stronger customer relationships.

Service Hub Is Your Onboarding Solution

Imagine being able to automatically create support tickets the moment a new deal closes. Or connect your entire organization, from sales to service, to the same customer information. You get absolute efficiency and collaboration.

Plus, you can leverage Service Hub's automation capabilities to stay on top of all those onboarding touchpoints. Automated emails, triggered tasks, and real-time feedback surveys ensure no new customer falls through the cracks.

HubSpot Service Hub provides a comprehensive solution to transform your onboarding process. With it, your business can live up to its full potential, delight customers, and drive sustainable growth.

Partner with Origin 63 to Streamline Your Customer Experience

As an Elite HubSpot Solutions Partner, Origin 63 has the expertise to help you harness the full power of HubSpot's Service Hub and revolutionize your onboarding process. 

We'll work closely with your team to understand your unique challenges and goals, then deliver a customized solution that streamlines workflows, enhances cross-team collaboration, and delights new customers from the very first interaction.

Contact us today to learn more and get started.