"Every time we get on the onboarding status call with this client, the scope seems to change. We will never finish this implementation. I have so many other projects in the queue waiting to get started."
"It's so frustrating not being able to get a straight answer from our onboarding team about how much longer this implementation will take. This product was sold to our company as a game changer, but I am losing confidence that we will ever get to use it."
Vendor and Client Disconnect
How many times have you heard these feelings expressed by both sides of the onboarding team – the vendor and the client? Everyone is eager to engage, yet something keeps getting in the way of predictable timely implementation.
Whether it is shifting project scope, challenges collecting the necessary information from a client, lack of real-time transparency into the project status and timeline, or ensuring staff availability on both sides, onboarding rarely goes according to plan.
Hidden Costs of Client Onboarding
Why is onboarding such a pain? The number one culprit is using manual processes and tools unsuitable for addressing the multi-dimensional onboarding needs. Often onboarding is cited as an ever-growing cost driver and loss leader. The impact is recurring onboarding scope creep, timeline, budget overruns, implementation team burnout, and loss of client goodwill, ultimately, failure to produce and realize the value of a new or existing relationship.
And yet, many software vendors and implementation service providers are stuck in the vicious cycle. Who has the time to stop and think about a better way of doing things amid the looming backlog? And why feed the loss leader monster even more by investing in specialized solutions? And so, the cycle continues.
What to Expect Next with the Digital Transformation?
Growing digital adoption is driving increasing numbers of companies to pursue modernizing their operating toolkit. At any given point, tens of thousands of companies may upgrade their accounting software, expand their human resource management solutions, add a new benefits management system, and more. While it sounds like great news for software vendors and implementation service providers, unless they can deliver and have their customers enjoying new solutions quickly, they will lose business to those who can provide that experience.
Teams in other departments have long leveraged specialized tools to do their job faster and more efficiently. For example, sales teams use Salesforce, Hubspot, and other tools to stay on top of their follow-up and keep track of their prospects and deals. Customer support teams can use ServiceNow, ZenDesk, and the like, just like HR, finance, legal, operations, and other departments. Onboarding teams, armed with modern solutions designed to ensure that all the parties are on the same page, can exchange information securely. They are best aligned on the availability on both sides to get to the finish line with higher client satisfaction and the optimal operating footprint.
The Future is Happening Now
Utilizing onboarding automation solutions will allow companies to break out of the vicious cycle, reduce implementation timeline and cost, deliver value faster to the customers, and, ultimately, help realize growth potential for software vendors and implementation providers alike.
Setuply is a client onboarding automation platform that aims to bring peace of mind and accelerate value attainment for vendors and clients. My co-founders, our amazing clients, vendors, implementation experts, and operations gurus across a broad range of industries are helping to weigh in on our vision of modernizing the onboarding journey for all. Join us! Whether you are on the client or vendor side, or a part of the service provider organization, share your onboarding story so that together we can take steps to drive forward faster business evolution and growth.
Onboard Faster, Live Better! 😊