Scaling onboarding is one of the toughest challenges in Customer Success.

 

Traditional onboarding wasn’t designed for scale. It’s a system that relies on rigid workflows, generic milestones, and one-size-fits-all templates and fails to meet the diverse needs of today’s customers.

 

Cookie-cutter onboarding might work for a handful of customers.

But as you grow, it breaks down.

 

Standardisation often leads to irrelevance, and trying to “personalise manually” at scale becomes a logistical nightmare.

 

But here’s the good news—it is possible to build onboarding frameworks that are scalable, tailored, and effective. With the right strategy and tools, you can meet your customers where they are while delivering an onboarding experience that feels personal, even at scale.

 

In this newsletter, I’ll show you how to make that happen, with actionable insights on leveraging data and technology to build dynamic onboarding systems that scale with your customer base.

 

Why Scaling Onboarding Fails

 

Scaled onboarding processes fall short for a few key reasons:

1. They assume all customers are the same. One set of instructions doesn’t fit customers with varying goals, industries, and use cases.

2. They overwhelm instead of guide. Customers are bombarded with too much information, leaving them unsure of where to focus.

3. They’re disconnected from product growth. As products evolve, customers are often left behind. A "once-and-done" onboarding approach can’t keep up with rapid product innovation. Customers need ongoing education and re-onboarding to adapt to new tools and features.

4. They lack personalisation. When the onboarding doesn’t reflect the customer’s specific goals, industry, or challenges, it feels irrelevant and disengaging.

5. They’re too rigid. Static, one-size-fits-all workflows don’t adapt as customers progress or encounter unique challenges. This can create frustration and stall adoption. 

If you want to create an onboarding experience that drives adoption and builds trust, you need to shift from generic workflows to dynamic, data-driven strategies.

 

These 3 case studies for how Canva, EverAfter and Intercom scaled their onboarding processes can help you visualise what scaled onboarding could look like for your business.

 

How to Tailor Onboarding Digitally

 

Here’s a step-by-step approach to crafting personalised onboarding experiences that scale and drive value for customers:

 

1. Segment Customers Based on Goals and Use Cases

Not all customers have the same objectives, so their onboarding shouldn’t be identical. You should adapt based on the criteria that define their use cases.

• Use in-app surveys to understand customer goals.
• Segment customers by industry and key use cases.
• Build onboarding tracks tailored to each segment’s needs.

If you need help to set your customer's goals and connect them to features and metrics that help you tailor this journey, check this article. 

 

2. Leverage Data to Prioritise Content

Customers don’t need to know everything upfront—they need to know what’s most relevant to them as they get started. Once  you have your customer goals mapped:

• Use product data to identify the features that drive the most value.

• Design a workflow to deploy these features to drive success.

• Create content that helps customers self-deploy.

Explore EverAfter’s onboarding automation tools to see how they can help scale your efforts without sacrificing personalization.

 

3. Create Dynamic Onboarding Templates

 

Templates provide structure, but they must adapt to each customer’s journey and different personas.

• Include placeholders for customer-specific information, such as goals, timelines, and feature priorities.

• Use automation to populate templates with real-time data, like user progress or milestones achieved.

• Customise the tasks based on the persona, matching their goals ensures they are motivated to take action.

Resource: If you're ready to start creating digital onboarding journeys that adapt to customer segments dynamically, ensuring relevance and engagement, check out EverAfter’s Onboarding Orchestrator.

 

4. Provide Milestones and Progress Tracking

Customers need to see their progress to stay motivated.

• Break onboarding into small, achievable steps.

• Provide clear milestones with deadlines and celebrate completions.

• Use dashboards to give customers visibility into what’s done and what’s next.

Example: A customer hub allows you to showcase progress, share resources, and surface relevant tasks in a single, accessible space. Check out how Gong set up a customer hub to track onboarding for their long-tail customers.

 

5. Incorporate Feedback Loops

Onboarding isn’t static—it should evolve based on customer feedback.

• Include feedback forms at key stages of onboarding.

• Use surveys to identify friction points.

• Adjust workflows and resources based on customer input to continuously improve the experience.

Use HubSpot's Service Hub to trigger customer surveys automatically through your CRM.

 

Scaling Digital Onboarding with Technology

 

To tailor onboarding for hundreds (or thousands) of customers, you need the right tools:

• Customer Experience Tools: Tools like EverAfter help create personalized portals that consolidate onboarding materials, progress tracking, and support resources.
• Product Data Platforms: Use product data platforms to surface insights about customer behaviours and tailor content accordingly.
• CRM: Connect every customer action at onboarding to the rest of the customer journey by integrating your CRM to your digital experience tool.

 

Why Tailored Onboarding Works

 

When onboarding is personalized, customers feel understood, valued, and equipped to succeed. This leads to:

• Faster time-to-value: Customers adopt the right features sooner.
• Stronger ROI: Customers get better value from the tools.
• Stronger retention: Value lays the groundwork for long-term loyalty.

By tailoring onboarding digitally, you’re not just onboarding customers—you’re setting the foundation for a successful partnership.

 

Ready to take your onboarding to the next level?

Daphne Costa Lopes

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If you're ready for more, there are 4 ways I can help you:

 

• The CSM Skills and Drills Guide: This simple guide has helped over 300 CSMs develop the skills to ace retention and growth targets. You'll find 8 core CSM skills with tools and frameworks to support them and 24 exercises to help you and your team develop these skills.  

• The 2025 CS Trends Report: With over 450 participants across companies of every size, this free report shines a light on what are the top challenges and opportunities for Customer Success for next year.

• Book a 1:1 Consultation: Sometimes content isn't enough. You need to talk through the nuances of the challenges to devise a good strategy. Get 1:1 access to Daphne’s 10+ years of experience building and scaling Customer Success teams starting at €300.