Onboarding Glossary

Clear definitions of onboarding, customer success, and SaaS terms. Your go-to reference for the language of user activation.

Customer Activation

Customer activation is when a new user completes the key actions that predict long-term retention. Definition and benchmarks.

Customer Churn Rate

Customer churn rate is the percentage of customers who cancel or don't renew in a given period. Formula and benchmarks inside.

Customer Effort Score (CES)

Customer effort score measures how much effort a customer needs to complete a task. Here's the formula and how to use it.

Customer Health Score

A customer health score combines multiple signals to predict whether a customer will renew, expand, or churn.

Customer Lifecycle

The customer lifecycle is the full path from awareness through purchase, onboarding, adoption, renewal, and expansion.

Customer Onboarding KPIs

Customer onboarding KPIs are the metrics tied to specific business goals. Which ones to track and how they differ from metrics.

Customer Retention Rate

Customer retention rate is the percentage of customers who stay active over a given period. Formula, benchmarks, and tips.

Customer Segmentation

Customer segmentation for onboarding means grouping customers by size, use case, or complexity to tailor their experience.

Feature Adoption

Feature adoption is the percentage of users who actively use a specific product feature. Formula and onboarding connection.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Net revenue retention measures how much recurring revenue you keep from existing customers, including expansion and churn.

Onboarding Automation

Onboarding automation uses software to run repeatable tasks like emails, assignments, and reminders without manual work.

Onboarding Completion Rate

Onboarding completion rate is the percentage of customers who finish all steps in your onboarding program. Here's how to track it.

Onboarding Kickoff

An onboarding kickoff is the first structured meeting where goals, timeline, and success criteria are set with a new customer.

Product-Led Onboarding

Product-led onboarding uses in-app prompts, checklists, and guides to onboard users without human-led sessions.

SaaS Onboarding

SaaS onboarding is the structured process of guiding new customers from signup through setup, training, and first value.

Sales-to-CS Handoff

The sales-to-CS handoff is the transfer of a new customer from sales to customer success after a deal closes. How to get it right.

Self-Serve Onboarding

Self-serve onboarding lets customers complete setup independently using docs, guides, and in-app tools. No scheduled calls.

Time to Value (TTV)

Time to value is how long it takes a new customer to get the first real benefit from your product. The key onboarding metric.

White-Glove Onboarding

White-glove onboarding is a high-touch model where a dedicated team member guides each customer through setup and training.

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