Customer Acquisition is essentially gaining new customers which involves convincing consumers to buy a company’s products and services.

Customer onboarding is a phrase used to describe the method users go through from the beginning of the journey to becoming a customer and beyond it. While both are interrelated customer onboarding goes a lot further than customer acquisition.

Customer Acquisition

Customer acquisition management points to the methodologies and systems used for handling customer potential and inquiries. Many marketing methods generate them, which need strategy and forethought. The process:

• Potential customers are identified through mailing lists and call centres. Consumers and businesses who already use or show an interest in similar products to those of your business are determined.
• Companies assess the needs further, using research methods. If the prospect of getting this new customer seems viable, his status is elevated, and he is assigned to a salesperson.
• Most customer acquisition programs then involve establishing an association with potential consumers to determine their need and how the offered products relate to those needs.
• Staff will attempt to ascertain unstated needs determined by interactions and continuing conversations with the prospects.

Word of Mouth – For Customer Acquisition Word of Mouth (W.O.M.) continues to be the most successful marketing channel

for acquiring new customers and leads. In a Bright Local survey, 28{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of participants indicated that W.O.M. is the most effective of 12 online and offline channels. The next three most effective were online marketing channels. SEO is the most successful marketing channel according to 1 in 5 respondents. 15{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} cited online local directories and 10{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} email marketing. Word of Mouth is still the most frequently cited expressions in marketing.

Customer Onboarding

Successful customer onboarding results in your customers becoming enthusiastic about your product or service. It gives the consumers useful information and engagement to ensure they get the most from their purchases.

Some advantages are:

• Revenue – If your customers are onboard, they will stay with your product or service and continue doing business with you. This will improve total conversions and lessen customer acquisition costs.
• Recurrent Business – It’s a considerable loss to lose regular revenue when you have secured a customer. Customers who have gone through a robust “out-boarding” process are more likely to stay with you.

20{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of existing customers can contribute to 80{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of a corporation’s future income (Gartner Group). However, research has shown that most B2B companies allocate only 20{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of promotion efforts towards retaining customers.

• Word of Mouth – Your customer’s experience successful outcomes with your product or service and are happy with the quality thereof. They’ll want to speak to their contacts about you.

 More than 92{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of consumers base their purchase choices on peer reviews. Word of mouth is promoting, and referrals can direct serious revenue to your business.

• Reduced Customer Service Load – Your customers are better educated on gaining success from your product or service. They are less likely to have issues in the early adoption stages.

All Your Teams Can Be Involved in Customer Onboarding

It involves:

• Marketing
• Customer Service.
• Technical Support.
• Sales and Account Management.

Customer Onboarding is a more intensive and a longer process than the initial customer acquisition. It also involves all the teams in the business. Digital Customer Onboarding is a top priority for 2017 according to 80{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of 200 attendees in a recent Digital Account Openings webcast.

Primary Keyword: Customer Onboarding.

Secondary Keywords: Customer Acquisition, potential customers, word of mouth, recurrent business, revenue, research methods, future revenue.