SaaS onboarding phases summary<\/h2>\n\n- Customer onboarding<\/a> is the process of guiding users<\/a> through your product and showing them how everything works. It all begins when the customer signs up for your tool and has a continuous effect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Benefits of the SaaS user onboarding<\/a> process:<\/p>\n\n- Improved retention<\/a><\/li>\n
- Minimized time to value<\/a><\/li>\n
- Faster customer success<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- The three phases of SaaS onboarding are primary, secondary<\/a>, and tertiary onboarding.<\/li>\n
- Primary onboarding<\/strong> is the phase from the sign-up process to activation. The goal here is simple: get new customers to realize the value of your product in the shortest time possible.<\/li>\n
- Secondary onboarding: <\/strong>Here, your objective is to drive product stickiness<\/a> by showing customers features they aren’t using yet.<\/li>\n
- Tertiary onboarding:<\/strong> Provide tertiary onboarding to keep existing users engaged. This means onboarding these users when you make new releases<\/a>. It also means regularly collecting feedback to ensure customers are happy and don\u2019t have any unmet needs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Best practices to implement during customer onboarding:<\/p>\n
\n- Map the customer journey<\/a>, taking note of the pain points at every turn.<\/li>\n
- Welcome new users.<\/li>\n
- Personalize the customer onboarding flow.<\/li>\n
- Educate users<\/a> to drive customer success.<\/li>\n
- Collect customer feedback<\/a> and improve accordingly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- Best tools for SaaS customer onboarding: Userpilot<\/a>, Appcues, and Pendo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What is SaaS customer onboarding?<\/strong><\/h2>\nSaaS customer onboarding is the process of guiding users through your product and showing them how everything works. The end goal is to quickly familiarize them with your tool and get them to start deriving value from it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
The benefits of the SaaS onboarding process<\/strong><\/h2>\nYour customers chose your product because they believe it can help solve their problems. Good onboarding is how you demonstrate that choosing you was the best decision they made.<\/p>\n
The SaaS onboarding process doesn\u2019t just benefit customers; it\u2019s a two-sided thing. Below are some benefits:<\/p>\n
\n- Improve retention: <\/strong>For many companies, customers drop off the most in the initial phase of interacting with the product. Some of these customers churn <\/a>because they feel the product doesn\u2019t meet their needs or is too complex to use. A good onboarding flow helps you prevent this.<\/li>\n
- Minimize time to value of your product: <\/strong>As the name suggests, time to value<\/a> is the amount of time it takes for a user to experience value in your product. A short time to value helps customers get to the aha! Moment<\/a> quickly and increases your product adoption rate.<\/li>\n
- Drive customer success: <\/strong>A detailed onboarding process is an invaluable part of your CS strategy<\/a>, helping customers gain consistent value and satisfaction with your product.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What are the 3 phases of the customer onboarding process?<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe whole point of onboarding is to push someone down the user journey, which means you shouldn\u2019t stop at new user activation on the very first day.<\/p>\n
After new user activation, there\u2019s still so much to aim for; you want free users to turn into paying customers, and you want paying customers to stay with you for as long as possible. All these can\u2019t be achieved with the initial onboarding alone.<\/p>\n
The 3 stages of user onboarding<\/a> include:<\/p>\n\n- Primary onboarding<\/li>\n
- Secondary onboarding<\/li>\n
- Tertiary onboarding<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The different stages are correlated with different product growth goals and metrics\u2014user activation and adoption; conversion, feature engagement, and retention; advocacy<\/a> and revenue expansion.<\/p>\nPhase 1: Primary onboarding process<\/strong><\/h2>\nPrimary onboarding <\/a>is the phase from signup to activation<\/a>. The goal of this phase is simple: get new customers to realize the value of your product in the shortest time possible.<\/p>\nYour objective is achieved once new users adopt your product and begin using some of its core features.<\/p>\n![\"user-adoption-flywheel-saas-onboarding-phases\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/user-adoption-flywheel-saas-onboarding-phases_52baef5d87ce72acbfdb8866b97213e0_800.png\")
<\/picture>The user adoption flywheel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHow to improve user onboarding experience during the primary onboarding<\/strong><\/h3>\nYour initial onboarding is critical because it\u2019s the first interaction a customer has with your brand. Here are some tips to ensure things go smoothly:<\/p>\n
Implement a checklist<\/strong><\/h4>\nTake the primary steps a user needs to complete to experience value for the first time and put them in an onboarding checklist<\/a>. Your checklists should be simple enough for users to follow and understand. You can also add gamification to make the onboarding process extra fun.<\/p>\nConsider the example below. Notice how simple the checklist looks. It also has a progress bar to keep customers engaged.<\/p>\n![\"onboarding-checklist-userpilot\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/onboarding-checklist-userpilot_628a1c7410f97753d1b60866fb441da2_800.png\")
<\/picture>User onboarding checklist built with Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nUse onboarding Step by step guides instead of product tours<\/strong><\/h4>\nInstead of long and boring product tours, implement interactive step-by-step guides<\/a> that will guide new users through your platform.<\/p>\nInteractive guides are engaging. And they ensure customers learn by doing because, unlike product tours, walkthroughs don\u2019t allow you to mindlessly skip to the next step without taking the required actions.<\/p>\n![\"Rocketbots-interactive-walkthrough-onboarding-phases\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Rocketbots-interactive-walkthrough-onboarding-phases_99f4354c55ed6e5fc9485e26c982384a.gif\")
<\/picture>Rocketbot\u2019s interactive walkthrough.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPhase 2: Secondary onboarding process<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis onboarding phase is where you try to drive product stickiness<\/a>. Now, your customers have settled nicely into your platform and are already using it to solve basic problems.<\/p>\nHowever, they aren\u2019t utilizing your product to its full potential. Use secondary onboarding to shine the light on hidden features and try to exceed customer expectations.<\/p>\n
Realizing they can do more with your platform makes customers more interested in using your product, and you\u2019ll see a rise in customer confidence<\/a>, retention, and loyalty<\/a>.<\/p>\nHow to improve the user onboarding journey during the secondary onboarding<\/strong><\/h3>\nMaking the most of secondary onboarding involves looking into your product to understand customer behavior and find the best ways to communicate more value. Let’s go over practical ways to do that:<\/p>\n
Secondary feature discovery and adoption<\/h4>\n
Use popups, tooltips, and other forms of in-app messaging to prompt feature discovery and adoption. This should come after you\u2019ve identified the right user segment to target.<\/p>\n\n
Benefits of the SaaS user onboarding<\/a> process:<\/p>\n Best practices to implement during customer onboarding:<\/p>\n SaaS customer onboarding is the process of guiding users through your product and showing them how everything works. The end goal is to quickly familiarize them with your tool and get them to start deriving value from it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n Your customers chose your product because they believe it can help solve their problems. Good onboarding is how you demonstrate that choosing you was the best decision they made.<\/p>\n The SaaS onboarding process doesn\u2019t just benefit customers; it\u2019s a two-sided thing. Below are some benefits:<\/p>\n The whole point of onboarding is to push someone down the user journey, which means you shouldn\u2019t stop at new user activation on the very first day.<\/p>\n After new user activation, there\u2019s still so much to aim for; you want free users to turn into paying customers, and you want paying customers to stay with you for as long as possible. All these can\u2019t be achieved with the initial onboarding alone.<\/p>\n The 3 stages of user onboarding<\/a> include:<\/p>\n The different stages are correlated with different product growth goals and metrics\u2014user activation and adoption; conversion, feature engagement, and retention; advocacy<\/a> and revenue expansion.<\/p>\n Primary onboarding <\/a>is the phase from signup to activation<\/a>. The goal of this phase is simple: get new customers to realize the value of your product in the shortest time possible.<\/p>\n Your objective is achieved once new users adopt your product and begin using some of its core features.<\/p>\n Your initial onboarding is critical because it\u2019s the first interaction a customer has with your brand. Here are some tips to ensure things go smoothly:<\/p>\n Take the primary steps a user needs to complete to experience value for the first time and put them in an onboarding checklist<\/a>. Your checklists should be simple enough for users to follow and understand. You can also add gamification to make the onboarding process extra fun.<\/p>\n Consider the example below. Notice how simple the checklist looks. It also has a progress bar to keep customers engaged.<\/p>\n Instead of long and boring product tours, implement interactive step-by-step guides<\/a> that will guide new users through your platform.<\/p>\n Interactive guides are engaging. And they ensure customers learn by doing because, unlike product tours, walkthroughs don\u2019t allow you to mindlessly skip to the next step without taking the required actions.<\/p>\n This onboarding phase is where you try to drive product stickiness<\/a>. Now, your customers have settled nicely into your platform and are already using it to solve basic problems.<\/p>\n However, they aren\u2019t utilizing your product to its full potential. Use secondary onboarding to shine the light on hidden features and try to exceed customer expectations.<\/p>\n Realizing they can do more with your platform makes customers more interested in using your product, and you\u2019ll see a rise in customer confidence<\/a>, retention, and loyalty<\/a>.<\/p>\n Making the most of secondary onboarding involves looking into your product to understand customer behavior and find the best ways to communicate more value. Let’s go over practical ways to do that:<\/p>\n Use popups, tooltips, and other forms of in-app messaging to prompt feature discovery and adoption. This should come after you\u2019ve identified the right user segment to target.<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
What is SaaS customer onboarding?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The benefits of the SaaS onboarding process<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
What are the 3 phases of the customer onboarding process?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
Phase 1: Primary onboarding process<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"user-adoption-flywheel-saas-onboarding-phases\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/user-adoption-flywheel-saas-onboarding-phases_52baef5d87ce72acbfdb8866b97213e0_800.png)
<\/picture>How to improve user onboarding experience during the primary onboarding<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Implement a checklist<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"onboarding-checklist-userpilot\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/onboarding-checklist-userpilot_628a1c7410f97753d1b60866fb441da2_800.png)
<\/picture>Use onboarding Step by step guides instead of product tours<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Rocketbots-interactive-walkthrough-onboarding-phases\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Rocketbots-interactive-walkthrough-onboarding-phases_99f4354c55ed6e5fc9485e26c982384a.gif)
<\/picture>Phase 2: Secondary onboarding process<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How to improve the user onboarding journey during the secondary onboarding<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Secondary feature discovery and adoption<\/h4>\n