A well-timed, full-service onboarding is critical to ensuring your company is engaged with its new software purchase. 

While many software companies offer some type of onboarding, 90% of businesses recently reported their onboard experience could have been better. And a shocking 55% will return or cancel their product because of poor onboarding programming. 

Onboarding Methodologies

Successful onboarding prevents future roadblocks and employee dissatisfaction by providing a detailed understanding of the basics, as well as the fundamental features and services that make a product unique.

Onboarding usually comes in one of two different processes, self-service or full-service. In a self-service model, the purchaser must install the software, integrate their own data, and set up the system to their preferences following instructional guides or videos. There may be a support email for simple questions but as this is a no-cost onboarding it is the responsibility of the purchaser to complete the onboarding process on their own. The user will then have other instructional resources to utilize to learn how to operate the system.

A full-service onboarding is performed by the company providing the software for a set fee based upon the complexity of the installation. The software company will have internal teams who will be responsible for every step of the process from collecting the required data from the purchaser, to uploading and mapping all relevant information and setting up the system to client preferences. These teams will then confirm with the client everything is set up properly and walk them through step by step how to use the system. Ongoing customer support is available via phone or email as part of the onboarding package.

What Causes Failed Software Adoption?

The primary cause of unsuccessful software is poor onboarding and implementation. This is particularly true when you are dealing with complex data sets, for example, corporate financials. The initial data upload and mapping is a multi-step process requiring knowledge of the system as well as an understanding of how the data being added should appear. At each stage, everything must be checked and re-checked to ensure accuracy. This is time-consuming and difficult.

Software purchasers performing self-service onboarding in these types of environments have an extremely high failure rate at software adoption. Most often the initial data upload phase is never completed. Either the user cannot understand the steps, or the data is too complex for them to map between systems accurately. Additionally, most teams already have a  full plate of work, finding time to adopt new technology and get it running smoothly, is nearly impossible. So while there was no monetary investment in the onboarding, the result is wasted employee time, frustration, money spent on software not being utilized, and usually, cancelation of the product.

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Lack of Training and Education

An overall lack of product training and education can also lead to failed adoption. User guides are limited. They can only cover the most frequently asked questions and processes and provide no interactive learning. Having company-wide employee adoption of any new system always comes with struggles, people push back against a change in routine. This can be alleviated by hands-on training from a representative from the software provider along with ongoing personal support. The more confident your staff feels with any program, the more likely they are to embrace the change and utilize it to optimize company operations.

Conclusion: For a basic software implementation, a free self-service onboarding and training program can sometimes work. For complex data, like financial data and corporate operations, a paid full-service program is the key to prevent failed software adoption.

The Benefits of an Engaging Onboarding Process

63% of businesses have reported that onboard programming is one of the most important factors when deciding to purchase a new product. When a company prioritizes the onboarding experience, they set themselves and their employees up for success with their software investment.

There is no one-size-fits-all onboarding process. For each company, onboard programming must be tailored to your specific product and audience. Successful onboarding leads to many benefits for clients and companies alike: 

• 86% of businesses reported they’re more likely to be loyal to a software company because of welcoming, educational onboard programming
• Customers remain engaged with the product, reducing new customer turnover, and increasing your company’s annual rate of return
• Highly engaged customers feel confident in their technology investment and will invest in future upgrades 90% more frequently

STRATAFOLIO’s Onboarding Experience 

STRATAFOLIO is built to continuously support your commercial real estate operation. This means, we know and understand your business. We tailor our training to support you afterward so you take full advantage of the product. Full-service onboarding is an investment we make in our clients. It’s a three-part onboarding process. This process ensures our clients understand exactly how STRATAFOLIO improves the efficiency and productivity of your commercial real estate operation. 

After we have completed the onboarding process, our clients have full access to our team. Plus there is a complete online knowledge base that provides further information and assistance for every aspect of the STRATAFOLIO experience.

The Three-Part Full-Service Onboarding Process

In the initial meeting, during this meeting, our main goal is to understand our client’s needs, roadmap, and expectations, so we can tailor the rest of the onboarding to their specific needs. We’ll go through the following:

• Introduce key personnel and roles
• Provide an overview of the complete STRATAFOLIO process and steps
• Walk-through any organizational structure graphics from your team to learn how you are organized
• Provide access to Google Drive to collect information from you (leases, loans, rent rolls, previous CAM Reconiciliatons, etc.
• Establish a timeline for materials exchanges and future meetings. 

During the build-out meetings, we’ll review any new organizational drawings and other materials, clarify any questions related to your data, begin inputting users into the system, connect to your QuickBooks companies, and confirm a new timeline for completed work. The number of build-out meetings is in direct proportion to the size and complexity of the real estate organization. 

In your final meeting, STRATAFOLIO will walk your team through all data, teach your team how to use the system, and review any frequently asked questions in addition to any other questions your team might have. Lastly, we’ll review the STRATAFOLIO support network, knowledge base, and all pertinent contact information for future support.

Positive Outcomes as a Result of Onboarding

Our team is quite effective at what we do. The end result is not only organized data and automation for future activities, but it is also the identification of missed revenue opportunities. We regularly recover the cost of set-up and subscription by identifying missed lease escalations and poorly managed CAM reconciliation. Not everything is recoverable. But we provide information so teams can decide how they want to address this with their current tenants.

Connect. Automate. Grow.

Our unique onboarding process is just one of the many ways that STRATAFOLIO can help your commercial real estate operation streamline efficiency and pursue exponential growth. Schedule your 1-on-1 demo today.

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