The Top 10 Onboarding Metrics – Are You Using Them?

First impressions count! In a time when consumer trust and positive word of mouth are key drivers of business success, getting onboarding right isn’t just about improving metrics – it’s about setting the foundation for a lasting, professional relationship.

So how do you track if you’re creating a positive first impression? We asked our consultants panel to find out which metrics give the best indicator of how the customer onboarding process is going.

Here’s what they said…

1. Onboarding Completion Rates

Onboarding Completion Rates measure the percentage of new customers who fully complete an organization’s onboarding programme within a set timeframe.

“It’s important to focus on the number of customers who completed the onboarding process. You need to ask yourself: ‘Where and why was there fall-off?’” – Afshan Kinder, Thought Leader

This rate provides insight into the effectiveness of the onboarding process. High completion rates generally indicate a smooth, well-organized process that successfully engages new customers, while low rates may suggest potential issues.

However, be careful not to rely too heavily on this metric alone, as Dan Pratt, Director of DAP Consultancy, explains:

“While it’s tempting to measure success based on the percentage of customers who complete the onboarding process, using this metric alone can be misleading.

“Some customers may finish the process but still feel lost or uncertain, which could lead to issues later.”

2. Post-Onboarding Activity Rate

Post-Onboarding Activity Rate measures the percentage of customers who actively engage with a product or service after completing the onboarding process. This rate is an important metric for understanding customer adoption and satisfaction.

High activity rates indicate that customers not only understand the product but are also motivated to continue using it, whilst low activity rates may signal challenges.

“Always ask yourself ‘How many customers generate zero net revenue?’ Also, ‘did these customers lose interest due to difficulty of usage, or were they the wrong target market?’” – Afshan Kinder

3. Time to Value (TTV)

One of the best indicators of onboarding success is how quickly customers realize value from your product.

This metric, known as Time to Value, measures the time it takes for them to achieve their first meaningful outcome.

“A fast TTV shows that the process is efficient, while a slow TTV can reveal complexities that need streamlining.” – Dan Pratt

4. CSAT Surveys

Tools like review sites (Trustpilot) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys can give you insights into how customers perceive their onboarding experience.

However, this metric should be used with a degree of caution.

“Avoid relying too heavily on broad metrics during onboarding, as these tend to reflect overall satisfaction, rather than specific pain points or support gaps experienced in the early stages.” – James Edmonds, Managing Director at Duty CX

For advice on CSAT scores, read our article: What Is a Customer Satisfaction Score (and How to Calculate CSAT)

5. Time to Onboard

Time to Onboard is a metric that measures the time it takes for a new customer to complete the onboarding process and reach a baseline level of product proficiency.

This period spans from the initial sign-up through to the point where the customer understands and begins using key product features effectively.

“Having a firm grasp of your Time to Onboard is crucial, as a drawn-out process can erode trust and create confusion, especially for those needing extra assistance.” – James Edmonds

A shorter onboarding time is generally desirable as it means customers can quickly start deriving value from the product, leading to a better overall user experience and faster return on investment for the company.

6. Customer Effort Score (CES)

The Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that measures the ease with which customers can complete a task or resolve an issue with a company’s product or service.

This score is usually gathered by asking customers a simple question like “How easy was it to complete your task?” The answer is typically rated on a scale, with lower scores indicating a better experience (less effort) and higher scores suggesting more effort was required.

“The Customer Effort Score should be used to measure how easy customers find the onboarding process.

“In financial services, where products are often complex, this score can reveal whether vulnerable customers are facing difficulties that could hinder their engagement or understanding.” – James Edmonds

If you want to find out about the best methods to measure and calculate customer effort, read our article: How to Calculate Customer Effort

7. The Engagement Metric

Quite simply, the Engagement Metric tracks which resources and learning material your customers are engaging with during the onboarding experience.

“It’s the easiest to measure. Did they watch a video? Download a document? How long were they engaged? You can turn this into a journey-completion metric.

“And if you use UX style information too, you can use the same metric suite to identify opportunities to improve your onboarding.” – Michelle Spaul, Customer Experience Management Consultant

If you want advice on driving customer engagement, read our article: 7 Models for Creating Customer Engagement

8. Customer Confidence

Building customer confidence is crucial for creating lasting customer relationships and fostering brand loyalty. Confidence in a product or service encourages customers to make initial purchases, continue returning, and even recommend the brand to others.

Moreover, customer confidence directly impacts a company’s reputation. Confident customers are more likely to leave positive reviews, share their experiences, and advocate for the brand.

However, confidence is hard to measure reliably, as Michelle Spaul explains,

“You can ask ‘Are you confident?’, but this isn’t very specific. Consider quizzes or asking what your customer wants to learn and if they have.

“Your customer success team or equivalent should be using this metric to support customers and introduce features they don’t pick up in onboarding.”

9. Customer Cancellation Rates

Monitoring Customer Cancellation Rates is vital for understanding customer satisfaction, as they serve as a direct indicator of customer dissatisfaction or unmet expectations.

“The number of customers cancelling their new purchase should be noted. If cancellations are high after the onboarding period, it may indicate that improvements should be made to the process.” – Rachel Williams, Training Consultant

With this information, companies can adjust their strategies to address root causes, develop new product features, and enhance the new customer experience.

10. Customer Complaints

During the onboarding part of the customer journey, customers should be reassured that their purchase is the right fit for them. They should also have a positive customer experience with sales and customer service agents – not be having issues from day 1!

“If complaints are on the rise, this may indicate the need for improvements to the onboarding part of the customer journey.

“Also remember to keep an eye on the number of customers calling with questions after the onboarding process.

“The onboarding procedure should reduce the number of questions and therefore phone calls through to a call centre.” – Rachel Williams

To find out how contact centres should be monitoring customer complaints to maintain a great customer experience (CX), read our article: 7 Effective Ways to Monitor Complaints

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Whichever onboarding metrics you choose to use, keep in mind that these numbers will only offer a glimpse into the customer’s initial reaction – they don’t tell the whole story, as Michel Stevens concludes:

“Reducing complex experiences to a few digits on a dashboard feels like judging a book by its cover.

“We should focus on truly understanding customers – needs, pains, jobs-to-be-done.

“This means having real conversations too – not with the intent to respond, but with the goal to understand.”

With massive thanks to the following people for sharing their experience for this article:

• Afshan Kinder, ICMI Thought Leader and co-author of 3 books – including ‘Call Center for Dummies’
• Dan Pratt, Founder & Director of DAP Consultancy  
• James Edmonds, Managing Director at Duty CX
• Michel Stevens, Customer Experience Master (CXM)
• Michelle Spaul, Customer Experience Management Consultant at Delta Swan
• Rachel Williams, Founder & Training Consultant at The Experience Corporation

If you want to find out more about the metrics you should be tracking in your contact centre, read these articles next:

• Top 10 Customer Experience KPIs
• The Top 5 Agent Performance Metrics
• The Best Metrics for Contact Centre Performance Tracking

Author: Megan Jones
Reviewed by: Xander Freeman