Closing the deal is just the beginning. What happens after the contract is signed often determines whether your customer becomes loyal—or leaves. A thoughtful, consistent onboarding experience is key to long-term retention, and CRM-driven onboarding ensures that no step is missed, and every touchpoint feels personal.
For Dynamics 365 CRM users, combining CRM data with a marketing automation platform like emfluence enables a scalable, automated onboarding process that still feels human. Here’s how to make it happen.
Why Onboarding Should Be CRM-Driven
Your CRM contains everything you need to craft a smart onboarding experience—from lead source and purchase history to assigned account managers and communication preferences. When onboarding is tied to CRM:
- Marketing, sales, and customer success all have access to a shared record of customer activity.
- You can trigger workflows the moment a deal closes, or a new customer is added.
- The onboarding journey can be tailored to reflect what each customer needs most.
With Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the emfluence Marketing Platform, onboarding becomes automated, personalized, and trackable—without added work for your team.
Automating the Onboarding Journey with Marketing Automation
Once a new customer is added to your CRM or marked “Closed-Won,” the emfluence Marketing Platform can trigger a multi-step onboarding workflow. Typical components include:
- Welcome email series introducing your brand, team, and what to expect
- Implementation resources, such as setup checklists or tutorials
- Surveys or feedback forms to gauge early satisfaction
- Reminders or next steps tied to onboarding milestones
These touchpoints can be spaced over the first 30–90 days and adjusted by segment or product type.
Personalizing the Experience with CRM Data
Marketing automation doesn’t mean generic messaging. CRM data allows you to personalize based on:
- Product or service purchased
- Customer industry or company size
- Primary use case or persona
- Assigned account manager or success contact
Using datapoints from CRM and conditional content in emfluence, your emails can include relevant links, feature highlights, or contact details—without creating separate emails and workflows for every segment.
Keeping Sales and Success Teams Aligned
Onboarding often overlaps with ongoing sales conversations, especially for complex solutions. By using the emfluence-Dynamics integration, you can:
- Automatically notify internal teams when a new customer begins onboarding
- Log key actions (e.g., completed onboarding survey, downloaded guide) back into Microsoft Dynamics
- Set up CRM task reminders for check-in calls or next steps
- Ensure your onboarding emails appear to come from the assigned rep or success manager
This keeps everyone aligned and ensures a seamless customer experience across teams.
Measuring Onboarding Success
A successful onboarding experience should lead to better engagement, faster time to value, and lower early churn. Track performance using:
- Email metrics like open rates, clicks, and content engagement
- Website tracking data (which pages customers visit during onboarding)
- Time to first value, or how long it takes new customers to activate or go live
- Customer satisfaction scores (via NPS or CSAT surveys)
- Support volume or common help requests in the first 30–90 days
With all onboarding touchpoints tracked in emfluence and synced to Microsoft Dynamics, you can monitor trends and improve over time.
Conclusion
Your onboarding process sets the tone for the entire customer relationship. When it’s personalized, well-timed, and consistent, you build trust and boost long-term retention.
With Microsoft Dynamics and the emfluence Marketing Platform, you can automate onboarding workflows, personalize content, and keep every team member aligned—without adding complexity to your tech stack.
Ready to create a better onboarding experience? Schedule a demo or start your free 14-day trial of the emfluence Marketing Platform today.
The post CRM-Driven Onboarding: How to Set New Customers Up for Success with Marketing Automation appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.