Article · ~12 min read

Onboarding Strategies to Drive Long-Term Customer Retention

Intercom · Intercom Blog Free Intermediate

Intercom's team, led by Des Traynor's thinking, argues onboarding is the new conversion: keeping customers matters more than winning them. This gives you specific onboarding patterns that carry a new user to their aha moment before doubt sets in. Practical for turning a signed customer into one who actually adopts and stays.

  • Retention starts at onboarding, not after the sale closes
  • Get users to a clear first win before momentum fades
  • Great businesses rest on high retention, high retention rests on onboarding
Open on intercom.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. How do I actually keep my first 10 customers so they don't quietly churn while I go chasing the next 10?

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