Few months ago, we started using Intercom to onboard our new live chat users. We've learned a lot and thought we've share our entire process with you!

1. Startup Lessons Learned
500+
Aurelie Chazal
Welcome onboard!
ONBOARDING
SAAS USERS
WITH INTERCOM

2. Once upon a time…
A tiny live chat startup called
Customericare (yes, that’s us), decided to
stop living in the dark and finally invested in
a decent product to track their SaaS users.
!
After a very restricted amount of research (I
could have lied for dramatic effect but I
won’t insult your intelligence), they found
Intercom.

3. Days went by,
we’ ve learned a lot…
AND WE WANT TO SHARE
THAT WITH YOU
Hoping you’ll share it with others because
we love when people share our stuffs

4. Before we get started
It would be hard (and pointless) to stuff slides with
numbers and emails, so we created a PDF with:
!
- the exact emails we send
- important stats to go with each email (answer rate, click rate, and more…)
- the Intercom set-up of each email (sending rules)
YOU CAN GRAB THE PDF HERE
(There’s a download box at the beginning of the article)

5. We made a huge mistake when
we first got started
OUR ONBOARDING PROCESS WAS
BASICALLY NON-EXISTENT

6. It used to look something like this
Users signed up giving their:
Name
Email Address
Company Name
1
They were redirected
to our app
2
We sent them
a welcome email
manually
3

7. As you can imagine,
NEW USERS WERE LOST

8. Finally, we’ ve come around,
AND HAVE A BETTER PROCESS INCLUDING:
A simple 1 field sign-up
form to reduce friction
In-app, non invasive tutorial
to help users get started
Event based emails sent
through Intercom

9. Now let’s take a closer look at
THE ONBOARDING EMAIL PROCESS
Aurelie Chazal
Welcome onboard!

10. Here’s what we got:
500+ USERS ONBOARDED
1889 EMAILS SENT
47% AVERAGE OPEN RATE
6% AVERAGE CLICK RATE
5% AVERAGE RESPONSE RATE

11. There are some crucial points in our
customers’ onboardingjourney
Signup
Install html
code on site Have first
chat
Switch from trial
to paid of free plan
Start using more
advanced features
Become an active
user

12. And emails help us guide users
through these points
Signup
Install html
code on site Have first
chat
Start using more
advanced features
Become an active
user
Switch from trial
to paid of free plan

13. They also help us get feedback from
users whojumped offboard
Signup
Install html
code on site Have first
chat
Switch from trial
to paid of free plan
Start using more
advances features
Become an active
user

14. We divided the emails into 4 groups
1. Welcome
new trial users
2. Educate
users
3. Onboard users after
trial period
4. Rescue inactive users

15. 1) Welcome New Trial Users
WELCOME

16. The quote was found on
this awesome article on Vero’s blog
A very wise guy named
Paras Chopra once said
« More often than not the welcome email is just a
re-iteration of how to login or a reminder of the email address
the customer used to sign up. Actually giving links to detailed
guides helps a customer orient themselves properly and
begin to make maximum usage of the product. »

17. So we decided to organize
1. GIVE NEW USERS THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO START
CHATTING
our welcome emails around 2 goals:
2. GET TO KNOW THEM (THEIR BUSINESS, WHAT THEY
WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH LIVE CHAT…)

18. The process looks like this:
Getting started email Welcome email
(sent after sign up) (sent after first chat)
V1: Signed up
on our website
V2: Downloaded the
WordPress Plugin
Install code email
(sent after sign-up
if onboarding not completed)
For website
signups only

19. Our getting started email
focuses on 2 actions:
Have first chat Customize plugin
(Click here to download a PDF with the exact email we send)

20. And it turns out:

21. And it turns out:
50% of users
have their
1st chat

22. And it turns out:
50% of users
have their
1st chat
20% of users
customize the
chat window

23. And it turns out:
50% of users
have their
1st chat
20% of users
customize the
chat window
most rewarding action at
the core of our app

24. Lesson learned:
FOCUS YOUR GETTING STARTED EMAIL
ON THE CORE AND MOST REWARDING
ACTION USERS ARE LOOKING TO
PERFORM IN YOUR APP

25. Lesson learned:
FOCUS YOUR GETTING STARTED EMAIL
ON THE CORE AND MOST REWARDING
ACTION USERS ARE LOOKING TO
PERFORM IN YOUR APP
for us it’s having a chat, for
a social media scheduling
app it would be scheduling
your first post

26. Now, let’s look at our Welcome email
(Click here to download a PDF with all the emails)

27. personal introduction
Simple question to establish
1st contact

28. And the results are…
5% reply rate
20% of replies from
people who won’t
use our app
20% reports of bugs
and other problems
4 users saved
thanks to email
80% of conversations end
after 1 reply

29. And the results are…
5% reply rate
20% of replies from
people who won’t
use our app
20% reports of bugs
and other problems
4 users saved
thanks to email
80% of conversations end
after 1 reply
TERRIBLY
DISAPPOINTING.

30. We failed. Miserably.
BUT WE AREN’T GIVING UP!

31. We took Groove’ s welcome email
as an example

32. But, here’s what Groove has that we don’t

33. But, here’s what Groove has that we don’t
1. A PERSONAL LOOKING EMAIL

34. But, here’s what Groove has that we don’t
1. A PERSONAL LOOKING EMAIL
2. A GOOD REASON FOR USERS TO REPLY

35. But, here’s what Groove has that we don’t
1. A PERSONAL LOOKING EMAIL
2. A GOOD REASON FOR USERS TO REPLY
3. A MORE GENUINE OVERALL FEEL

36. But, here’s what Groove has that we don’t
1. A PERSONAL LOOKING EMAIL
2. A GOOD REASON FOR USERS TO REPLY
3. A MORE GENUINE OVERALL FEEL
4. A SIMPLER PROCESS
(our users already received a first email, this is Groove’s first email)

37. Lesson learned:
DON’T TRY TO BE EVERYTHING AT
ONCE. HAVE ONE CLEAR WELCOME
EMAIL WHERE YOU FOCUS ON ONE
CORE OBJECTIVE

38. Lesson learned:
DON’T TRY TO BE EVERYTHING AT
ONCE. HAVE ONE CLEAR WELCOME
EMAIL WHERE YOU FOCUS ON ONE
CORE OBJECTIVE
We are working on a better in-app
tutorial that should make the 1st
email redundant so we can focus
on a personal / relationship
building approach

39. 2) Educate Users

40. What we want to achieve:
INTRODUCE TRIAL USERS TO ADVANCED
FEATURES (help them discover new
possibilities and make the most out of our
app)
INCREASE ENGAGEMENT
(increase the use of our brand and make
sure users come back)

41. The process looks like this:
Features teaser email Newsletter teaser email
(sent 3 days after signup) (sent 10 days after signup)
V1: Users with low
engagement
V2: Highly engaged
users

42. The features email introduces:

43. The features email introduces:
Proactive chat
invitations

44. The features email introduces:
Proactive chat
invitations
Chat
departments

45. The features email introduces:
Proactive chat
invitations
Chat
departments
Quick
responses
Only in the email sent to
engaged users

46. After reading the email,
25% of users
log back into our
app

47. While this is a good number,
WE STILL SEE A VERY LOW USAGE
OF THE FEATURES MENTIONED
IN THE EMAIL

48. Lesson learned:
EDUCATIONAL EMAILS NEED TO BE
MORE FOCUSED AND TARGETED

49. Lesson learned:
EDUCATIONAL EMAILS NEED TO BE
MORE FOCUSED AND TARGETED
We eventually want to adopt a more
targeted approach where a user who
would perform a specific action would
receive a specific feature suggestion
(ex: if a user adds a proactive chat
invitation, suggest he adds quick
answers)

50. The newsletter teaser email
FOCUSES ON GETTING USERS ENGAGED
WITH OUR BRAND AND NOT ONLY
OUR APP

51. We scheduled this email more as
an experiment and got…

52. We scheduled this email more as
an experiment and got…
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

53. We made 2 rookie mistakes

54. We made 2 rookie mistakes
1.
!
The email is focused
primarily on us and how
cool our blog is
Bad marketer! Didn’t your
mom teach you anything

55. We made 2 rookie mistakes
1.
!
The email is focused
primarily on us and how
cool our blog is
Bad marketer! Didn’t your
mom teach you anything
2.
!
We don’t provide
immediate value to our
users
We’ll try replacing the
newsletter by our ebook

56. Lesson learned:
NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU! ONLY
PROMOTE YOUR CONTENT IF IT IS
TRULY USEFUL TO USERS

57. Lesson learned:
NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU! ONLY
PROMOTE YOUR CONTENT IF IT IS
TRULY USEFUL TO USERS
We promoted our newsletter when
we have an ebook that would bring a
lot more immediate value to users…
This is going to change :)

58. 3) Onboard Users After Trial Period
!

59. What we want to achieve:
TURN TRIAL USERS INTO CUSTOMERS
(promote the paid plans to people who
might benefit from it)
GATHER FEEDBACK FROM THOSE WHO LEFT
(we know our app won’t fit everyone’s
needs but we always make it a priority to
gather feedback)

60. The process looks like this:
End of trial emails Plan selected emails
(after a plan was selected)
3 days before end
1 day before end
trial ended
1 version for each monthly plan
License cancelled email
(if no plan selected after 30 days)

61. The end of trial emails
ARE PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD

62. The end of trial emails
ARE PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD
1
1. Information about
precise end of the trial

63. The end of trial emails
ARE PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD
1
1. Information about
precise end of the trial
2
2. Quick reminder about
the options our users
have

64. These emails have mostly helped us
RETAIN USERS WHO WERE NOT YET
READY TO PAY BY OFFERING OUR
FREE PLAN

65. Lesson learned:
MAKE IT EASY FOR USERS TO SELECT
THE PLAN THEY WANT TO CONTINUE
ON. WHEN OFFERING FREEMIUM, DON’T
HIDE THE FREE PLAN!

66. Lesson learned:
MAKE IT EASY FOR USERS TO SELECT
THE PLAN THEY WANT TO CONTINUE
ON. WHEN OFFERING FREEMIUM, DON’T
HIDE THE FREE PLAN!
We are still running tests were we
« hide » the free option. However,
emails we got from people looking for
it makes us think we lost good users
because of this.

67. The license cancelled email is
A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO GATHER
FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE

68. The license cancelled email is
A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO GATHER
FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE
1.
!
Our app
It allows us to see which vital
features we are missing

69. The license cancelled email is
A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO GATHER
FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE
1.
!
Our app
It allows us to see which vital
features we are missing
2.
!
Our marketing
A lot of users just don’t get
how to benefit from our app,
or they are just not our target
customers

70. WE ADDED THIS EMAIL FEW WEEKS
AGO IN THE INTERCOM CYCLE SO IT
DIDN’T HAVE A CHANCE TO SEND YET.
HOWEVER, WE’RE DECIDED TO TRY IT
ON OLDER TRIALS BY SENDING A
MANUAL OUTREACH.

71. The results were amazing!
WE RECEIVED TONS OF USEFUL FEEDBACK

72. AND CONNECTED WITH POTENTIAL
CLIENTS WE THOUGHT WE HAD LOST

73. Lesson learned:
MOST PEOPLE WON’T MIND GIVING YOU
FEEDBACK, YOU JUST HAVE TO ASK
AND BE GENUINE ABOUT IT

74. Lesson learned:
MOST PEOPLE WON’T MIND GIVING YOU
FEEDBACK, YOU JUST HAVE TO ASK
AND BE GENUINE ABOUT IT
The email was sent by our CEO
which pleasantly surprised some
people who were just happy we
cared about their experience.

75. 4) Rescue inactive users

76. What we want to achieve:
RESCUE LOST TRIAL USERS
(see if there’s anything we can do to help)
GATHER FEEDBACK
(we don’t primarily focus on asking for
feedback but it helped us gather some
great insight)

77. The process looks like this:
14 days inactive email 30 days inactive email7 days inactive email

78. IN A GREAT ARTICLE, INTERCOM
MENTIONS THE « BUT I WAS JUST ON
HOLIDAYS » EFFECT

79. IN A GREAT ARTICLE, INTERCOM
MENTIONS THE « BUT I WAS JUST ON
HOLIDAYS » EFFECT
I have to admit that we are guilty of
misplaced « just on holiday » rescue
emails

80. What do I mean by that?

81. What do I mean by that?
When getting started, you want to rescue as many
users as you can so you schedule emails like this one:
Sent after 7 days of
being inactive

82. Intercom is spot on with this!
HERE’S A REPLY WE RECEIVED:

83. Intercom is spot on with this!
HERE’S A REPLY WE RECEIVED:
It’s a really friendly email but a
customer should never have to
apologies for our mistakes…

84. Still, the results for these emails
HAVE EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS

85. Still, the results for these emails
HAVE EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS
40%
average
open rate
9%
average
reply rate

86. Still, the results for these emails
HAVE EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS
40%
average
open rate
9%
average
reply rate
The best email is the 2nd one sent after 14 days
with a 50% open rate and 13% reply rate

87. The only channel where we
START MORE CONVERSATIONS IS
The live chat window on
our website

88. Live chat helps us engage users
BEFORE OF WHILE THEY ARE USING THE APP

89. Live chat helps us engage users
BEFORE OF WHILE THEY ARE USING THE APP
Intercom emails help us engage users
AFTER THEY LEFT THE APP

90. Together, they’ ve been an amazing way
TO GATHER FEEDBACK AND KEEP IN TOUCH
WITH USERS

91. Lesson learned:
GIVE USERS SOME TIME BEFORE
CONSIDERING THEM INACTIVE.

92. Lesson learned:
GIVE USERS SOME TIME BEFORE
CONSIDERING THEM INACTIVE.
While rescue emails have worked
great we scheduled too many of them
too close together which annoyed
few users and confused others.

93. So what’s next?

94. So what’s next?
1. WORK ON A BETTER WELCOME EMAIL PEOPLE WILL
WANT TO REPLY TO

95. So what’s next?
1. WORK ON A BETTER WELCOME EMAIL PEOPLE WILL
WANT TO REPLY TO
2. SWITCH THE NEWSLETTER TEASER TO AN EBOOK
TEASER

96. So what’s next?
1. WORK ON A BETTER WELCOME EMAIL PEOPLE WILL
WANT TO REPLY TO
2. SWITCH THE NEWSLETTER TEASER TO AN EBOOK
TEASER
3. GIVE «INACTIVE USERS» MORE TIME BEFORE WE
CONTACT THEM

97. And a larger project:
CREATE HIGHLY TAILORED TASK ORIENTED
EMAILS TO:
!
1. give users kudos when they finished a new
task
!
2. suggest new features and tasks depending
on previous behavior

98. That’s it!
Want more details? We’ve put together a PDF with the exact
emails we send, detailed stats about each of them and the
Intercom settings we use.
YOU CAN GRAB THE PDF HERE
(There’s a download box at the beginning of the article)

99. ABOUT US
We’re the folks behind CustomerIcare Live Chat.
It’s free, easy to use and built by an amazing team
of helpful people.
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