New customers are hard enough to get—don’t lose them with a clunky, confusing onboarding process. If you’re tired of answering the same welcome questions or chasing down forms, it’s time to automate. This guide is for anyone running a small business, e-commerce shop, or SaaS who wants to use Tidio chatbots to make onboarding smoother and less of a time-suck.
Why bother automating onboarding?
Manual onboarding is slow, inconsistent, and honestly, a pain for everyone. Customers want quick answers and a clear path to get started. You want less repetitive work. Automating the basics with chatbots frees you up to focus on stuff that actually needs a human touch.
But let’s be real: No chatbot will solve all your onboarding woes. What you can do is make the first steps easier, collect info without back-and-forth emails, and give new customers a friendly nudge in the right direction.
What is Tidio, and what can it actually do?
Tidio is a chatbot and live chat tool aimed at small to medium businesses. It’s not the only option out there, but it’s popular because it’s easy to set up, has a generous free plan, and doesn’t require you to be a coder.
With Tidio, you can: - Build chatbots that reply to common questions. - Collect customer info (names, emails, preferences) right in the chat. - Guide users through a simple onboarding flow. - Hand off to a real person if things get hairy.
But don’t expect magic. Tidio’s bots work off pre-set flows or basic AI, so you’ll need to put in a little effort up front to map out your onboarding. The payoff: fewer repetitive chats and happier customers.
Step 1: Decide what you actually want to automate
Start simple. What’s eating up your time? Common onboarding tasks that are easy to automate with Tidio include:
- Welcoming new users and introducing your service
- Collecting basic info (name, email, business type)
- Sharing a quick start guide or video
- Setting expectations (support hours, next steps)
- Answering frequently asked questions
- Booking a call or demo
Pro tip: Don’t try to automate everything. Focus on what’s repetitive and low-risk.
Step 2: Map out your onboarding flow
Before you touch Tidio, sketch out what you want the bot to do. This isn’t busywork—it saves you headaches later. Your “flow” is just the series of steps a new customer should go through.
Keep it tight. For example: 1. Greet the user. 2. Ask for their name and email. 3. Share a 1-minute explainer video. 4. Ask if they need help with anything specific. 5. Offer to connect to a human if they’re stuck.
Write it down, or draw a quick flowchart. If you can’t explain your onboarding in 5 steps or less, it’s probably too complicated.
Step 3: Set up your Tidio account and chatbot basics
If you haven’t already, sign up for a Tidio account. The free plan covers most onboarding needs for smaller teams.
- Install Tidio on your website.
- Tidio gives you a code snippet or integrations for Shopify, WordPress, and others.
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Just copy and paste it into your site header.
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Access the chatbot builder.
- Go to the “Chatbots” section in your Tidio dashboard.
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Click “Add from scratch” or pick a template.
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Choose the right trigger.
- For onboarding, the “Visitor opens page” or “First visit” triggers work best.
- Set it to only run on your signup/thank you page, or everywhere if you’re casting a wide net.
What to ignore: Don’t get sucked into customizing colors and avatars right now. The flow matters more than the look.
Step 4: Build your onboarding chatbot flow
Now for the meat of it. Use Tidio’s drag-and-drop builder to recreate the steps from your onboarding map.
Example flow:
- Start: “Hey, welcome aboard! I’m here to help you get started.”
- Ask for name/email: Use the “Ask a question” block and store the answer as a variable.
- Share info: Drop in a message with a link to your guide or video.
- Branch: “What would you like help with?” with quick replies (e.g., “Setting up my account,” “Learning features,” “Talking to support”).
- Route as needed: If they want help, show FAQs or connect to live chat.
Pro tip: Give users a way out. Not everyone wants to chat—add a “No thanks, I’ll explore on my own” option.
What works: - Short, friendly messages. - Not asking for too much info up front. - Giving clear choices.
What doesn’t: - Bombarding new users with a wall of text. - Forcing them to answer stuff before they can see your product. - Trying to fake “human” small talk. Just be helpful.
Step 5: Collect and use customer info
Tidio can save answers (like name or email) as variables. Use these to personalize the chat or pass info to your CRM/email tool.
- Set up each “Ask a question” block to save responses.
- Use integrations or Zapier to push data to your other tools.
- Don’t overdo it. If you just want an email, don’t ask for their birthday, shoe size, or favorite pizza topping.
Pro tip: Always make it clear why you’re asking for info (“So we can send your setup guide,” not “Because we like data”).
Step 6: Test the flow (and break it on purpose)
Run through your chatbot as a new user would. Try weird answers, skip steps, or click “talk to a human” early. If you get stuck, so will your customers.
- Check for dead ends or awkward messages.
- Make sure “connect to support” works.
- Tweak any spots where users might bail.
What to ignore: Don’t obsess over every typo or color. Functional beats fancy—at least at first.
Step 7: Go live and monitor
Turn on your chatbot and let it run for a week or two. Watch for:
- Drop-off points (where users leave the chat)
- Questions the bot can’t answer
- Complaints about the bot being “too robotic” or “in the way”
Tweak your flow based on real feedback. Sometimes you’ll realize you’re asking too much up front, or that users want a human faster than you thought.
Step 8: Keep it simple and iterate
Don’t try to automate every edge case. Your first version won’t be perfect—and that’s fine. What matters is that you’re saving time and making onboarding less painful.
- Add new FAQ answers as you see repeat questions.
- Update your welcome message if you change onboarding steps.
- If users keep skipping the bot, try making it less pushy (or move it to a later step).
Pro tip: If something’s not working, rip it out. There’s no prize for having the world’s most complicated onboarding bot.
Real talk: What Tidio chatbots can’t do
A chatbot won’t: - Replace a good help center or docs - Magically make customers care about onboarding - Handle complex, sensitive issues without a human
But it will save you from copy/pasting the same welcome message, help you capture leads, and give new users a nudge in the right direction.
Wrap-up: Start small, improve fast
Automating onboarding with Tidio chatbots is mostly about removing friction—for you and your customers. Don’t overthink it. Build a basic flow, test it, and tweak from there. The goal is to make life easier, not to show off your automation chops.
Remember, your customers just want to get started without jumping through hoops. Give them that, and you’re already ahead.