So you’re running customer onboarding and people keep ghosting your emails, missing steps, or dragging their feet. You want onboarding to run itself—reminders, deadlines, the works—without turning into the Calendar Police. If you’re using Arrows for your onboarding plans, good news: you can make reminders and deadlines happen, and it’s not rocket science. But there are pitfalls, and some features are more useful than others.
This guide is for anyone who owns customer onboarding—success managers, implementation leads, or anyone tired of chasing clients with “Just checking in…” emails. Let’s get you out of spreadsheet hell and into something that actually nudges people to the finish line.
Why bother with automated reminders and deadlines?
Honestly, because people forget. Your customers aren’t lazy—they just have jobs, kids, inboxes full of noise, and other vendors pestering them. Automated reminders and clear deadlines aren’t about nagging; they’re about giving people a nudge so they don’t have to remember everything themselves.
What you want:
- Less manual chasing.
- Customers who actually finish onboarding.
- A way to spot red flags early (so you can step in before things go sideways).
What you don’t want:
- A flood of robotic emails that annoy everyone.
- Complicated workflows that break the minute you add a new step.
Let’s focus on setting up reminders and deadlines in Arrows that do what you need—and skip what you don’t.
Step 1: Map your onboarding plan, but keep it simple
Before you touch any settings, sketch out your onboarding steps. You don’t need a work of art—just a list of what needs to get done, in order.
Pro tips: - Stick to 5–8 steps. More than that, and you’ll lose people. - Make each step actionable (“Upload your logo”) and avoid vague tasks (“Review the info”). - Decide which steps really need a date or a reminder. Not every step is mission-critical.
Why this matters: Deadlines and reminders only work if the steps are clear and not overwhelming. If your plan is a maze, no amount of nudging will help.
Step 2: Add deadlines to your Arrows tasks
Now, log into Arrows and set up your onboarding plan. For each step that needs a deadline, use Arrows’ due date feature.
How to do it: 1. In your Arrows onboarding plan editor, add or select a task. 2. Look for the “Due date” or “Deadline” field (it’s right there in the task details). 3. Pick a date—or, better, set a relative deadline (like “5 days after kickoff”) so you don’t have to update it for every new customer. 4. Save.
What works: - Relative deadlines save you from calendar gymnastics. If your onboarding always starts the day after contract signature, use “X days after project start.” - Only set deadlines for things that actually need them. Too many deadlines = ignored deadlines.
What to ignore: - Don’t add arbitrary deadlines just to fill space. Deadlines should mean something. If you’re tempted to add a date just because the option is there, skip it.
Step 3: Turn on automated reminders
Here’s where Arrows can do some of the chasing for you. When a task’s due date is coming up (or overdue), Arrows can send email reminders to your customers—so you don’t have to.
How to set up reminders: 1. In the task settings, look for the “Reminders” section. 2. Decide when you want reminders to go out (e.g. 2 days before, on the due date, 2 days after if incomplete). 3. Choose who gets the reminders—customer, internal team, or both. 4. Customize the email text if you want. (Keep it short and friendly. “Just a reminder your onboarding task is due soon.”) 5. Save your settings.
What works: - A reminder before the due date and one after if it’s overdue covers most situations. - Customizing the message a bit (“Hey, let us know if you’re stuck!”) gets more replies than a generic nudge.
Watch out for: - Over-reminding. If you set up reminders every day, people will tune them out (or mark you as spam). - Internal reminders are great for your team, but don’t overdo it. If you’re getting 10 reminders a day, you’ll just start ignoring them, too.
Step 4: Test your plan—don’t assume it “just works”
It’s tempting to set up reminders and deadlines and never look back. Don’t do that.
Here’s what to do: - Run through your own onboarding plan, using a test customer. - Watch for when reminders go out. Do they show up at the right time? Are they clear? - Check for typos, broken links, or confusing instructions. - Ask a teammate (or even a friendly customer) to go through it and give honest feedback.
Red flags: - Reminders that show up at midnight or on weekends (annoying). - Emails that land in spam folders. - Tasks that can’t be marked complete, so reminders keep coming even when the work is done.
Fix what’s broken before rolling out to real customers.
Step 5: Iterate based on real-world feedback
No onboarding plan survives first contact with actual customers. Some will move too fast, some too slow, and some will ignore you no matter what. Use what you learn to tweak your deadlines and reminders.
What to watch: - If everyone ignores reminders, they’re probably too frequent or too generic. - If tasks are always late, maybe the deadlines are too aggressive. - If you’re still chasing people manually, maybe the reminders aren’t clear about what’s needed.
How to improve: - Change timing or frequency of reminders. - Update the wording to make it friendlier or more specific (“Reply to this email if you need help”). - Drop deadlines from steps where they’re just causing stress, not helping progress.
Pro tip: Keep a list of what actually moves the needle. Sometimes a personal check-in at the right moment does more than any automated email.
Step 6: Don’t try to automate everything
It’s tempting to think every onboarding step should trigger a slew of reminders and deadlines. The truth: some things are better handled by a human touch.
- Use automation for routine steps (document uploads, basic forms).
- For complex steps or where people get stuck, set a reminder for yourself to check in personally.
- Remember, the goal is progress—not just “marking complete” in a tool.
What to ignore: - Over-automating. If your customer gets more emails from Arrows than from their own boss, you’ve gone too far. - Blindly copying someone else’s “best practice” workflow. What works for a SaaS with 10 employees won’t work for a healthcare company onboarding 100 clinics.
Step 7: Use analytics to catch problems early
Arrows has basic reporting—don’t ignore it. Look for:
- Steps that always go overdue. Maybe those need more support or a looser deadline.
- Where customers get stuck and drop off. That’s a signal to add a personal touch, not just another reminder.
If you spot a pattern, tweak your plan. Don’t wait for the end of the quarter to fix what isn’t working.
Honest FAQs
Q: Will automated reminders annoy my customers?
A: If you overdo it, yes. One or two well-timed nudges are fine. Ten reminders a week is just spam.
Q: What if someone marks a task complete but hasn’t really done it?
A: Automation can’t fix that. You’ll need to follow up manually sometimes. No tool replaces a real relationship.
Q: Can I integrate Arrows reminders with Slack or other tools?
A: As of mid-2024, Arrows offers some integrations, but email is still the main way reminders go out. If you want fancier automation, you’ll need to use Zapier or a similar tool—but keep it simple unless you really need it.
Keep it simple, adjust as you go
Automated reminders and deadlines in Arrows can save you hours of chasing customers and guessing what’s going on. But don’t let automation turn you into a robot. Set up the basics, test it, and watch how real people respond. If something’s not working, change it. The goal isn’t a perfect workflow; it’s getting your customers up and running with less hassle for both of you.
If you’re not sure where to start, just set up one deadline and one reminder. See how it goes. You can always add more later.
Happy onboarding—and remember, nobody ever said “I wish I got more emails.”