Let’s be honest: onboarding new clients is rarely anyone’s favorite part of the job. It’s repetitive, easy to mess up, and if you don’t get it right, you’re setting yourself up for headaches down the road. This guide is for anyone who wants to use Planhat to make onboarding smoother, less manual, and—dare I say—almost pleasant. Whether you’re in customer success, implementation, or just the person who gets handed all the “operations” stuff, this one’s for you.
Below, I’ll walk you through creating a clear onboarding workflow in Planhat, automating the right parts, and avoiding common traps (read: making things so complex no one can actually use them).
Step 1: Map Out Your Onboarding Process (Before You Touch Planhat)
Don’t skip this. If you try to automate a messy process, you’ll just make the mess go faster. Grab a notepad or a whiteboard and answer these:
- What are the absolute must-do steps for onboarding a new client?
- Who owns each step (CSM, Sales, Support, etc.)?
- What needs to happen before a client can start seeing value?
- Where are the biggest delays or drop-offs?
Pro tip: Keep it simple. You can always add more later, but starting with 3-5 key steps is usually enough for a first pass.
Common pitfalls: - Trying to automate edge cases right away. Focus on your most common onboarding scenarios. - Getting hung up on documentation before you start. You’ll figure out the details as you go.
Step 2: Set Up Custom Objects and Fields in Planhat
Now it’s time to get your structure into Planhat. The more your data matches your real process, the better automation will work.
2.1. Create a Custom Object (if needed)
- For most teams, the default “Company” object in Planhat is enough.
- If your onboarding is complex (multiple products, locations, etc.), consider a custom object like “Onboarding Project.”
2.2. Add Custom Fields
- Add fields for key onboarding milestones (e.g., “Kickoff Call Date,” “Contract Signed,” “First Value Delivered”).
- Add owner fields if tasks move between teams.
- Avoid a field for every tiny detail—stick to what you’ll actually use for automation or reporting.
Reality check: More fields mean more things for your team to fill in. Only add fields that trigger something or help you track progress.
Step 3: Build Your Onboarding Workflow Using Playbooks or Tasks
Planhat lets you use Playbooks (sets of tasks) to standardize onboarding. This is the bread and butter of automating the “who does what, when” part.
3.1. Create a Playbook
- Go to Playbooks and create a new one called “New Client Onboarding.”
- Add each step as a task, assign owners, and set due date rules (e.g., “Kickoff Call” due 2 days after onboarding starts).
3.2. Set Task Dependencies
- For steps that can’t start until another is finished, set dependencies.
- Don’t overcomplicate with too many dependencies. A linear flow is easier to manage and troubleshoot.
3.3. Add Instructions and Templates
- For each task, add clear instructions. If you have email templates or checklists, link them here.
- Use Planhat’s rich text editor for notes, but keep it concise.
What works: Playbooks are great for keeping everyone on the same page. They’re also easy to tweak as your process changes.
What doesn’t: Don’t try to cram every possible scenario into one Playbook. It gets messy fast. Start with your default onboarding and add variations later.
Step 4: Automate Triggers and Notifications
Here’s where you let Planhat do the heavy lifting. The goal: make the right Playbook or tasks kick off automatically, so nothing falls through the cracks.
4.1. Set Up Automation Rules
- Go to the Automation or Workflows section.
- Create a trigger for when a company enters an “Onboarding” stage or when a specific field (like “Contract Signed”) is updated.
- Set the action to launch your onboarding Playbook or assign tasks.
Examples: - When a new client’s status is set to “Onboarding,” trigger the Playbook. - When “Kickoff Call Date” is set, send a reminder to the CSM the day before.
4.2. Use Notifications (But Don’t Overdo It)
- Set up email or in-app notifications for key steps (e.g., “First Value Delivered” overdue).
- Be selective. Too many notifications = everyone ignores them.
4.3. Automate Communications (Optional)
- If you want, use Planhat to send templated emails (welcome messages, next steps) automatically.
- Only automate emails that are truly standard. Anything requiring a personal touch should be manual.
What to ignore: Don’t try to automate client-specific emails or anything that needs a real conversation. Automation is for repeatable, boilerplate stuff.
Step 5: Track Progress and Iterate
Once your workflow is live, the real test is whether clients actually get through onboarding faster and with fewer issues.
5.1. Monitor Onboarding Progress
- Use Planhat dashboards or reports to track:
- Time-to-value or time-to-launch
- Tasks completed vs. overdue
- Bottlenecks (where clients get stuck)
5.2. Get Team Feedback
- Ask your team what’s working and what’s annoying.
- Adjust Playbooks, fields, or automations based on real feedback—not just what looks good in a flowchart.
5.3. Iterate—Don’t Overhaul
- Make small changes. Add a field, tweak a task, or update a Playbook based on what you learn.
- Don’t try to fix everything at once. Onboarding is never “done”—it’s just less painful than it used to be.
Bonus: Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Over-automating. If everything’s automated, nobody pays attention. Leave room for human judgment.
- Ignoring exceptions. No workflow will cover every weird client case. That’s okay—document exceptions and handle them manually.
- Not cleaning up old workflows. If you change your process, make sure to retire or update old Playbooks and automations. Otherwise, things get confusing fast.
- Measuring the wrong stuff. Focus on outcomes (like time-to-value), not just activity (number of tasks completed).
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Ship It, and Improve as You Go
You don’t need a perfect onboarding workflow to get value out of Planhat. Start with the basics, automate the obvious steps, and let your team tell you what’s actually helpful. The best workflows are the ones people actually use—not the ones that look the fanciest in a demo.
Keep it simple, stick to what actually helps your clients, and don’t be afraid to tweak things as you learn. You’ll save yourself a ton of headaches—and your customers will thank you for it.