Ramli John

Delight Path

I work B2B companies to fix their leaky, confusing, and broken product onboarding experience. Testimonials from B2B leaders:

"Ramli gave our team an actionable strategy and roadmap to reduce the number of steps in SparkToro's entire onboarding flow. Thanks to him, we increased our trial-to-paid conversion rate by 100%! Our team paid thousands of dollars to work with him, and we earned every dollar back tenfold."
Amanda Natividad
VP of Marketing, SparkToro

"Ramli facilitated a workshop for our Zapier onboarding growth team, and he was amazing! He gave us clarity, confidence, and alignment."
Britney Mackey
Growth Product Designer, Zapier

"Ramli has hands down one of the best onboarding roadmap to customer success. He'll help you reduce your time-to-value from weeks to minutes."
Danny Villarreal
VP of Customer Success, Toolio

"If a company is taking off, Ramli studies its onboarding. Having done so for so many years, he has built up an industry-leading perspective on what does and doesn't work. I couldn't think of a better adviser or consultant to improve your onboarding work."
Aakash Gupta
CPO, Product Growth and Former VP of Product, Apollo.io

"Ramli provides a step-by-step guide on how to build a proper onboarding strategy. Having worked at Hotjar, Sprout Social, Teamwork, and now Bitly, I appreciate the level of detail and accountability Ramli lays out for the entire organization."
Tara Robertson
CMO, Bitly

Founder and Product Onboarding Consultant

Past speaking appearances: SaaStock, Hotjar's HOTSAUCE Conference, PLGTM Conference, SaaSiest, Traction Conference, and more.

Whether it's for a traditional keynote talk, workshop, or fireside chat, my goal is to "wow" your audience with frameworks, amusing stories, and step-by-step strategies to onboard and delight customers.

Testimonials from event organizers:

"Ramli absolutely rocked it with his high energy. If you want a speaker who's both fun and informative, grab this guy ASAP!"
- Lloyed Lobo, Cofounder of Traction Conference.

"Ramli was an informative and entertaining speaker! I wouldn't hesitate to invite Ramli back to speak at SaaStock Local."
-Katya Ryabova, Organizer of SaaStock Local

"Ramli is a PHENOMENAL speaker, with an energy and enthusiasm that's contagious! Can't wait to work with him again!"
- Thomas Sjöberg, Cofounder of SaaSiest

Keynote Speaker for Product, Growth, and CX Events

EUREKA - The Customer Onboarding Playbook for B2B Companies

I'm writing a new book coming June 2025—a follow-up to my bestselling book, Product-Led Onboarding. Here are the details:

How is it different from my first book?

Product-Led Onboarding is a playbook for building self-serve onboarding experiences that turn your users into lifelong customers.

The problem?

As B2B companies scale, a purely self-serve experience is insufficient. 

They often struggle to:

❌ Scale their onboarding to meet growing demand.

❌ Effectively onboard enterprise customers with complex needs.

❌ Align cross-functional teams around a unified onboarding strategy.

It's why best-in-class product-led B2B companies like Slack, Zapier, and HubSpot have hybrid onboarding experiences.

Enterprise customers demand high-touch onboarding, while mid-market clients need a blend of both.

EUREKA tackles this challenge by providing a playbook for high-growth B2B companies to scale customer onboarding across all segments.

In this book, you'll learn how to:

✅ Build habit-forming hybrid onboarding experiences.

✅ Drive customers to first value within a few minutes.

✅ Personalize the experience for different segments.

✅ Scale customer onboarding and enablement.

✅ Measure and optimize onboarding ROI.

Want to get a book preview and join the waitlist?

Go to https://www.delightpath.com/book/eureka

Author (Coming June 2025)

Product-Led Onboarding

A bestselling book with rave reviews from Sean Ellis, Nir Eyal, Georgiana Laudi, Hiten Shah, Claire Suellentrope, and other growth, design, and marketing experts. Learn how to turn more of your users into lifelong customers.

“Product-Led Onboarding is 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 embarking on the critical activity of improving their user onboarding." ► 𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙉 𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙎, Founder of GrowthHackers.com

Get the first chapter for free at onboardingbook.com. Available now on Amazon

"This book breaks down everything a product-led business needs to know about onboarding. It's 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁."
► 𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙍𝙀𝙒 𝘾𝘼𝙋𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿, Head of Growth at Postscript (prev. at Wistia)

"In this book, Ramli shares an actionable, 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽-𝗯𝘆-𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 based on years of experience in the field. It's a must-read for founders, product managers, and marketers."
► 𝙅𝘼𝙉𝙀 𝙋𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙈𝘼𝙉, Co-Founder and CEO of Userlist

Author

ProductLed

Product-Led Growth Coach

► Taught product-led growth and coached over 300 product, customer success, and growth leaders from Mixpanel, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and more.
► Created thought-leadership content such as podcast episodes for the Product-Led Podcast, free webinars and courses, YouTube videos, and blog posts.

Managing Director

Co-Host of The Product-Led Podcast

Program Manager (Contract)

Appcues

I owned and executed Appcues' market education strategy with a primary focus on scaling the reach and impact of market training and certification programs (i.e, the Product Adoption Academy). 

With a focus on producing multimedia content (video, audio/podcast, GIFs, infographics), my goal was to increase the reach of and engagement with thought leadership, educational programs.

Content Programming Director

First Round Fast Track

First Round Fast Track is a mentorship program that matches seasoned startup leaders with early-stage operators in a unique mentorship community.

I'm a mentor for product adoption, lifecycle marketing, and user onboarding.

Mentor

Growth Marketing Today

► Managed podcast guest interviews featuring growth leaders such as Rand Fishkin (Founder of Moz), April Dunford, Hiten Shah, and more.
► Published weekly podcast episodes with over 100k total downloads.
► Secured paid sponsors such as Ahrefs, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, and PartnerStack.


Whether you’re a marketer, founder, or consultant, gain a competitive edge by learning the battle-tested marketing strategies in-detail from today's smartest marketers such as Rand Fishkin, April Dunford, Hiten Shah, and Val Geisler. Download the FREE growth cheat sheet with actionable lessons from the latest episode here 👉  https://growthtoday.fm 👈

Some past guests include:
▷  April Dunford, Author of Obviously Awesome
▷ Andrew Warner, CEO at Mixergy
▷ Georgiana Laudi, Former VP of Marketing at Unbounce
▷ Kieran Flanagan, VP of Growth at Hubspot
▷  Sylvia Ng, former VP Growth and Analytics at 500px
▷  Kent Fenwick, Head of Growth at Hubba, previously at Tilt (Acquire by Airbnb)

Creator and Podcast Host

SkyVerge

► Designed, defined, and implemented cross-functional growth experiments to optimize paid, organic, and content campaigns that contributed to a 3.5x MRR growth in 15 months. 
► Doubled the free-to-paid conversion rate by revamping the in-app onboarding experience, segmenting the onboarding emails, running onboarding group webinars, and launching re-targeting ads to free trial users.
► Created analytics scorecards and dashboards using Hubspot, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Intercom, and SQL queries that enabled the marketing team to develop data-driven decisions and plans.

Growth Lead (Acquired by GoDaddy Fall 2020)

Ramli Lean Solutions

► Grew online sales and lead generation for small to mid-sized B2B SaaS businesses through inbound marketing, SEO, SEM, conversion optimization, content marketing, and email marketing.
► Led marketing and growth teams on contract as a fractional Marketing Director for VC-funded startups in San Francisco (Cobalt), New York (ListenLoop), and Toronto (Maropost).
► Generated over $1.1MM in closed deals for Digital Agents (a digital marketing agency) using Facebook and Google Ads resulting in 285% return on ad spend.

Various clients, including the following:

Colbalt.io (San Francisco, California)
- Optimized Cobalt's acquisition funnel by making changes to the content, design, and layout of the website, Increased the signup conversion rate by 200% from 1.6% to 3.1% in 3 months
- Organized a 30-minutes webinar focused on online security for Bitcoin companies, which resulted in over 60 new leads for the sales team

ListenLoop (San Mateo, California and New York, New York)
- Generated inbound leads through webcasts, online seminars, Twitter chats, and blog posts.
- Followed up with leads through one-on-one personalized demos to guide them through the sales funnel using a Salesforce-like CRM tool called Streak.
- Designed, coded and deployed a responsive homepage that was optimized for conversion rates.

Tools: Hubspot, Salesforce, Mixpanel, Google Analytics, Wordpress, HTML5, CSS3

Skills: SEO, Demand Generation, AARRR Metrics, PPC, SEM, Analytics, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, CRO, Lead Generation, Wireframing, Design, Growth Hacking, A/B Testing

Growth Consultant

Centennial College

▷ MKTG729 - WEB AND CONVERSION ANALYTICS
I developed and designed this new 14-week course as part of two post-graduate programs. This course helps students apply the principles of Web Analytics that Avinash Kaushik (the pioneer of online analytics) put together to extract and derive insights from data to achieve business success, with a focus on Google Analytics.
- Tools/Skills introduced: Google Analytics, Surveys, Usability Testing, Competitive Analysis, Conversion Optimization, A/B Testing

▷ BUS400 - FOUNDATION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
I developed and delivered this new course for the four-year PR degree program. It offers a framework for understanding the entrepreneurial process and exposes
students to challenges, problems, and issues faced by entrepreneurs who start new businesses.
- Tools/Skills introduced: Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Map, Marketing Funnel, Sales Strategy

▷ ENTP700 - INNOVATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT
This is a post-graduate course focused on generation of innovation and change in a
business/organizational context. 

►► TESTIMONIALS FROM PAST STUDENTS
"I had the pleasure of being on of Ramli's students in an entrepreneur course. As an educator and mentor, he is an effective communicator, highly motivating and exceptionally knowledgeable in entrepreneurship and marketing. He is very personable and has consistently done above and beyond to support his students and community."
▷ Sara Pivato, Social Media Co-ordinator at Futurpreneur Canada

Professor, Marketing and Entrepreneurship (Part-Time)

Author of Product-Led Onboarding (+30K copies sold) | First Round Fast Track Mentor | Content Director at Appcues.

⭐️ Follow me for helpful tips to onboard, delight, and keep your customers coming back to your product.
📔 Author of Amazon #1 bestselling book "Product-Led Onboarding." 👉 𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙉 𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙎, Founder of GrowthHackers.com: "Product-Led Onboarding is 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 embarking on the critical activity of improving their user onboarding." 


⚡️ I use my multi-disciplinary skills in marketing, design, and software development to help product-led SaaS companies analyze their whole customer's journey and funnel to identify growth opportunities to 2-3X their MRR. 

Often, that means designing and implementing experiments to increase activation rate (trial-to-paid or free-to-paid conversions), decrease churn rate, or increase average revenue per user (ARPU)

If you asked my friends and colleagues how they would describe me, they'd say I'm resourceful, proactive, and entrepreneurial

►► CONTACT INFO
▷ Send a connection request
▷ Write me a note at ramli [at] ramlijohn.com

Founder

A weekly show and newsletter for marketers looking to level up their marketing and career. I interview world-class marketers to uncover the secrets, strategies, and frameworks behind their wins. In each episode, guests reveal three things:  (1) a marketing power-up,  (2) a real-world example of that in action, and (3) a power-up that’s helped them take their career to the next level.

CEO: "We don't need research; we already know our users."
What their onboarding looks like…


It’s the BIGGEST mistake I see teams make when improving their user onboarding.

They skip the fundamental steps.

They end up slapping a product tour that frustrates rather than delights users.

Before you add any in-product guides or onboarding emails, you have to understand these critical details about your users:

1. What does success look like for my users?
2. What are their goals with my product (a.k.a. JTBD)?
3. What is the minimum number of steps to get them there?
4. Where are they currently dropping off and losing momentum?

Once you've figured out the fundamentals, you can consider which in-product guides, messages, and emails are appropriate for your users.

Any other questions you'd add?

Let me know in the comments. ✌️

—

✅ PS. I’m writing a new book, EUREKA - The Product Onboarding Playbook for B2B Companies (coming June 2025)

I’m opening up the pre-orders next week with instant access bonuses, including:

→ Early drafts and behind-the-scenes writing updates.
→ 17 onboarding templates and swipe files
→  Monthly Q&A with me.

And more!

Join the book waitlist to be the first to know when pre-orders open.

Hit “View my site” on my profile to join.


#b2b #onboarding #product

Ramli "RJ" John

Product onboarding for B2B companies. Bestselling author of "Product-Led Onboarding" (+40K copies sold). Founder @ Delight Path.

Level up your product onboarding with these 4 actionable tactics from Super Mario:


1. Get users to an early, quick win.
2. Teach through doing.
3. Ramp up difficulty slowly.
4. Level up users in stages.

Swipe on the carousel to get more details and examples.👇

Anything else you'd add?

PS. Who else was obsessed with Super Mario growing up? 🙋🏽‍♂️

—

I'm writing a new book to help high-growth B2B companies onboard, delight, and keep more customers.

It's called EUREKA - The Product Onboarding Playbook for B2B Companies, and it's launching in June 2025.

Want a preview and grab the pre-order bonuses?

Tap "View my website" on my profile.



#product #onboarding #growth

Onboard and hook new users like Super Mario

If I were fixing my product onboarding today, I’d read these 9 books to get it right. (The Kindle versions are on sale this week.)

1) Forget the Funnel by Georgiana Laudi and Claire Suellentrop
- Comprehensive guide to SaaS customer journey optimization focuses on retention-first approach rather than acquisition
- Includes worksheets and practical frameworks

2) Make it Punchy by Emma Stratton
- Teaches you how to write clear, jargon-less messaging for B2B tech
- Shows you how to add "punch" to your copy for your onboarding experience 
- Includes plenty of exercises

3) The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Illustrates what questions to ask during audience/persona research
- How to avoid leading questions that end up in misdirection
- Customer insights lead to better onboarding.

4) Hooked by Nir Eyal
- Explains the psychology behind habit-forming products
- Provides practical framework for building engaging user experiences
- Shows how to create "hooks" that keep users coming back

5) Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
- Classic guide to web usability and intuitive design
- Emphasizes simplicity and user-centric thinking
- Includes real-world examples and case studies

6) Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
- Good positioning is the foundation of habit-forming onboarding experiences.
- The best book to understand positioning with examples
- Practical framework on how to get position tech products

7) Product-Led Onboarding by Ramli "RJ" John
- Detailed framework for creating self-serve onboarding experiences
- Shows how to identify and optimize key activation metrics
- Includes templates and actionable strategies

8) When Coffee and Kale Compete by Alan Klement
- Explores Jobs-to-be-Done framework in depth
- Shows how to identify customer motivations and needs
- Practical examples of successful product innovations

9) Onboarding Matters by Donna Weber
- Comprehensive guide to creating effective customer onboarding processes 
- Focuses on reducing time-to-value for new users

—

Which ones have you read?
What would you like to add?

#product #onboarding

Today, I hit 20K followers here. More importantly, you can now pre-order my new book, EUREKA! 🥳

It’s a follow-up to my bestselling book, Product-Led Onboarding, and it will launch in June 2025.

How is it different?

My first book is a playbook for building self-serve onboarding experiences that turn your users into lifelong customers.

The problem?

As B2B companies scale, a purely self-serve experience is insufficient. 

They often struggle to:

❌ Scale their onboarding to meet growing demand.
❌ Effectively onboard enterprise customers with complex needs.
❌ Align cross-functional teams around a unified onboarding strategy.

This is why best-in-class product-led B2B companies like Slack, Zapier, and HubSpot have hybrid onboarding experiences.

EUREKA tackles this challenge by providing a playbook for high-growth B2B companies to scale product onboarding across all segments.

I’m excited to open up the pre-orders today. 🎉

You’ll get the eBook, audiobook, and free shipping for the paperback book when it launches.

Plus, you'll get instant access to:

✅ Early access to draft chapters now.
✅ 17 onboarding templates, swipe files, and resources.
✅ 21-video lesson onboarding course.
✅ Early version of the audiobook.
✅ Monthly Q&A with the book's author.
✅ A high-five for being awesome the next time I see you in person. 🙌

Get it here: https://lnkd.in/gARht5ix


PS. The early bird bonuses expire next Thursday, December 19. 

So get it before those go away.


#product #b2b #onboarding

Eight weeks ago, I left my full-time job to become a solo consultant. Here are my highlights, lowlights, and learnings:

What went well?
————————
✅ Closed my first big “enterprise” consulting client. 🎉🎉🎉

✅ Completed the fourth cohort of the “User Onboarding Masterclass” course on Maven with 18 students.

✅ Wrote the early draft of three chapters of my new book, EUREKA.

✅Started getting feedback on my new book from beta readers.

✅ Hosted my first partnership workshop with Anthony and Robert from FletchPMM (+377 signups!)

What were the challenges?
——————————————
🚫 Sent proposals to poor-fit clients. Thankfully, they didn't move forward, but it wasted time and energy that could have been better spent elsewhere.

🚫 Struggled with maintaining a consistent book writing schedule. I planned to write every Monday. I often got distracted.

🚫 Ghosted by two very promising consulting clients. 

🚫 A couple of potential clients delayed moving forward until 2025.

What were the lessons I learned?
—————————————————
🧠 Say “no” when it’s not a fit. I need to be more selective with client proposals and trust my gut.

🧠 Protect my writing blocks. Writing requires dedicated, uninterrupted time blocks.

🧠 “Borrow” other people’s audience. I plan on doing more partnership webinars in the future.

What’s coming up next?
————————————
🔭 Complete all chapters of my new book in December 2024.

🔭 Start pre-orders of my new book!!! 🎉🎉🎉

—

Without my network and audience, I wouldn't be where I am.

Thank you to everyone who reached out and supported me in this journey.

Let’s keep on growing! 

—

✅ PS. Next week, I'm opening the pre-orders for my new book, EUREKA - The Product Onboarding Playbook for B2B Companies (coming June 2025).

It'll come with instant access bonuses, including:

- 17+ onboarding templates and swipe files
- 21-video lesson onboarding course
- Early book access

Be the first to know when it opens up.

Tap "Subscribe to newsletter" on my profile.


#solopreneur #b2b #onboarding

Activation in product-led and sales-led companies is NOT the same. Here’s what you need to know:

I teamed up with Aakash Gupta to break it down for you. 

—

𝗢𝗡𝗘 - 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧-𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Your product has to do all the work! 

𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲, 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀
→ If you want users to stick around, make it easy for them to reach the “Aha moment” fast.
→ Use a simple UI to reduce friction.

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀
→ Measure what matters: task completion, usage frequency, and progress streaks.
→ Duolingo tracks how many lessons users complete and return to maintain streaks.

𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
→ Add badges, milestones, or streaks to your product to keep users coming back.
→ Why? People love rewards for small wins and it creates momentum.

𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀
→ If you’re scaling, your onboarding must work without human help.
→ Use product tours, tooltips, or email drip campaigns to guide users.

—

𝗧𝗪𝗢 - 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗦-𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Bring people into the mix with…

𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱, 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗢𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
→ If your customers have complex needs, don’t expect them to figure it out on their own.
→ Assign a customer success manager to guide them step by step.

𝗢𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
→ Make sure customers get consistent help after onboarding.
→ Offer training sessions, documentation, and check-ins.

𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀
→ Measure admin setup completion and feature usage across organizations. 
→ Focus on the teams, not just individuals.

𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗢𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
→ Provide personalized demos, onboarding calls, and hands-on support.
→ Enterprise tools often offer custom implementation programs to speed up adoption.

—

𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦 

This has a lot of impact on your business and metrics.

𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲
→ Product-Led: Minutes, through automated tools.
→ Sales-Led: Days or weeks, requiring personalized efforts.

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲-𝘁𝗼-𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲
→ Product-Led: Fast wins. Automated features allow users to find value quickly.
→ Sales-Led: Gradual. High-touch setups take time.

𝗢𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵
→ Product-Led: Scalable and automated (tooltips, articles, and courses).
→ Sales-Led: Personalized demos and implementation support.

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹
→ Product-Led: Automated resources like FAQs and forums.
→ Sales-Led: Dedicated support teams.

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀
→ Product-Led: Focus on individual engagement.
→ Sales-Led: Team-wide adoption and ROI metrics.

—

To learn more about the differences, check out the deep dive we created in the Product Growth newsletter.



#product #activation #plg

Want to improve your onboarding? Track and improve these 13 activation metrics that move that needle: 

I teamed up with Aakash Gupta (ex-VP of Product at Apollo) to share these metrics.

—

𝗢𝗡𝗘 - 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗨𝗣 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣

The easier and more intuitive this step is, the more likely users are to continue their journey.

→ 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘂𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
Low rates indicate a confusing and not a frictionless experience.

→ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘂𝗽
If it takes them too long to sign up, they’ll abandon the process entirely.

→ 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘂𝗽 𝗔𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
High abandonment means unclear instructions and unnecessary fields.

→ 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
It helps identify unnecessary or intimidating fields that deter users and may not be essential.

—

 𝗧𝗪𝗢 - 𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗣 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣

This step is where users start configuring your product to suit their needs.

→ 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
A low completion rate occurs when your setup process is too complex or lacks clear guidance.

→ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲-𝘁𝗼-𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲-𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽
Quick setup translates to higher engagement, while long delays often lead to drop-off.

→ 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
Identifying and addressing points of confusion in the setup flow will help you reduce churn.

—

𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 - 𝗔𝗛𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣

The “aha” moment is when users first recognize the value of your product.

→ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲-𝘁𝗼-𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁-𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲
Shorten this time to unlock customer loyalty and retention in the long run.

→ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲-𝘁𝗼-𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲
Users who don’t perceive full value quickly will hesitate to engage and churn in most cases.

→ 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
It reflects how well your onboarding introduces core functionality.

→ 𝗢𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
A clear and engaging flow improves completion rates and sets users up for success.

→ 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
High activation rates show that users are engaged and recognize your product’s value.

—

𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 - 𝗛𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣

This stage is about reinforcing behavior so users consistently return to your product.

→ 𝗗𝗔𝗨/𝗪𝗔𝗨/𝗠𝗔𝗨
These metrics highlight the frequency of user engagement and overall product stickiness.

→ 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
High retention rates indicate a compelling user experience and product value.

→ 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲
Understanding churn reasons is essential for improving onboarding and long-term satisfaction.

→ 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗨𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆
This metric shows whether users find ongoing value in the product’s core functionality.

—

So, how do you put this all together?

You can’t just go after everything.

Choose a north star to move at a time.

To learn more, we put together an in-depth guide in the Product Growth newsletter.

Any other metrics you'd add?

Share in the comments.

#activation #metrics #growth

I got sales slapped the other day. After 5 minutes of signing up, I got a call and VM from their sales team. It's a big turnoff. 


It's probably because it's the end of the year, and they're behind on quota (maybe). 

A better approach would have been to wait until users do some meaningful in the product. Then, use product signals and user behavior to personalize their outreach to trial users

Here are some examples:

🚨 Signal: a user has been trying to do X for a few hours.
🤲 Sales offers personalized help.

"Hey, it looks like you've been trying to do X. Let me know if you need help. Here are some resources _______. Happy to jump on a call and connect you with our technical team."

🚨 Signal: a user successfully set up feature Y.
🎉 Sales congratulates the user and suggests the next steps.

"Hey, congrats on setting up Y! 99% of our most successful customers, just like your company, end up doing A and B next. I'd love to show how to get the most out of it."

🚨 Signal: a user views a premium feature Z. 
🍾 Sales shares the benefits of the feature. 

"Hey, I saw you checked out feature Z. Companies like [INSERT SIMILAR BUSINESSES] use it to [INSERT USE CASE OF THE FEATURE] and achieve these results ___________."

Any other ones you'd add?

Let me know in the comments.


—

✅ PS. I'm writing a new book to help high-growth B2B companies onboard, delight, and keep more customers.

It's called EUREKA - The Product Onboarding Playbook for B2B Companies, and it's launching in June 2025.

I have a whole chapter dedicated to human outreach during the onboarding experience.

Want a preview and grab the pre-order bonuses?

Tap "View my website" on my profile.

#product #sales #onboarding

Product friction isn’t the biggest hurdle to B2B onboarding. It’s the friction 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 of the product that makes it hard.

That's why B2B onboarding 10x harder than B2C.

Think about it: 

In B2C, one person signs up for the product and starts using it immediately. 

But in B2B, you're dealing with higher-level forms of friction:

- Multiple stakeholders.
- Complex approval processes.
- Internal politics and competing priorities.
- Higher stakes and risks (jobs could be on the line!)  
- Team-wide resistance to new processes and workflows.

That’s why I categorize B2B user friction into a hierarchy of 3 levels:

1) Functional Friction

These are barriers that prevent users from completing tasks within the product. 

An example of functional friction in Salesforce is its complex interface, which can overwhelm new users. 

With multiple tabs, menus, and customization options, they struggle to complete basic tasks like creating contacts or logging activities.

2) Social Friction 

These are barriers involving people, processes, and politics. 

Internally, these are misaligned teams and metrics around onboarding in your company. 

Externally, these are customers struggling with stakeholder alignment, team adoption, and organizational change management.

For Salesforce, social friction often manifests when sales teams resist adopting new processes, even though management has mandated the platform's use. 

Individual salespeople may continue using their own spreadsheets or legacy systems, creating data silos and reducing the platform's effectiveness.

3) Emotional Friction 

The barriers stem from psychological and emotional responses to the product and change process. 

There’s a reason why people say, “You can never go wrong buying IBM." 

Choosing established products often stems from deep-seated fears about career risk and organizational change. 

For Salesforce, emotional friction appears immediately as new users upload their customer data into the platform. 

There’s an emotional hurdle around trusting a new system with their valuable customer relationships. Migrating customer data into Salesforce requires overcoming this emotional hurdle.

— 

So, how do you overcome this hierarchy of B2B user friction in your product onboarding?

That’s the goal of my new book EUREKA - The Product Onboarding Playbook for B2B Companies (coming June 2025). 

My first book, Product-Led Onboarding, focused on creating a self-serve onboarding experience for simple products. 

EUREKA expands on this foundation by addressing the complex challenges of B2B onboarding. 

I'm excited to open up preorders next week!

Join the book waitlist to be among the first to get updates and early access to book snippets. 

Tap “View my website” on my profile to join.


#b2b #onboarding #product

Product onboarding tip: Consider segmenting your onboarding by user skill level. Here’s a B2C and B2B example…

Duolingo does this for new learners. 

They ask if they're new to learning that language or have some basic knowledge.

Why is this helpful?

It helps intermediate and advanced users skip ahead so they don't get bored.

Beginners don’t get overwhelmed by starting with complex concepts.

Advanced learners don’t get bored by going through the basics.

It creates a more personalized learning path that matches user expectations. 

For B2B products, HubSpot uses a similar approach by asking users about their CRM experience. 

This helps advanced users jump straight into advanced features while new users get basic training first (e.g., what is a contact? How do you add them? etc.)

The result? 

Higher engagement rates and lower churn because users feel the product meets their needs. 

Have you seen another product do this?

I'd love to know in the comments!


#b2b #onboarding #product

Most onboarding problems are messaging problems.

In the latest Product Growth podcast episode with Aakash Gupta, I share everything you need to know to master onboarding: 

→ The biggest mistakes teams make and how to avoid them 
→ Personalizing onboarding to boost activation and engagement 
→ Crafting behavior-driven emails that actually re-engage users 
→ Monetization strategies to turn onboarding into a growth engine 
→ Lessons from CrossFit, Duolingo, and Miro on reducing friction and driving retention 

— 

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀: 

1. Why Onboarding Fails and How to Fix It 

The biggest mistake teams make is skipping foundational steps in onboarding, like defining what user success looks like. Instead of jumping straight to product tours, start by understanding user goals and challenges through research. 

Think of onboarding as building a bridge — without knowing where users want to go, you risk leading them to the wrong destination. Key tips to avoid onboarding failure: → Use user research to identify key challenges and objections. → Build onboarding flows that address these pain points and guide users step-by-step toward their goals. 

— 

2. Emails Are the Untapped Engine Behind Explosive Growth 

Behavior-driven communication is a game-changer. He highlights Phantom Video’s email response when users remove the tool from a call. These emails don’t just engage users. 

They build trust and guide them to the next step. For outreach, focus on high-fit, high-engagement users and using contextual data to provide value-driven touchpoints. 

—

If you want to create onboarding experiences that turn users into loyal fans, this episode is for you.

Tune in to wherever you listen to your podcast.

#product #growth #onboarding

Boredom is necessary for doing your best creative work.

It’s when your brain can connect different ideas and patterns that weren't obvious before. 

The problem?

We’re so busy with social media, endless notifications, and constant distractions that we never allow ourselves to be bored. 

We don't give ourselves the space to connect the dots.

It’s why I have a daily 15-minute block in my calendar to be bored. 

No phone, no computer, no distractions. 

Sometimes, I stare out the window; sometimes, I pace, and sometimes, I go for a walk. 

At first, it felt uncomfortable and unproductive. 

But now, these moments of intentional boredom have become my most valuable creative sessions. 

Ideas flow more freely, solutions emerge unexpectedly, and my mind feels clearer and more focused throughout the day.

Do you allow yourself to be bored?

Or are you constantly filling every moment with “work” and distractions? 

Consider scheduling a daily "boredom block" in your calendar. 

Start with just 15 minutes. 

No devices, no goals, no expectations.

PS. I share more about my career journey, work habits, and life values with Nicole Gottselig on The Connect With Purpose Project podcast.

Check it out on your fav pod player.

The product metrics benchmarks for B2B SaaS (based on data from +357 startups): ⤵

Shoutout to the June.so team for this product metrics benchmark report a year ago. It includes benchmarks for:

1. Week-over-week user growth
2. Active users
3. Week 1 retention
4. Week 8 Retention

An observation:

It's disheartening to see the Active Users drop from 5.5% with Pre-Seed startups to 0.8% for Series A.

It’s a tale as old as time.

Flushed with cash, startups often prioritize user growth over engagement and activation. 

This leads to acquiring users who aren't truly engaged with the product.

Plugging the drop-offs in your leaky product onboarding experience should be a top priority for Series A (and beyond).

Is onboarding a priority at your company?

If not, it's time to make it one for 2025.

#b2b #product #benchmarks

Building a PLG motion? Don’t fall for this common trap.

Many companies think implementing Product-Led Growth is as simple as assigning it to the VP of Product or VP of Growth. 

It’s got the word ‘product’ in it, right? Must be a product thing!

Spoiler: It’s not that simple.

PLG isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a company-wide shift that touches everything from product design to customer success. 

Without alignment and the right foundation, even the best intentions can fall flat.

I share more in the latest episode of the Product Growth podcast with Aakash Gupta.


#product #growth #plg

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