Four-phase framework for onboarding enterprise customers from contract to value realization. Use when implementing new enterprise customers, preventing churn during onboarding, or solving the adoption cliff that kills deals post-go-live. Includes the Week 4 ghosting pattern.
Four-phase framework for onboarding enterprise customers from contract to value realization. The goal isn't just go-live — it's sustained adoption that doesn't cliff at Week 12.
Triggers:
Context:
The Pattern:
Week 1: Kickoff call goes great. Everyone's excited. Week 2-3: Technical discovery, requirements gathering. Still good. Week 4: Customer stops responding. Meetings get cancelled. "Too busy."
What Happened?
You started customer onboarding before internal alignment on their side.
Who Owns This Project Internally?
The Framework: Internal Owner Validation
Before kickoff call, answer:
Who on customer side will:
If you can't name a specific person for each, you don't have a project owner. You have a signed contract with nobody driving it.
How to Fix It:
During sales → CS handoff (before customer kickoff):
Sales rep must identify:
If there's no clear owner:
Don't start onboarding yet. Have sales introduce you to economic buyer:
"Before we kick off implementation, we want to make sure we have the right project owner on your side. In our experience, implementations succeed when someone owns driving this forward week-to-week. Who on your team should we partner with?"
Common Mistake:
Assuming someone will own it. Ask explicitly. If they can't name someone, the deal is at risk.
The Pattern:
Go-live happens Week 6. Usage spikes. You celebrate.
Week 8: Usage plateaus. Week 10: Usage declining. Week 12: Usage down 50% from peak.
Why This Happens:
You treated go-live as the finish line. Go-live is the starting line.
What Drives Sustained Adoption:
Not: Feature completeness, technical integration, training sessions
Yes: Ongoing value demonstration, user success stories, expanding use cases
Framework: Adoption Stages Beyond Go-Live
Week 1-6 (Implementation): Get it working
Week 6-12 (Initial Adoption): Get people using it
Week 12-26 (Sustained Adoption): Prove ongoing value
Week 26+ (Expansion): Grow within account
The Handoff That Most Teams Miss:
Week 6 (go-live) → Week 12 (sustained adoption)
Most CS teams celebrate go-live and move to next customer. This is when churn seeds get planted.
What to Do Week 6-12:
Week 7: First value report "Here's what your team accomplished in the first week: [specific metric]. Here's what good looks like at Week 12: [target]."
Week 9: User success story "[User name] on [team name] saved [X hours/reduced Y errors] this week. Here's how they're using it."
Week 11: Use case expansion conversation "You're using us for [primary use case]. Teams like yours also use us for [adjacent use case]. Want to explore?"
Common Mistake:
Measuring "go-live completion" instead of "sustained active usage." Go-live is not success. Week 26 retained adoption is success.
The Pattern:
Most onboarding failures trace back to pre-kickoff gaps.
What Gets Missed:
Sales didn't brief CS properly:
No internal project owner identified:
Customer timeline unrealistic:
Framework: Pre-Kickoff Checklist
Before scheduling kickoff call, validate:
Account Intelligence:
Internal Setup:
Customer Readiness:
Timeline Validation:
Decision Criteria:
Only schedule kickoff when all four sections validated. If gaps exist, surface to sales or executive sponsor before engaging customer.
Common Mistake:
Starting onboarding without internal clarity. This creates confusion, missed deadlines, and erosion of customer confidence.
Phase 1: Kickoff (Week 1)
Goal: Align on objectives, timeline, success metrics
Attendees: Executive sponsors + project leads + technical leads
Agenda:
Deliverable: Kickoff recap sent within 24 hours with success metrics, timeline, next meetings
Phase 2: Discovery & Planning (Week 2-3)
Goal: Understand technical landscape, map use cases, plan rollout
Three parallel workstreams:
Workstream 1: Technical Discovery
Workstream 2: Success Planning
Workstream 3: Technical Setup
Deliverable: Customer Success Plan document with use cases, metrics, timeline, milestones
Phase 3: Implementation (Week 4-6)
Goal: Deploy to pilot group, validate use cases, prepare for broader rollout
Three parallel tracks:
Track 1: Administration & Setup
Track 2: User Enablement
Track 3: Pilot & Feedback
Deliverable: Go-live readiness checklist completed, pilot group validated
Phase 4: Go-Live & Ongoing Success (Week 6+)
Goal: Roll out broadly, sustain adoption, expand use cases
Week 6-8 (Rollout):
Week 8-12 (Value Demonstration):
Week 12-26 (Sustained Adoption):
Common Mistake:
Treating go-live as completion. Phase 4 is where retention is won or lost.
The Pattern:
Most onboarding teams run workstreams sequentially:
Total time: 6 weeks
What Works Better: Parallel Tracks
Run technical setup, training, and pilot simultaneously:
Total time: 3 weeks
Why Parallel Works:
How to Execute:
Assign clear owners to each track:
Weekly sync across tracks to surface dependencies and blockers.
Common Mistake:
Waiting for "perfect technical setup" before starting pilot. Get pilot group using it early, even if setup isn't perfect. Their feedback makes the broad rollout better.
Has sales identified a project owner by name?
├─ No → Get project owner identified before kickoff
└─ Yes → Continue...
│
Is their timeline realistic given typical deployment?
├─ No → Reset expectations before kickoff
└─ Yes → Continue...
│
Do you have internal capacity?
├─ No → Delay kickoff or get more resources
└─ Yes → Proceed to kickoff
Is customer responding to meeting invites?
├─ No → Week 4 ghosting, escalate to exec sponsor
└─ Yes → Continue...
│
Are they completing their action items?
├─ No → No project owner, identify who drives this
└─ Yes → Continue...
│
Is pilot group using the product?
├─ No → Pilot group wrong or product not solving pain
└─ Yes → On track
Are active users growing Week 6 → Week 12?
├─ Yes → Healthy adoption
└─ No → Continue...
│
Are active users declining?
├─ Yes → Adoption cliff, intervene immediately
└─ No (plateau) → At risk, start value demonstration
1. Starting customer onboarding before internal alignment
2. Not identifying real project owner upfront
3. Overcommitting on timeline without technical requirements
4. No internal communication hub
5. Treating go-live as project complete
6. Sequential tracks instead of parallel
7. No ongoing metrics post go-live
Pre-Kickoff Validation:
Kickoff Agenda (30-45 min):
Adoption Tracking (Week 6-26):
Four Phases:
Red Flags:
Based on enterprise onboarding across multiple platform companies — designing partner onboarding directly and collaborating closely with CS on customer onboarding. Not theory — lessons from seeing Week 4 ghosting happen repeatedly and learning that go-live ≠ success, and understanding the adoption cliff that kills 30% of deals in first year.