How Do You Embed Onboarding into the RM6 “Customer” Pillar?
In the RM6™ model, the Customer pillar is where value is delivered and expanded. Embedding onboarding here means treating it as a strategic lifecycle capability—not a one-off project—so every new customer journey is designed, measured, and optimized for time-to-value, adoption, and revenue impact.
You embed onboarding into the RM6 Customer pillar by making it a codified lifecycle motion with clear stages, owners, and metrics. Start by mapping onboarding to RM6 Customer outcomes (adoption, expansion, advocacy), define standard plays and journeys for priority segments, connect them to your data and dashboards, and govern them like any revenue program. The result: onboarding becomes a repeatable engine for faster time-to-value and better retention—not just a post-sale checklist.
What Matters When Onboarding Lives in the “Customer” Pillar?
Embedding Onboarding into the RM6 Customer Pillar: A Practical Playbook
Use this sequence to make onboarding a core competency of your RM6 Customer pillar—fully connected to your revenue strategy, data, and dashboards.
Clarify → Design → Orchestrate → Enable → Measure → Optimize
- Clarify Customer Outcomes in RM6 Terms. Start by defining the outcomes your Customer pillar is accountable for: adoption, utilization, renewal, and expansion. Translate these into specific onboarding goals (for example, “Users complete X critical actions in 30 days”).
- Design Standard Onboarding Journeys. Map journeys for key segments (enterprise vs. mid-market, self-serve vs. high-touch). Document stages, key meetings, content, and decision points, and align them with RM6 scorecard measures like time-to-value and retention.
- Orchestrate Across Teams and Systems. Connect onboarding touches across email, in-app, CS, and Services. Use your marketing automation and CRM to trigger communications and tasks based on lifecycle stage—not just static timelines.
- Enable People to Deliver the Experience. Build playbooks, templates, and talk tracks for CSMs, consultants, and support. Ensure Marketing is delivering post-sale content that reinforces the value narrative established in earlier RM6 pillars.
- Measure with RM6-Aligned Dashboards. Track time-to-first-value, onboarding completion, health scores, and early product engagement. Surface these in revenue dashboards so leaders can see how the Customer pillar is performing relative to Strategy, Demand, and Pipeline.
- Optimize and Feed Insights Back. Use cohort analysis and qualitative feedback to refine onboarding steps, content, and sequencing. Feed these insights back into offers, messaging, and ICP definitions captured in your other RM6 pillars.
Onboarding Within the RM6 “Customer” Pillar Maturity Matrix
| Capability | From (Ad Hoc) | To (Operationalized) | Owner | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Outcome Definition | Onboarding success is “the project went live.” | Success defined as measurable outcomes (adoption, value, ROI) in the RM6 Customer scorecard. | Customer Success Leadership | Onboarding Outcome Attainment |
| Journey Design | Every CSM runs a different play. | Standardized journeys by segment with clearly defined stages, templates, and SLAs. | CS Ops / RevOps | Onboarding Stage Conversion |
| Lifecycle Data & Signals | Onboarding milestones live in slides and inboxes. | Milestones captured in CRM and platforms, feeding RM6 dashboards and health scores. | RevOps / Analytics | Time-to-First-Value (TTV) |
| Content & Enablement | Pre-sale content only; onboarding docs are ad hoc. | Role-based onboarding content mapped to stages and maintained by Marketing and Enablement. | Marketing / CS Enablement | User Activation & Engagement |
| Governance & Accountability | Onboarding performance rarely discussed in revenue forums. | Onboarding metrics reviewed in RM6 governance cadence, with owners and actions. | Revenue Leadership | Gross & Net Revenue Retention |
| Cross-Pillar Integration | Onboarding disconnected from Strategy, Demand, and Technology decisions. | Onboarding insights inform ICP, messaging, offers, and tech stack priorities across RM6. | RM6 Steering Committee | Expansion Rate & Advocacy |
Client Snapshot: Aligning Onboarding with Lifecycle Value
In complex B2B environments, onboarding can easily become a series of disconnected tasks. When it is instead tied to a structured lifecycle framework—like RM6’s Customer pillar—organizations gain a clear line of sight from onboarding activity to revenue outcomes.
In work with enterprises such as Comcast Business , standardizing lead management and lifecycle processes has helped teams improve adoption and revenue performance, and made it easier to replicate success across segments and regions.
When onboarding is fully embedded into the RM6 Customer pillar, it stops being “what happens after the sale” and becomes a core revenue capability that’s visible in your metrics, governance, and growth plans.
Frequently Asked Questions about Onboarding in the RM6 Customer Pillar
Make Onboarding a Core Part of Your RM6 Customer Pillar
We’ll help you define journeys, metrics, and governance so onboarding becomes a repeatable capability in your RM6 Customer pillar—and a reliable driver of retention and growth.
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