Imagine you get a new toy. You would not want someone to just give you the box and walk away. You would want them to show you how to play with it. Bringing a new person to your product is just like that. A good welcome, called "onboarding," helps new friends see how your tool makes their life better right away. When you do it well, new people become happy, old friends.
This guide shows you the best ways to welcome new customers. It will help you make them feel good and smart. We will not use big words or ideas that are hard to get. We will show you simple steps that work. You will learn how to show people things when they are ready, make a special path for them, and cheer for them when they do something cool. Each idea is a simple, smart way to turn new customers into happy friends for a long time. To learn even more ways to welcome new users, you can look at these further customer onboarding strategies. Let’s look at eight great ways to say hello.
1. Show a Little at a Time
One of the best ways to welcome customers is to not show them everything at once. Good companies show a little at a time. This means they show new things step by step. They only show what a person needs to know right then. This breaks a big, hard tool into small, easy parts. It stops new friends from feeling lost and wanting to quit.
This helps a person learn from the first easy win to being a pro later. It is like learning to ride a bike. You start with training wheels before you try to pop a wheelie. This helps people feel good about what they are doing and want to keep going.
Why It Works
When you show things step-by-step, you help people learn in a fun way. The first thing they do shows them why your tool is great. This helps them have a "wow!" moment fast. For example, a drawing app might first show you how to pick a color and draw a line. It waits to show you fancy tools like layers until you are ready.
How to Do It
- Plan the Trip: Before you do anything, think about the steps a new friend takes. What is the one big thing they need to do at each step?
- Ask Questions Later: Don’t ask for 20 things when they sign up. Ask for their name first. Later, you can ask for other things when they are doing something new.
- Let Them Skip: Let people who already know how to use it skip the tour. A "Skip Tour" button is nice and saves them time.
- Watch and Learn: See what works best. Look at how people use the tour. You might see that showing a new tool on their third visit makes them more likely to stay.
2. Playful Tours and Walkthroughs
Instead of just telling people how to use your tool, one of the best ways to welcome customers is to show them with playful tours and walkthroughs. This helps new friends learn by doing. Pop-up tips and guides show them what to click next. This is like a game where they learn how things work by trying them out.
When people click buttons and finish tasks, their brains remember it better. It is like having a helper next to you, pointing at what to do. This makes learning fast and fun. It helps new friends feel like they can do it all by themselves.
Why It Works
Playful tours help people reach their goals right away. For example, a photo app does not just talk about filters. It has you tap on a filter to change a picture. Now you see how cool it is! A music app might have you build your first playlist. Doing something real is way more fun than reading a long page of rules.
How to Do It
- Keep It Short: Make each tour just a few steps long. Do one fun thing at a time so people don't get tired.
- Show Up at the Right Time: Don’t start a tour when someone first logs in. Start it when they go to a new part of your app and need help.
- Let Them Be the Boss: Always have buttons like "Skip" or "Start Over." People don't like being forced to do a tour if they don't want to.
- Use Fun Examples: Use real-life examples in your tour, not just boring words like "test." This helps people imagine using it for their own things.
3. Special Paths for Each Person
Not all friends are the same, so their welcome should not be the same. A great way to welcome customers is to make special paths for each person. This means you do not give everyone the same tour. You make different guides for different people. It could be based on their job or what they want to do.
This makes the tour feel more helpful. A teacher will get a different tour than an artist, even if they use the same tool. This helps each person find what they need fast, because they only see the important stuff for them.
Why It Works
If everyone gets the same tour, some people might feel like the tool is not for them. By making it special, you show that you know what they need. This makes them feel good and helps them have a "wow!" moment faster. For example, a cooking app can ask if you are a baker or a cook. This one question changes what recipes they show you first. It makes the app feel like it was made just for you.
How to Do It
- Know Your Friends: Think about the main types of people who use your tool. What do they want to do? Make a special welcome for each group.
- Ask a Simple Question: When they sign up, ask one easy question to put them on the right path. For example, "Are you here to learn, work, or play?"
- Let Them Change: Let people change their path if they want. They might have picked the wrong one, or they might change their mind.
- See What Works: Check to see which paths are working best. If the "artist" path is not helping people, you know you need to make it better. A good plan like a customer onboarding checklist from WriteVoice.io can help you remember all the steps for each type of person.
4. Quick Wins and Happy Moments
One of the most important ways to welcome customers is to help them have a "wow!" moment right away. This means making quick wins and happy moments. This is when a new friend can do something cool and see how great your tool is super fast. Instead of just showing them things, you help them do something real that helps them.
This makes them feel excited and want to do more. When a person wins a small game, like sending their first fun message or saving their first picture, they feel good. This proof that your tool works is better than any tour. It turns a "maybe" into a "yes!"
Why It Works
Quick wins make our brains happy. When we do something good, even if it is small, we feel great. This makes us like your tool more. This first happy moment shows why your tool is special. For example, the people who made Facebook found that if you made 7 friends in 10 days, you would probably stay. So, they made their welcome all about helping you find friends fast.
How to Do It
- Find the "Wow!" Moment: Watch how people use your tool. What is the one thing that makes them say, "Wow, this is cool!"? Find the shortest way to get them there.
- Make a Clear Path: Get rid of anything that gets in the way of that first quick win. Use checklists or pop-up tips to show them exactly what to do.
- Cheer for Them: When they do it, make a big deal! Show a "You did it!" message, or some fun fireworks on the screen. This makes the win feel even better.
- Show What’s Next: Tell them how this small win is the first step to something bigger. After they save one picture, show them how this helps them increase productivity by keeping all their memories safe.
5. Help in Many Ways
Not everyone learns in the same way. One of the best ways to welcome customers is to be ready to help in many places. This is called help in many ways. It means you have help inside your app, in emails, in videos, and from real people. This makes sure people can find help how they like it, when they need it.
By having different kinds of help, you make it easy for everyone. Someone who likes to read can look at a help page. Someone who likes to watch can see a video. This makes it easy for people to find answers on their own. This helps them feel smart and strong.
Why It Works
Helping in many ways knows that a person’s day is busy. A new friend might read an email tip in the morning, watch a video at lunch, and use a guide in your app at night. Good companies do this well. They have a setup guide, emails with tips, videos, and a chat button to talk to a real person. This big support team makes sure help is always there.
How to Do It
- Match Help to the Need: For big steps, make help in different ways. For "making your first project," you could have a tour in the app, a short video, and a help page with words and pictures.
- Be the Same Everywhere: Make sure your words and pictures look the same everywhere. The tips in an email should be the same as the steps in your app tour.
- Offer Help at the Right Time: If someone seems stuck, send them a link to a helpful video. If they keep looking at the same help page, ask if they want to chat with a person.
- Mix Robots and People: Use robots for quick answers to easy questions. But make it easy to talk to a person for hard problems. Knowing how AI can empower customer support can make this work even better.
- Make it Easy to Switch: Let people move from one kind of help to another. At the end of an email, put a link to a help page. In the app, have a button to ask for a call from a helper.
6. Get Better with Data
Guessing is not a good way to make a great welcome. The best ways to welcome customers use data to get better. This means using numbers and facts about how people use your welcome tour to find and fix problems. You make small changes based on what you learn, not just what you think.
This turns your welcome from something you make one time into something that is always getting better. By watching what people do, you can see where they get stuck or leave. This helps you make small, smart changes that help more people win.
Why It Works
Using data helps you work on the most important things. Instead of changing everything, you can find the one spot that needs help. For example, a company saw that people who added a picture to their page were more likely to stay. So they changed their welcome to make it super easy to add a picture. This helped more people stay and have fun.
How to Do It
- Know What a "Win" Is: Think about more than just if they finished the tour. Look at things like how fast they had their first "wow!" moment or if they used an important tool.
- Group Your Friends: Look at people who joined in January and people who joined in February as two different groups. This helps you see if the changes you made in February helped that group stay longer than the January group.
- Watch What They Do: You have to see what people are doing before you can make it better. Use tools to watch for important clicks like "Made a Project" or "Invited a Friend."
- Ask Them Why: Numbers show you what is happening. Talking to people shows you why. Mix data with what people tell you to get the full story. You can use these ideas to help your own team too. Learning how data can improve team efficiency on writevoice.io can help you build better ways to work on your welcome plan.
7. Show Them They’re in Good Company
One of the best ways to welcome customers is to help them feel safe and smart. A great way to do this is with good company and friends. This means showing new people that lots of other people like them are already using your tool and loving it. This helps them feel good about their choice and less nervous to start.
This makes them feel like they are part of a cool club. When a new person sees stories from happy customers or a busy group chat, they feel like they joined a winning team. It is like when you walk by a new park. You are more likely to go to the one with kids laughing and playing than the empty one. This tells new friends they made a good choice.
Why It Works
Showing that others are happy helps people feel good. Seeing other people win makes starting something new feel less scary. For example, a learning app called Duolingo right away asks you to find friends. This turns learning by yourself into a fun game with others. This makes the welcome feel less like school and more like joining a fun party.
How to Do It
- Show Stories from People Like Them: When someone new joins, show them stories from other people who have the same job. A baker will like a story from another baker more than a story from a car mechanic.
- Show Them the Club: Do not wait for people to find your group chat on their own. Point them to it when they first start. You could show them a fun chat or say hello from the person who runs the group.
- Show What’s Happening Now: A small pop-up that says "Sue just finished Level 1!" or "25 people are using this tool right now" shows that your tool is alive and fun.
- Make It a Choice: Always let people skip joining the group. Some people are shy. It is important to be nice and let them choose.
8. Keep the Fun Going
One of the most important ways to welcome customers is to know that it is not over after the first day. A real welcome is a long trip. Keeping the fun going means you keep helping and teaching long after the first hello. This stops people from getting bored and helps them find new cool things in your tool.
Instead of "hello and goodbye," this idea is about being a good friend for a long time. It turns the welcome from one day into a whole story. It helps people learn more and more. It is like having a coach who does not just show you the gym on day one. They give you new workout ideas every week to help you get stronger.
Why It Works
Keeping in touch helps your tool stay important. It also helps people grow from new friends to super fans. People’s needs change. By sending tips and news, you help them with their new needs and show them why your tool is still great. For example, a writing helper app sends weekly tips to help you write better. A music app makes a special "year in review" playlist for you that is fun to share.
How to Do It
- Send Help Based on What They Do: Use what they do (or don't do) in your app to send helpful tips. If a friend has not tried a cool tool after a month, send them a short email showing them how it works.
- Don't Be Annoying: Don't send too many messages. Make a plan for when you will send tips and news. Let people choose what messages they get.
- Talk About Their Goals: When you send a message, talk about what they want to do. Instead of saying "Try our new tool," say "Make a cool picture in 2 minutes to show your friends."
- Be Helpful Every Time: Every message should have something good in it, like a fun tip, a cool story, or a ready-to-use template. Good companies do this well by always teaching their friends new things.
Comparing the Best Ways to Welcome Customers
| Welcome Idea | How Hard to Do? | What You Need | What You Get | Good For… | Best Part |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Show a Little at a Time | Medium – needs a good plan | Medium – planning what to show next | People don't get lost, they stay longer | Big tools that need to be learned slowly | Easy to learn, not too much at once |
| Playful Tours and Walkthroughs | Hard – needs fun design | Hard – making pop-ups and guides | People learn fast and have fun | Tools where you learn by doing | Fun, you get to try it yourself |
| Special Paths for Each Person | Hard – making many different tours | Hard – making special things for each | Feels more helpful, people "get it" faster | Tools for many different kinds of people | People feel special and stay more |
| Quick Wins and Happy Moments | Easy to Medium – plan a fun task | Easy to Medium – a task and a "yay!" | People feel good and want to do more | Tools that need to show they work fast | Makes you feel excited, less quitting |
| Help in Many Ways | Very Hard – lots of work to match | Very Hard – making help for each way | Helps everyone learn their own way | For people who like different ways to learn | Always there to help, you choose how |
| Get Better with Data | Hard – need to check numbers | Hard – watching and trying new things | Always getting better, less problems | Teams that like to use numbers to improve | Smart choices, stops people from leaving |
| Show Them They’re in Good Company | Medium – need stories and a group | Medium – fun group and things to see | People trust you, feel less scared | Tools where people can help each other | Makes people feel safe and welcome |
| Keep the Fun Going | Hard – always making new things | Hard – new ideas and messages | People use more and stay longer | Teaching people over a long time | Keeps people happy, helps them grow |
Your Next Steps for a Happier Hello
We have looked at many good ways to welcome customers. It is more than just a "welcome" email. It is a fun trip that helps new friends love your tool. The big idea is clear: a good first hello is not just one thing. It is a plan to turn curious people into happy friends who stay for a long time. It is like giving someone a puzzle. You would not just give them the box. You would give them the corner pieces first to make it easy.
From showing one thing at a time to cheering for quick wins, your job is to make people feel excited and smart. You are not just showing them what your tool does. You are showing them what they can do with it. Remember, a new friend who feels smart and happy on their first day is much more likely to come back for a second.
From Ideas to Action: Your Welcome Checklist
Using these ideas turns your welcome from a to-do list into a way to grow. A good welcome plan helps your whole company. Less people leave early, more people use all the cool tools, and people see why your tool is great faster. This is not just about being nice. It is a smart way to help every new friend stay for a long, long time.
To start using these ideas, here are your next steps:
- Look at Your Welcome Now: Pretend you are a new person. Where is it hard? Where is it fun? Use what you learn to find one or two things to make better right now. Maybe you can add a playful tour or help them find a "wow!" moment sooner.
- Group Your New Friends: Start simple. Can you make two special paths based on what a person wants to do? For example, a person who wants to draw and a person who wants to write need different things. Give them a first trip that helps with their biggest need first.
- Ask How It Went: You can't make things better if you don't ask. Add a simple survey at the end of your welcome. Ask easy questions like, "On a scale of 1 to 5 happy faces, how ready do you feel to use our tool?" This information is key to getting better with data.
In the end, the best ways to welcome new customers are all about being a good friend. They guess what people need, cheer for them, and offer help in many ways before anyone gets sad. By building this friendly welcome, you do not just get a new user. You get a happy partner who will tell everyone how great your tool is.
Ready to see how a great welcome feels? WriteVoice uses a simple, special welcome to help people learn how to turn their talking into writing in minutes, not hours. Feel a truly happy "hello" and start saving time today by visiting WriteVoice.