Customer Onboarding Metrics

Metrics for measuring customer onboarding effectiveness and time to value.

Key insight: Effective onboarding reduces churn by up to 67% (Wyzowl research). Time to First Value and Activation Rate are the two most predictive onboarding metrics.

Time Metrics

Time to First Value (TTFV)

Definition: Time from customer signup/contract to achieving first meaningful value.

Formula:

TTFV = Median of (First value milestone date - Contract start date)

First value milestone (examples):

First successful transaction processed
First report generated
First integration completed
First core workflow executed

Benchmarks (per Userpilot 2024 data):

Model	TTFV Target
PLG/Self-serve	~1.5 days (median: 1 day 2 hours)
SMB with implementation	1-2 weeks
Mid-market	2-4 weeks
Enterprise	4-12 weeks

By industry:

CRM/Sales tools: Faster (simpler onboarding)
Insurance/Martech: Longer (complex products)

By growth model:

Sales-led: Slightly faster (paid upfront, motivated)
Product-led: Longer (free trials attract less committed users)

What it tells you: How quickly customers realize value. Directly impacts retention.

Sources:

Time to Go-Live

Definition: Time from contract to production deployment.

Formula:

Time to Go-Live = Median of (Go-live date - Contract start date)

What it tells you: Implementation efficiency.

Time to Full Adoption

Definition: Time from contract to using all purchased features/modules.

Formula:

Time to Full Adoption = Median of (Full adoption date - Contract start date)

What it tells you: How long until customers are fully utilizing what they paid for.

Onboarding Duration

Definition: Time spent actively in onboarding process.

Formula:

Onboarding Duration = Median of (Onboarding complete date - Onboarding start date)

What it tells you: Length of onboarding program.

Completion Metrics

Onboarding Completion Rate

Definition: Percentage of customers who complete the onboarding program.

Formula:

Completion Rate = Customers completing onboarding / Customers starting onboarding × 100

Benchmarks:

Below 70%: Low, investigate friction points
70-85%: Average
85-95%: Good
Above 95%: Excellent

What it tells you: Onboarding program effectiveness.

Milestone Completion Rate

Definition: Percentage of customers completing each onboarding milestone.

Formula:

Milestone Completion = Customers completing milestone / Customers reaching milestone × 100

Track for each milestone to identify drop-off points.

Typical milestones:

Kickoff completed
Data import completed
Configuration completed
Integration completed
Training completed
Go-live achieved

What it tells you: Where customers get stuck.

On-Time Completion Rate

Definition: Percentage of customers completing onboarding within target timeframe.

Formula:

On-Time Rate = Customers completing on time / Total customers completing × 100

Target: >80%

What it tells you: Predictability of onboarding timeline.

Engagement Metrics

Onboarding Engagement Score

Definition: Level of customer engagement during onboarding.

Components:

Attendance at scheduled sessions
Response time to onboarding team
Completion of assigned tasks
Login frequency during onboarding

Formula:

Engagement Score = Weighted average of engagement indicators (0-100)

What it tells you: Customer investment in onboarding success.

Session Attendance Rate

Definition: Percentage of scheduled onboarding sessions attended.

Formula:

Attendance Rate = Sessions attended / Sessions scheduled × 100

Target: >90%

Task Completion Rate

Definition: Percentage of assigned onboarding tasks completed by customer.

Formula:

Task Completion = Tasks completed / Tasks assigned × 100

What it tells you: Customer follow-through on their responsibilities.

Quality Metrics

Onboarding CSAT

Definition: Customer satisfaction with the onboarding experience.

Formula:

Onboarding CSAT = Positive ratings / Total ratings × 100

Surveyed at onboarding completion.

Benchmarks:

Below 80%: Investigate pain points
80-90%: Average
Above 90%: Good
Above 95%: Excellent

Onboarding NPS

Definition: Net Promoter Score specifically for onboarding experience.

Formula:

Onboarding NPS = % Promoters - % Detractors

What it tells you: Onboarding experience quality.

Implementation Quality Score

Definition: Assessment of implementation completeness and correctness.

Components:

Configuration accuracy
Data quality post-migration
Integration health
User setup completeness

What it tells you: Whether implementations are set up for success.

Efficiency Metrics

Onboardings per Resource

Definition: Number of onboardings handled per implementation resource.

Formula:

Onboardings per Resource = Completed onboardings / Implementation headcount

What it tells you: Team capacity and efficiency.

Cost per Onboarding

Definition: Total onboarding cost divided by customers onboarded.

Formula:

Cost per Onboarding = Total onboarding team cost / Customers onboarded

What it tells you: Unit economics of implementation.

Time Spent per Onboarding

Definition: Total hours invested per customer onboarding.

Formula:

Hours per Onboarding = Total onboarding hours / Customers onboarded

Benchmarks:

Self-serve/digital: 0-2 hours
SMB: 5-15 hours
Mid-market: 20-50 hours
Enterprise: 50-200+ hours

Outcome Metrics

Onboarding-to-Active Rate (Activation Rate)

Definition: Percentage of onboarded customers who become actively engaged.

Formula:

Activation Rate = Active customers post-onboarding / Customers completing onboarding × 100

Active = meeting defined usage thresholds (product-specific “aha moment”).

Benchmarks (Userpilot 2024 data):

Average across SaaS: 37.5%
PLG companies: 34.6%
Sales-led companies: 41.6%

By company size:

$1-5M ARR: 41.6%
$5-10M ARR: 36.9%
$10-50M ARR: 17.6%
$50M+ ARR: 43.1%

Target: Varies by model. For managed onboarding (enterprise), aim for >90%. For PLG/self-serve, 40%+ is strong.

What it tells you: Does onboarding translate to actual product usage?

Sources:

30-Day Retention (Post-Onboarding)

Definition: Percentage of customers still active 30 days after onboarding completion.

Formula:

30-Day Retention = Customers active at day 30 / Customers completing onboarding × 100

Target: >95%

What it tells you: Near-term stickiness after onboarding.

Onboarding Cohort Churn

Definition: Churn rate segmented by onboarding characteristics.

Analysis dimensions:

Onboarding duration (fast vs slow)
Onboarding completeness (full vs partial)
Engagement level during onboarding

What it tells you: How onboarding experience predicts retention.

Feature Adoption at Go-Live

Definition: Percentage of available features being used at go-live.

Formula:

Feature Adoption = Features in use / Total features available × 100

What it tells you: Are customers set up to use the product fully?

Summary Table

Metric	Type	Primary Indicator Of
Time to First Value	Time	Speed to value realization
Time to Go-Live	Time	Implementation speed
Onboarding Completion Rate	Completion	Program effectiveness
On-Time Completion	Completion	Timeline predictability
Onboarding CSAT	Quality	Experience quality
Cost per Onboarding	Efficiency	Unit economics
Onboarding-to-Active Rate	Outcome	Activation success
30-Day Retention	Outcome	Post-onboarding stickiness