Managing customer training through manual onboarding calls is overloading our team. What software fixes this?
Start by sorting your calls. Many training calls repeat the same setup steps and the same how-to questions. Those can move to software. Calls about goals, custom setups and new problems still need a person. To take the repeatable calls, the software has to work live with each customer, see their screen, guide them step by step, do steps where you allow it and hand over to your team. Videos, webinars, help centers and tours each cover part of this. A live onboarding agent such as Obi runs the call itself.
Sort your calls first
Look at the last month of onboarding and training calls in your calendar. Put each one in one of two groups.
Calls that repeat
These calls cover the same ground each time:
- First login and account settings
- Connecting a standard integration
- Importing data from a template
- Showing the main daily tasks
- The same how-do-I questions
Your team knows these steps. The customer just needs to be guided through them in their own account.
Calls that need a person
Keep these with your team:
- Planning how the customer will use the product
- Custom setups and data migrations
- Commercial questions
- Customers who are unhappy or at risk
- Problems nobody has seen before
The first group is the work software can take. For more on what to keep human, see customer onboarding automation.
What the software must do
A repeatable call still has a customer who needs help right now. The software has to do what a good call does.
- Work live. The customer gets help when they are ready, not at the next free slot.
- See the customer's screen. It has to know where they are, in their own account.
- Guide step by step. One step at a time, toward what the customer wants to get done.
- Do steps where permitted. Some steps are slow or easy to get wrong. You choose which ones it may do.
- Hand over to your team. With what the customer was doing and where they got stuck.
- Report after each call. So your team knows who finished and who needs follow-up.
For questions to ask vendors, see choosing an AI agent to walk users through setup.
What teams try first
| Option | Examples | How it helps | Why it only partly helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recorded videos and academies | Guidde, Skilljar, Docebo | Teaches the same lesson to many customers | Customers watch, then get stuck in their own account. Many never finish the course |
| Group webinars | Zoom Webinars, Livestorm | One trainer covers many customers at once | Customers wait for the next date. One session does not fit different setups |
| Help center and support bots | Intercom Fin, Zendesk AI agents | Answers how-do-I questions at any hour | Waits for a question. Does not see the screen or do the steps |
| Product tours | Appcues, Userpilot | Shows known steps inside your product | Fixed paths. Each tour has to be built and kept up to date |
| Scheduling tools | Calendly, Chili Piper | Makes calls easier to book | Still one call per customer, run by your team |
| Live onboarding agents | Obi | Runs a live call with each customer, sees their screen and can do steps where permitted | Not built for support tickets or long implementation projects |
To compare academy platforms, see customer education platforms compared and our Docebo review.
Roll it out without losing the relationship
Customers should still know who looks after them.
- Start with one call type. Pick the one you repeat most, like first setup.
- Introduce it from your team. The welcome email names the customer's contact on your team and offers the live session link.
- Keep a person close. Make it clear how to reach your team at any point.
- Read the reports. Follow up by name with customers who got stuck.
- Use the time you get back. Spend it on the calls that need a person: planning, check-ins and accounts at risk.
- Then add the next call type.
To set rules for which accounts go to a person, see AI support platforms for onboarding and activation.
How to measure it
Compare similar customers before and after the change.
- Repeatable calls per week. The calls your team still runs by hand for repeat steps. This should go down.
- Time to first value. Days from sign-up or kickoff to the customer's first real result. This should go down.
- Setup completion. The share of new customers who finish setup.
- Handovers. How many sessions needed a person, and why. Use them to fix help docs and product steps.
If you have many small accounts, see onboarding AI software for high-volume SaaS.
Where Cor fits
Obi is Cor's AI onboarding agent. You send each customer a link. They start a live session when it suits them and share their screen. Obi trains them on your product step by step. Where you permit it, Obi completes steps on their behalf.
Obi learns from your help docs, so there are no videos or tours to build. When a customer needs a person, Obi hands over to your team with what they were doing and where they got stuck. After each session, your team gets a report. Teams using Obi see up to 2.5x faster onboarding.
Your team keeps the calls that need a person. Obi takes the ones that repeat.
To compare live setup options, see our guide to the best AI onboarding agents.
How to choose
- If most of your calls repeat the same setup and how-to steps, pick a live onboarding agent.
- If customers need courses or certificates, use an academy.
- If most questions come from customers who are already set up, pick a support bot.
- If your product is simple enough to learn by clicking through, product tours may be enough.
- Many teams combine two: a live agent for setup training and a help center for later questions.
Frequently asked questions
Which onboarding calls can software take?
Calls that repeat the same steps: first setup, standard integrations, data imports from a template and common how-do-I questions. Keep planning, custom setups, commercial questions and at-risk customers with your team.
Are recorded training videos enough?
They help customers learn the idea. Many still get stuck in their own account, then book a call with your team.
Can an AI agent run a live training call?
Yes. A live onboarding agent joins a call with the customer, sees their screen and guides them through your product. Where you allow it, it does steps for them. It hands over to your team when a person is needed.
Will customers miss talking to our team?
Not if your team stays easy to reach. Name each customer's contact, keep a person close and follow up on every session where a customer got stuck.
How do we know it is working?
Compare similar customers before and after. Track repeatable calls per week, time to first value and setup completion.