Do you know my friend Samuel Hulick?

Samuel runs User Onboard and is a leading voice in this world of onboarding. In fact, his UX tear downs are the reason I write these email onboarding tear downs.

So when Samuel took a Twitter conversation and ran with it, I knew I would too.

 

(You can see Samuel’s UX tear down here.)

Since it’s all taking place on the website, the UX side of onboarding has a quicker turnaround to tear down than the email side.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

But lemme tell you why I chimed in on this whole Quickbooks Online thing in the first place.

My initial experience of Quickbooks Online was when I joined via a referral (my bookkeeper).

Here’s what I got:

For clarity that’s 1 app generated email and 2 sales emails.

I also got a phone call from a sales rep but that’s about it in email land.

Yuck.

So I thought I *must* have done something wrong and, in an effort to provide you with the truest email onboarding tear down possible, I went off and signed up for a fresh new Quickbooks Online account.

That’s right here 👇🏼

Muuuuuch better.

The Stats

30 day free trial
1 app-generated email
9 onboarding emails
1 special occasion email

In honor of Samuel’s tear downs, I’m doing this particular tear down a little differently. Instead of the usual thoughts and feedback written out, I thought I’d take a cue from Samuel and markup a screenshot of the emails with my comments directly on them.

As these tear downs have developed over time, I’ve been wanting to explore different ways people might absorb this message so will you let me know how you like this version? Thanks.

Let’s dive in.

Email 0: Your Intuit Account

 

 

Email 1: So nice to partner with you!

Email 2: A better way to track deductions

Email 3: App how-to: categorize business expenses

Email 4: Get your 54 cents worth per mile

 

Email 5: Let’s get you paid

 

Email 6: Getting beyond week 1

 

Email 7: App how-to: speed up expense tracking

 

Email 8: App how-to: easy invoicing

 

Email 9: Keep up the good work!

 

In the end there was one key factor that stood out to me with these Quickbooks Online onboarding emails.

Did you catch it?

Here’s a hint: that feedback in the last email says it all.

Ya gotta personalize and help the customer connect.

Less you, more them.

Is this onboarding sequence a solid start?

Yes.

Can it be even better?

Absolutely.

What would I do if I were Quickbooks?

1. Split test text-based emails without as many graphics.
2. Get creative with headlines.
3. Make the calls to action more, well, actionable.
4. Shift the focus away from “what our features can do for you” to “what you’ll get when you use our features”.
5. Build a personal connection through storytelling.
6. Create personalized pathways based on how the trial customer interacts with the app.

Overall Quickbooks does have a strong foundation to build off of here. But that’s the most important thing to remember about email: it’s never set-it-and-forget-it. You have to iterate, test, collect data, and then do it all over again.

Your onboarding can always be better. And Quickbooks’ onboarding can too.

Your Turn

What are your biggest takeaways from Quickbooks Online’s onboarding emails?

How will you apply those lessons to your business?

Have a set of emails you want to see dissected here? Send me a note at heygirl(at)valgeisler(dot)com with the details of where I can sign up! If I write up the review, I’ll share a draft with you before anyone else sees it.