🚀 How to Build Adoption Momentum (Part 1/3)

Why Time-to-Value Starts with Onboarding—and How to Get it Right

If adoption is the engine behind retention and revenue growth, then onboarding is where that engine is built, fueled, and fired up. And in today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, more Customer Success teams are turning to AI to make that engine smarter, faster, and more scalable.

But here’s the challenge: too many organizations treat onboarding as a box-checking exercise.

✅ Welcome email

✅ Training scheduled

✅ Platform access granted

Then they move on.

The result? Missed opportunities, delayed value realization, and ultimately, weaker customer retention.

Onboarding Is Where Adoption Really Begins

The early onboarding window is when you have the customer’s attention, urgency, and buy-in. It’s also when the foundation for long-term success is laid—or lost.

This is why building adoption momentum in the first days of onboarding is absolutely critical.

And one of the clearest indicators of early momentum?

⏱️ Time-to-Value (TTV)

Time-to-Value measures how quickly a customer achieves their first meaningful outcome in your platform. While the ideal TTV will vary depending on your product’s complexity, the principle is universal:The faster you guide customers to value, the stronger your adoption foundation becomes.

But fast doesn’t mean rushed. It means purposeful, milestone-driven, and customer-aligned.

Here’s how to build momentum during onboarding in a way that accelerates adoption—and sticks.

🔹 1. Introduce Success Leading Indicators Early

Success Leading Indicators are milestone-based objectives that are tailored to the customer’s goals—not just feature usage.

For example, rather than “completed training,” a leading indicator might be “published first campaign,” or “configured first integration.” These are milestones that map directly to the customer’s definition of success.

🔹 2. Align Onboarding Around Those Milestones

Don’t just show features—guide customers through completing key tasks. Your onboarding experience should be action-oriented and value-focused. It’s not about what the platform can do; it’s about what the customer needs to do to succeed.

🔹 3. Track Adoption Signals from Day One

What features are being used? What workflows are skipped? Where are users getting stuck or dropping off?

These early usage patterns reveal a lot—and they’re critical for proactive intervention. The faster you identify friction, the faster you can reduce it and keep momentum strong.

🔹 4. Assign Timelines to Milestones

Whether your onboarding lasts 7, 30, or 60 days, each adoption milestone should have a clear, realistic completion target. Why?

It creates structure and accountability
It helps you track and report on progress
It allows for better forecasting of Time-to-Value
It enables teams to accelerate success with confidence

🔹 5. Use AI to Surface Engagement Patterns

Here’s where AI becomes a game-changer.

AI can help identify behavior patterns that signal progress or risk—well before a human CSM might notice them. When paired with milestone tracking, AI can deliver:

Real-time engagement scoring
Intelligent nudges or reminders
Dynamic journey mapping
Personalized onboarding paths

This combination of data + milestones allows CS teams to scale without losing the human touch—and to optimize onboarding for every customer segment.

🌱 Momentum Creates Long-Term Adoption

The key isn’t just to complete onboarding. It’s to create early wins that build confidence, accelerate Time-to-Value, and spark momentum.

Because once customers start experiencing success early, they’re far more likely to stay, expand, and advocate.

📅 Coming up next in Part 2: I’ll explore how Success Leading Indicators are often misunderstood—and how AI can help you identify, prioritize, and map them more effectively.

👉 What’s one onboarding milestone you’ve seen drive real long-term engagement? I’d love to hear your perspective.

➡️Stay connected by following me on LinkedIn at Johan Gedde

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Let’s build together.

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