Managing the transition from "new customer" to "active user" is a critical phase for any business, yet it often happens across messy spreadsheets or external tools. HubSpot's new Onboarding Plans bring this process directly into your CRM, allowing Customer Success teams to build transparent, actionable roadmaps that keep clients on track and accountable.
Onboarding Plans are structured sets of tasks designed to guide non-HubSpot users through the specific steps required to activate and adopt the product they’ve purchased. By utilizing the Project object, these plans serve as a shared bridge between your internal team and your customers, ensuring everyone is aligned on the path to success.
Customer Success teams often struggle with "onboarding lag" when clients aren't sure what to do next. These plans provide a clear, professional way to track success motions inside HubSpot. By shortening the journey from purchase to first value, you reduce customer frustration and prevent early churn through better organization and visibility.
Enable Projects: Ensure the Project object is turned on in your portal.
Automatic Pipeline: Once enabled, a new default "Onboarding" pipeline is created automatically.
Define the Type: When creating a project, select "Onboarding Plan" as the project type.
Share with Customers: This property allows you to share the specific plan and its tasks directly with your customers through the Customer Success Portal.
Service Hub Professional and Service Hub Enterprise.
We love this because it removes the "black box" of onboarding. Instead of emailing task lists back and forth, you are giving your customers a dedicated space to see their progress. It elevates the professional feel of your service and ensures that "getting started" feels like a partnership rather than a chore.
Onboarding Plans turn a complex transition into a repeatable, transparent process. If you are running a high-touch service model on Service Hub, this feature is the key to creating a frictionless start for every new client you sign.