onboarding-to-value-playbook

Onboarding to value playbook

Help a customer achieve an observable first result, with responsibilities and support matched to their onboarding needs.

A good playbook names the first observable value event, who confirms it, and the few milestones that make it happen. If the user wants new-hire seller ramp, use onboarding-program-builder. If they want a partner pack, use partner-enablement-package.

First value. "Mid-market assisted: the ops owner closes their first exception from the new queue without a workaround. Evidence: product event plus customer confirmation in the week-2 review."

Not value. "Users provisioned. Kickoff held. Admin logged in twice."

If setup completion is being sold as time-to-value, rewrite it.

Inputs

Reuse supplied context first. If a missing company fact would change the result, check the relevant sections of .enablement/context.md when available. Preserve source dates and approval limits.

Ask only for the inputs that change the journey:

1. Customer segment and motion: self-serve, assisted, enterprise
2. Desired first-value outcome, the observable event that would prove it, and any customer-agreed horizon
3. Measurement clock: start event, end event, pauses, window, owner
4. Implementation constraints and sales-to-CS-to-services handoffs
5. Known early-risk patterns and commercially critical checkpoints

If a baseline, SLA, or horizon is missing, leave it TBD. Do not invent usage thresholds, TTV targets, or pricing.

Supporting material

Read references/ttv-playbook-framework.md before setting value events, milestones, or risk triggers. Skip it if the user already defined first value and only wants the operating cadence.

Procedure

1. Define first value, not first login. Actor, observable result, evidence source, acceptance criteria, who confirms. Setup and login are activation unless the customer agreed they are the outcome. Done when you can say what "they got value" looks like in one sentence.
2. Set the clock. Start event, end event, pauses, owner. Do not default the start to kickoff when contract activation, provisioning, or data-ready governs the work. An unagreed horizon is proposed, not promised.
3. Segment the journey. Depth and support intensity change by self-serve, assisted, and enterprise. Done when the same playbook is not being forced on every segment.
4. Work backward from the value event. Only the enabling activation, adoption, and outcome milestones needed. Each has owner, output, due window, and acceptance criteria.
5. Make handoffs inspectable. Who owns the transition and what context must transfer. Sales-to-CS is not "the deal closed."
6. Attach early-risk controls. Qualitative triggers unless a threshold comes from the customer, an SLA, historical segment data, or a measured baseline. Numeric invention stays TBD.
7. Split the two views. Customer-visible plan: milestones, owners, due windows, success checks. Internal plan: risk, escalation, caveats. Keep dates aligned.
8. Set cadence to the horizon. Check-ins follow dependencies and risk, not a blanket weekly calendar.
9. Hook renewal and expansion later. Readiness checks from the contract horizon and demonstrated value. Do not bolt on an upsell track during first-value work. For reusable renewal plays, use renewal-and-expansion-enablement.