What does an SAP customer onboarding process look like? And why is this process essential today? To learn more about this topic, then keep on reading below.
SAP Customer Onboarding Process
To begin, SAP customer onboarding refers to the process of ensuring the customer can use the SAP system to its full capability.
This is further broken down into four key activities:
- Pre-sales. This refers to the activities related to a company’s sales team. Such as using SAP’s CRM system for customer details and the customer’s industry needs
- Post-sales. These are the activities involved after a customer has signed a contract with SAP. The company may need to be trained on how to use its new software. Or it might need additional services such as help desk support or consulting.
- Customer support. This refers to help desk services that are needed when there are software issues. Or general questions related to an existing setup.
- Business results. This is the final activity, where users are trained on their actual business processes and how to achieve their desired business outcomes with the new software. This is also known as the end-user onboarding process.
Onboarding vs. Offboarding Processes
A customer onboarding process is different from an offboarding process, which is used in cases where customers will be switching from one SAP implementation to another. For instance, if a customer has been using SAP for some time and will be switching over to a new version of the product.
Then, these customers would need to go through an offboarding process, which involves the following steps:
- Migrating all of the data from an old system into the new one and performing tests for accuracy. This data could then include items such as accounting records or inventory data, depending on what was in use before the upgrade.
- Upgrading all of the relevant hardware and software components to ensure they can work together properly. For instance, upgrading all of your hardware components if you’re going from an older 32-bit operating system to a more advanced 64-bit operating system would be required.
- Planning for any changes that need to be made related to existing processes or procedures for them to work with the new software product. For instance, if you’re upgrading your manufacturing software, then any changes would need to be made regarding how production scheduling works. And then what calculators must be used for it all to work properly.
The Benefits of Onboarding
What are the benefits of onboarding your customers with SAP? Firstly, it helps to ensure that your customers are satisfied with the new software and that it can be used to its full capability.
It also allows you to get ahead of any issues or problems that may arise.
For instance, if you have a new software product that will be used by a customer for the first time, and an issue arises with it, then you can deal with the problem quickly before it becomes a big issue.
Lastly, you’ll have fewer customer support costs in the long run because issues will be resolved quickly. You can also prevent a lot of call center traffic and increase efficiency throughout the company by onboarding your customers.