Client onboarding is the structured set of activities — intake, kickoff, training, configuration, integration, first milestones — that takes a new client from signed contract to active, value-generating usage. Good onboarding shortens time to first value and reduces early churn dramatically.
Modern client onboarding typically uses dedicated software (Rocketlane, GuideCX, OnRamp for B2B services; Userpilot, Appcues, Pendo for SaaS in-product) plus a customer portal as the centralized client-facing surface for forms, documents, signatures, scheduling, and progress tracking.
See our client onboarding software guide for the platform comparison.