Why is your onboarding campaign not working?

Implementing e-invoicing in your organization is a big step. Such projects involve technology, process, and humans. We take care of technical aspects by selecting the right platform, defining file formats and communication channels. But don’t forget the process and the humans involved: your team and your business partners (customers and suppliers).

A successful onboarding campaign is crucial for a successful e-invoicing process.

“What gets measure gets managed.”

During quick research with some customers, we asked them to assess the e-invoicing capabilities in their organizations and the outcomes of their onboarding campaigns, if any. We discovered the following:

  • Only 20% had launched the onboarding campaign by sending an email to their suppliers
  • More than 65% of them had not reached the expected results
  • 90% admitted they did not inform internally about their e-invoicing capabilities and ongoing campaign

Some insights from these results:

  • An onboarding campaign is beyond sending an email
  • Knowledge is power when you share it

Why sending an email is not enough?

Here some ideas:

  • Some people might not understand your request
  • Some people might not (even) know what e-invoicing is
  • Some people might not know what their e-invoicing capabilities are
  • In your communication is not clear what’s in it for them
  • Some people read your email, put it in the ‘to answer’ folder, and then forget

These are human reasons, but what if:

  • The organization has no e-invoicing capabilities nor resources to respond to your request
  • They contacted you but did not receive the correct information
  • e-invoicing is not their priority

Based on experience with our customers: follow-up, measure and adaptation are essential during the entire campaign!

Make your onboarding campaign work!

Treat the campaign as a separate project
Define objectives, plan the activities and follow up. And don’t forget the team involved!

Think about the approach and the audience
Will you send the same request to all? or will you segment your audience based on maturity/invoice volume?

Make it easy for them  
From investigation by Ardent Partners, 70% of your audience will convert if you make it easy. So, prepare in advance an information kit, FAQ page, or videos. It will help you reduce incoming questions, and your audience will find the answers quickly.

Follow up
One of the reasons they did not answer your request is because your email is waiting in the “to answer” folder. Therefore, your plan must include a follow-up via reminders or call campaign.

Set a target upfront
Only by defining clear goals and make sure you have the tools to measure will you be able to claim your success.

One last takeaway, information is the key to success!

Your team must be informed. Consider all points of contact in your organization: sales, purchasing, finance, IT, service desk, reception… Those who have the most contact with customers and suppliers. Ironically, they are the ones forgotten in these types of projects.

We hope these insights help you boost your onboarding campaign… Success!

If you need help with e-invoicing and onboarding, don’t hesitate to contact our e-invoicing onboarding and compliance expert Nele Janssens.

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