Don't wait for a formal QBR to discuss expansion. The immediate post-sale period is a golden window for additional sales. The customer's excitement and trust are at their peak. With their most urgent need solved, they are highly receptive to addressing other business challenges.

Salespeople often disengage after a deal closes. However, since they built the initial trust, they must stay involved during onboarding. This maintains customer momentum and ensures the relationship transitions smoothly, which directly impacts renewals, referrals, and future sales.

The highest predictor of customer retention is an early success. Use AI in your onboarding to ask new clients, "What's the fastest, smallest win we can create for you?" Then, use automation to build and deliver that specific solution, ensuring immediate progress and long-term loyalty.

A one-size-fits-all sales role fails in consumption models. Success requires segmenting the team into specialized roles—new business acquisition, customer onboarding, and account management—each with distinct incentives aligned to their specific function, from initial sign-up to value realization and expansion.

Don't treat onboarding as a post-sale task. Instead, actively sell the onboarding experience during the sales cycle. Introduce the implementation team and detail the steps to manage expectations, build confidence, and frame onboarding as a core part of the value proposition, not an afterthought.

A one-size-fits-all onboarding process is ineffective. Customers have varying levels of technical proficiency; a power user may find excessive handholding annoying, while a novice needs it. The process must be flexible and tailored to the individual to avoid creating a frustrating experience.

StackAI found the bulk of enterprise revenue comes from expansion, not the initial deal. They operationalized this by creating a team of "AI strategists" who work with customers post-sale to proactively identify and build new use cases, driving deep account penetration and growth.

As multi-year deals become less common, focus is shifting heavily to post-sales. Companies are investing in strengthening these teams' skills and rethinking their entire post-sales strategy, recognizing that retention and human relationships are more critical than ever.

Onboarding is more than a technical setup; it's a trust exercise. Every step either builds upon or erodes the trust established during the sale. A single misstep can permanently damage the relationship, making future renewals, upsells, and referrals exponentially more difficult to secure.