Why We’re Doubling Down on Onboarding: Lessons from the Field & the PLG Movement
Jose Kuttan
Apr 24, 2025
In a world of Product-Led Growth (PLG), first impressions aren’t just important—they’re everything. Your onboarding isn’t just a tour of the product. It is the product experience.
At Fluidworks, we’ve spent the last 9 months working with GTM teams and PLG motion-led companies to rethink onboarding. And the data speaks for itself:
• ✅ 72% of users who complete onboarding go on to become successful product users
• 🚀 That’s a 120% increase in user activation and downstream conversions
• 💬 Onboarding sessions are 3X longer than pre-sales demos
• 🙋♂️ Users love the experience because they can ask questions, get guided, and feel heard, not herded
Why onboarding wins over pre-sales demos
Traditionally, inbound agents focus on pre-qualifying leads, but what happens after the signup? Too often, product tours are passive and disconnected from the user’s intent. No context. No personalization. Just a one-size-fits-none walkthrough.
Our live video agents changed that. By combining product context with human-like guidance, we saw onboarding calls not just increase in length—but in depth. Users came prepared. They explored more features. They asked smarter questions.
More importantly, they stuck around.
The shift in user behavior
We’re seeing a shift in how users want to engage with software:
“Users want help when they’re ready, not when you are.”
– Elena Verna, PLG Growth Advisor
Users no longer want to be chased by SDRs or drip emails. They want real-time, contextual onboarding. A human-like experience. That’s where Fluidworks’ Inbound agent comes in—live on the page, knowing your UI, and guiding users through your product.
What the PLG world is saying
“Onboarding is the new sales. If you nail the first 5 minutes, you win the customer.”
– Wes Bush, Founder of ProductLed
“The best product tours aren’t tours. They’re conversations.”
– Hiten Shah, Co-founder of Nira
Why we’re doubling down
Onboarding isn’t a handoff. It’s the moment of truth. It’s where users decide if your product is worth their time. So we’re making it our priority.
Our agent is built to:
• Handle onboarding like a pro, personalized and interactive
• Work as an Inbound agent that doesn’t just qualify—but converts
• Replace generic product tours with tailored sessions that guide, listen, and adapt
Wait, we have a small announcement too 🚀
We’re about to launch the next iteration of our onboarding agent.
This time, it’s not just a guide—it’s an operator-like agent, embedded inside your product. It will interact with your UI in real time, guiding users just like a human would.
But here’s what makes it different:
• ✅ Unlike traditional “operators,” our agent doesn’t need to figure out the product—it already knows it inside out
• ⚡ It doesn’t take 5 minutes to answer a query. It responds in under 500ms
• 🧠 Most importantly, it follows your company’s story, making sure every user sees the value you’ve worked so hard to build
Coming soon.
And we can’t wait to show you.
Why We’re Doubling Down on Onboarding: Lessons from the Field & the PLG Movement
Jose Kuttan
Apr 24, 2025
In a world of Product-Led Growth (PLG), first impressions aren’t just important—they’re everything. Your onboarding isn’t just a tour of the product. It is the product experience.
At Fluidworks, we’ve spent the last 9 months working with GTM teams and PLG motion-led companies to rethink onboarding. And the data speaks for itself:
• ✅ 72% of users who complete onboarding go on to become successful product users
• 🚀 That’s a 120% increase in user activation and downstream conversions
• 💬 Onboarding sessions are 3X longer than pre-sales demos
• 🙋♂️ Users love the experience because they can ask questions, get guided, and feel heard, not herded
Why onboarding wins over pre-sales demos
Traditionally, inbound agents focus on pre-qualifying leads, but what happens after the signup? Too often, product tours are passive and disconnected from the user’s intent. No context. No personalization. Just a one-size-fits-none walkthrough.
Our live video agents changed that. By combining product context with human-like guidance, we saw onboarding calls not just increase in length—but in depth. Users came prepared. They explored more features. They asked smarter questions.
More importantly, they stuck around.
The shift in user behavior
We’re seeing a shift in how users want to engage with software:
“Users want help when they’re ready, not when you are.”
– Elena Verna, PLG Growth Advisor
Users no longer want to be chased by SDRs or drip emails. They want real-time, contextual onboarding. A human-like experience. That’s where Fluidworks’ Inbound agent comes in—live on the page, knowing your UI, and guiding users through your product.
What the PLG world is saying
“Onboarding is the new sales. If you nail the first 5 minutes, you win the customer.”
– Wes Bush, Founder of ProductLed
“The best product tours aren’t tours. They’re conversations.”
– Hiten Shah, Co-founder of Nira
Why we’re doubling down
Onboarding isn’t a handoff. It’s the moment of truth. It’s where users decide if your product is worth their time. So we’re making it our priority.
Our agent is built to:
• Handle onboarding like a pro, personalized and interactive
• Work as an Inbound agent that doesn’t just qualify—but converts
• Replace generic product tours with tailored sessions that guide, listen, and adapt
Wait, we have a small announcement too 🚀
We’re about to launch the next iteration of our onboarding agent.
This time, it’s not just a guide—it’s an operator-like agent, embedded inside your product. It will interact with your UI in real time, guiding users just like a human would.
But here’s what makes it different:
• ✅ Unlike traditional “operators,” our agent doesn’t need to figure out the product—it already knows it inside out
• ⚡ It doesn’t take 5 minutes to answer a query. It responds in under 500ms
• 🧠 Most importantly, it follows your company’s story, making sure every user sees the value you’ve worked so hard to build
Coming soon.
And we can’t wait to show you.