How Virtual Assistants Can Help with Customer Onboarding

Customer onboarding – the process of welcoming and integrating new clients – is crucial for business growth and retention. Studies show that improving onboarding can dramatically boost loyalty and profits: increasing customer retention by just 5% can raise profits by 25–95%, and companies focusing on customer experience (including onboarding) saw 84% increase in revenue. However, many startups and small businesses struggle with the heavy lift of onboarding. This is where virtual assistants (VAs) – remote, often outsourced professionals – come in. A skilled virtual or executive assistant can handle administrative and support tasks around the clock, ensuring each new customer gets prompt attention and guidance. By freeing founders and staff from routine chores, VAs let your team focus on building relationships and improving your product. For example, a virtual assistant can automate welcome emails, schedule training calls, update your CRM with new user details, and gather feedback – all essential steps to smooth onboarding. These remote staffing solutions are increasingly popular: in one survey 67% of small-business owners reported hiring VAs to free up time and 91% of VA-users rated their assistant’s impact as excellent or good.

Virtual assistants bring flexibility and expertise to onboarding. Whether it’s a virtual executive assistant or AI-powered helper, the right VA can manage tasks from email invites and calendar scheduling to content creation and follow-ups. For busy C-level executives and entrepreneurs, delegating these tasks to a remote assistant reduces overhead and avoids the complexity of hiring a full-time employee. Unlike in-house staff, VAs can be onboarded quickly, scaled up or down as needed, and tapped for specialized skills (such as multi-language support or technical training). This “fractional resource” model – combining remote staffing and advanced technology – allows startups to scale efficiently. MySigrid, for instance, highlights a “unique approach [that] seamlessly combines the expertise of remote staff and advanced technology” to let businesses scale with unmatched talent. In practice, a VA’s support can mean faster customer responses, more thorough training materials, and a polished onboarding experience that rivals larger companies.

Why Customer Onboarding Matters

Effective onboarding directly impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty. Onboarding sets the tone: 86% of customers say good onboarding (including training and guidance) makes them more likely to buy again. Conversely, poor onboarding is a major cause of churn – one study ranked it third in reasons customers stop using a product. With competitive markets in 2025, entrepreneurs and business owners cannot afford friction when winning a new client. Every moment a new customer waits for a demo link, struggles with confusing instructions, or has unanswered questions, the risk of losing them rises.

By streamlining onboarding, businesses can improve metrics across the board. Harvard Business Review reports that small retention gains yield big profit leaps. Likewise, a customer success platform study found 97% of companies agree that onboarding is critical for growth. In other words, investing in a smooth, personalized onboarding process pays off in higher lifetime value and referrals. Virtual assistants help by ensuring no detail is missed – from sending a welcome packet on day one to checking in after the first purchase.

Challenges in Customer Onboarding

Most businesses face similar onboarding hurdles. First, time constraints: founders and teams are stretched thin. Copying and pasting welcome emails, scheduling training demos, and updating customer data manually can eat valuable hours. Second, consistency: without dedicated personnel, the onboarding experience can vary greatly from customer to customer. Third, resource limits: startups may not have enough staff to provide 24/7 support or to handle spikes in demand. Finally, complexity: modern products often involve technical setups, documentation, and multi-channel communication (email, chat, calls, etc.), which can overwhelm a small team.

These gaps lead to miscommunication, delayed responses, and lost opportunities. For example, an overwhelmed sales rep might forget to send a user guide, or fail to answer a question in a timely manner – small slips that frustrate new clients. By contrast, a well-trained VA can specialize in onboarding tasks, ensuring each step is executed promptly and uniformly.

The Role of Virtual Assistants in Onboarding

Virtual assistants excel at operational and administrative work – precisely the kinds of tasks that accompany onboarding. Below are key ways VAs contribute:

• Process development & documentation: A VA can design the onboarding workflow. This includes drafting checklists, writing welcome materials, and setting up automated email sequences. According to Stealth Agents, VAs help “develop comprehensive onboarding processes, including defining steps, creating documentation, and planning communications”. By standardizing the process, no customer misses a step.
  
  
• Implementation: VAs can execute the process tirelessly. They send welcome emails, schedule orientation calls, and set up new user accounts or access credentials. For example, when a new customer signs up for a SaaS service, a VA might generate a support ticket for setup, attach training materials, and even guide the customer through installation via video call. These actions keep momentum in the onboarding pipeline.
  
  
• Communication & support: During onboarding, customers have many questions. VAs serve as the first line of support by answering emails or chats, providing updates on progress, and relaying customer concerns to the team. They ensure the customer feels attended to and can troubleshoot simple issues immediately. Because they work remotely (often across time zones), VAs can even offer extended or 24/7 coverage, which is invaluable for global clients.
  
  
• Feedback collection: Once onboarding steps are done, VAs gather feedback. They might send surveys or personally ask customers if anything was unclear. Stealth Agents notes VAs “collect customer feedback and insights for continuous process improvement”. This feedback loop is critical: companies can refine their onboarding approach based on real user input, iteratively increasing satisfaction.
  
  
• Project & task coordination: Many onboarding projects require coordination (e.g., integrating with a client’s systems). A VA can use project management tools to track tasks, set reminders, and update stakeholders. This keeps everyone aligned and ensures nothing falls through the cracks. By managing the “to-do” list, VAs allow founders to stay focused on strategy while the details get handled.
  
  

Virtual assistants can also create or curate onboarding content. For instance, they may write a quick-start guide, produce tutorial videos, or design FAQs. Such content creation is often overlooked but can greatly accelerate customer learning. Time Etc and other VA services report that skilled assistants regularly handle content and social media tasks. In an onboarding context, a VA could draft an email campaign of tips, design a product infographic, or record a walkthrough using screen recording tools. The result is a polished, consistent customer experience without burdening the core team.

Top Onboarding Tasks for Virtual Assistants

Some specific onboarding-related tasks a VA might manage include:

• Welcome communications: Sending personalized welcome emails, greeting messages, and introductory documents.
  
  
• Account setup: Creating and configuring user accounts, adding clients to CRM or subscription lists, and provisioning access.
  
  
• Scheduling demos or training: Coordinating calendars to set up training sessions, webinars, or one-on-one calls with product experts.
  
  
• Meeting reminders: Sending automated or manual reminders before the onboarding meetings begin.
  
  
• Documentation management: Organizing the knowledge base, uploading manuals, and ensuring all links (to help centers or support channels) are correct.
  
  
• CRM updates: Entering new customer details, tracking deal stages, and logging follow-ups to maintain data integrity.
  
  
• Resource delivery: Sending product literature, pricing charts, compliance documents, or other collateral after initial meetings.
  
  
• Follow-up and check-ins: After initial onboarding steps, checking in on customers, scheduling periodic review calls, and tracking their satisfaction levels.
  
  
• Issue triage: When customers encounter problems (e.g., login issues, billing queries), VAs can either resolve common issues or route them to the right specialist.
  
  
• Feedback surveys: Sending and analyzing short surveys or polls to capture early feedback, then summarizing the insights.
  
  
• Reporting: Compiling onboarding metrics (e.g., time-to-active-user, number of support tickets) to measure efficiency and identify bottlenecks.
  
  

By delegating these tasks, the founding team saves enormous time. In fact, one survey found 64% of small business owners gained at least 10 extra hours per week after effectively onboarding a VA. Another report noted VA-led outreach (like scheduling demos and qualifying leads) improved follow-up rates by 15% – a clear win in onboarding faster and making customers feel prioritized.

Benefits of Using Virtual Assistants for Onboarding

Using virtual assistants for onboarding offers multiple benefits:

• Cost Savings: Outsourcing tasks to VAs can be far cheaper than hiring in-house. A VA only costs for the hours worked, with no full-time salary or benefits. In fact, companies can save roughly 70–78% on operational costs by using VAs. These savings accrue from not having to rent office space, pay local wages, or maintain equipment. For a startup scaling, these savings add up rapidly.
  
  
• Scalability and Flexibility: Virtual assistants allow businesses to scale their support level up or down. During high-growth periods or big product launches, you can increase VA hours; during slower times, reduce or pause services. This flexibility contrasts with full-time hires, who may sit idle during lulls. Fractional support means you “pay for what you need”.
  
  
• Expertise on Demand: VAs often specialize in administrative support, project management, or specific tools. For example, you can hire a VA experienced with your CRM platform or with e-commerce platforms. If you need language support, you can source a VA fluent in your clients’ languages. MySigrid notes that its assistants are full-time employees who can tap into a whole team of specialists (IT, finance, etc.), effectively giving you broad expertise through one contact.
  
  
• 24/7 Availability: Many VAs work in different time zones, enabling round-the-clock support. This means a customer’s question at midnight will still get a response, improving perception. Customer support and onboarding require responsiveness, which remote assistants can provide by staggering shifts or having backup teams.
  
  
• Quality and Consistency: Professional VA providers enforce quality controls and training. For instance, MySigrid invests in a “MySigrid Academy” for ongoing training of assistants. The result is a consistently high standard: 91% of clients rate VAs as excellent or good. A well-managed VA can ensure every customer is onboarded in the same high-quality manner, without the fatigue or oversight issues that an overworked internal team might have.
  
  
• Focus on Core Work: By passing off routine work to VAs, founders and executives focus on strategic vision. Paul Østergaard (MySigrid co-founder) advocates a “Minimalist Formula” for scaling: combine Your vision + AI automation + a skilled (human) assistant. In other words, let AI handle repetitive work, and a dedicated assistant handle logistics, so you can innovate.
  
  
• Improved Time Management: Entrepreneurs often spend 13 hours a week on low-value email tasks. A VA can take over email triage during onboarding, for example, so the team only handles strategic email content. This delegation sharply boosts productivity: 67% of business owners hire VAs to save time, and 53% do so to delegate tasks. More free time means quicker iteration on product improvements, which ultimately leads to better onboarding in the long run.
  
  
• Tailored Support: Many VA services (like MySigrid) match you with an assistant who is handpicked and trained for your business. This means your assistant learns your brand voice and procedures, giving a “personal touch” even though they’re remote. This human element – empathy, understanding of nuance – is key in onboarding, where customers often feel anxious and need reassurance. (We balance this with AI support where appropriate, but the human connection remains vital.)
  
  

Virtual Assistants vs. In-House and Full-Time Hires

When considering help for onboarding, businesses often weigh virtual assistants against hiring more staff. Here are some differences:

• Cost and Overhead: Hiring a full-time employee (FTE) comes with salary, benefits, taxes, and equipment costs. In contrast, a VA costs only for work done. According to industry reports, virtual staffing can be 70–78% cheaper than onshore in-house teams. For example, an outsourced VA in the Philippines or India may save 50-70% compared to a U.S.-based employee, while still delivering high skill and English proficiency.
  
  
• Flexibility: An FTE works fixed hours and has a fixed workload, while a VA can adjust hours. If onboarding slows down one month, you can reduce VA hours easily. If it spikes, you add more hours or assistants quickly. This flexibility is harder with in-house staff, who might be idle or overworked.
  
  
• Expertise: Virtual staffing allows you to tap global talent pools. You might find a VA with specialized onboarding or tech knowledge that’s scarce locally. Offshore markets (e.g., the Philippines, which has a mature BPO industry) provide skilled workforce pipelines with rapid hiring times. Prialto notes that offshoring enables businesses to spin up entire teams in weeks instead of months.
  
  
• Control and Culture: An in-house EA or assistant is embedded in your culture and works closely with you daily. Some CEOs prefer this tight control. A VA is remote and may work for multiple clients. However, managed VA services mitigate this by dedicated pairing and oversight (e.g., a Customer Success Manager oversees your VA). The trade-off is between lower cost/flexibility (VA) versus potentially higher loyalty and alignment (full-time).
  
  
• Virtual Assistant vs. Executive Assistant: While often similar, traditionally an Executive Assistant (EA) is a senior in-house role supporting a C-level, handling high-level tasks, strategic projects, and direct decision-making support. A VA (Virtual Assistant) may focus more on administrative, repetitive, or specialized remote tasks. Time Etc explains that EAs tend to be more tactical and proactive, whereas VAs are usually independent contractors providing broader support remotely. In practice, many modern VAs are highly skilled and can function like EAs for startups – especially if they are dedicated full-time. The key is matching the role to your needs: if you want someone 24/5 in the office supporting your strategy, an EA might fit; if you need flexibility and remote work, a VA is ideal.
  
  
• VA vs. Freelancer vs. Agency: Virtual assistants come in flavors. Some are individual freelancers on Upwork or Fiverr, others are part of agencies (e.g., MySigrid, Boldly, Belay) that recruit and manage them. An agency often provides more reliability, backup, and tools, at a higher cost. Freelancers are cheaper but require more oversight. Choose based on trust level and required scale.
  
  
• Remote Executive Assistant: For CEOs, hiring a remote executive assistant through a service gives the benefits of both worlds. MySigrid, for example, offers “dedicated Executive Assistants” who manage calendars, travel, and even project coordination. These assistants are integrated into the client’s company (even using a company email and phone number) but remain remote, thus lowering costs while maintaining a high level of service.
  
  

Best Practices for Hiring and Managing VAs in Onboarding

To maximize benefits, follow these guidelines:

1. Define clear tasks and SOPs: Before hiring, list out the onboarding tasks you need. Create standard operating procedures (SOPs) or checklists that the VA can follow. The U.S. Chamber advises setting clear expectations and instructions. This may include email templates, access credentials, or step-by-step guides.
   
   
2. Use the right tools: Equip your VA with your communication and project management tools (Slack, Teams, Asana, Trello, Google Workspace, etc.). For example, Asana or ClickUp can track onboarding tasks; Slack or MS Teams keeps chat and calls; Google Drive or Notion can be a centralized knowledge base. According to remote work experts, teams use Slack/Teams for chat, Zoom for meetings, and tools like Trello or Asana for task tracking. Grant your VA access and train them on these tools.
   
   
3. Invest in training: Any VA (even experienced) will need some training on your product. Spend initial weeks building their knowledge – record training sessions, provide product demos, and align them with your mission. The 2023 VA Efficiency Insights report found that owners who devoted ~10 hours to initial VA training saw significantly higher satisfaction.
   
   
4. Maintain regular communication: Schedule weekly or biweekly check-ins. Use video calls to review progress, clarify priorities, and gather questions. Good rapport boosts morale and efficiency.
   
   
5. Monitor and give feedback: Use time-tracking or project dashboards to see what the VA is accomplishing (as MySigrid’s app does). Provide constructive feedback so they can adjust. Also ask them for suggestions – since they handle the details, they might spot inefficiencies you missed.
   
   
6. Delegate thoughtfully: Start by offloading mundane tasks (email filtering, data entry, file organization). Gradually involve the VA in higher-level onboarding steps (like customer calls or strategy inputs) as their skills grow.
   
   
7. Cultural fit and trust: If possible, meet the VA (even virtually) before committing. Ensure they align with your communication style and values. Some agencies match based on “chemistry”. Building a trusting relationship early makes delegation smoother.
   
   

Tools and Technologies for Remote Onboarding

Supporting your VA and team with modern tools ensures a smooth onboarding pipeline:

• Communication & Meetings: Slack or Microsoft Teams keep chat organized. Zoom (or Google Meet) is essential for training calls or demos. As Sembly AI notes, remote teams rely on Slack, Teams, and Zoom for clear communication. For large onboarding sessions, consider webinar platforms like Zoom Webinars, GoToWebinar, or Hopin.
  
  
• Scheduling: Calendly or Doodle sync calendars to book demos without endless email chains. A VA can manage Calendly links and monitor bookings.
  
  
• Project Management: Use tools like Asana, Trello, ClickUp or Basecamp to create onboarding projects with checklists. Each new customer can have a project board with tasks assigned to the VA, the sales rep, the support agent, etc. For example, MySigrid’s assistants use a proprietary task management app to ensure nothing is missed. Even if you don’t use a specialized platform, a shared Trello board or Google Sheet can work.
  
  
• CRM and Automation: Platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho allow tracking of customer progress. VAs can update records, automate emails, and trigger workflows (like sending a welcome series when a lead is marked “customer”). Integration tools (Zapier, Make) can automate repetitive processes (e.g., adding new customer from form directly into CRM and Slack channel).
  
  
• Document & File Sharing: Google Workspace or Office 365 for docs and spreadsheets. Notion or Confluence for a knowledge base of your policies and SOPs. Make sure your VA has editing access and knows where to find templates.
  
  
• Customer Support Tools: Chatbots (like Intercom or Drift) can answer simple onboarding questions instantly. A VA can review the chat transcripts and jump in when needed. AI meeting assistants (like Otter.ai or Sembly) can transcribe onboarding calls for documentation. (For privacy compliance, always inform customers when recording.)
  
  
• Time Tracking: If needed for billing or oversight, tools like Toggl or Harvest let you see how VA time is spent. MySigrid’s app tracks time by task so clients can monitor usage. For smaller setups, a shared report or spreadsheet can suffice.
  
  

By equipping your VA with these tools, you replicate the efficiency of an in-house team. In fact, 65% of professionals expect more remote work in coming years, so using top tools is a competitive edge.

AI-Powered Virtual Assistants and the Human Touch

The future of onboarding blends AI tools with human assistants. AI chatbots (like ChatGPT-based agents) are increasingly used to answer customer FAQs or even walk users through step-by-step processes. For example, a chatbot on your site could guide new users through account setup 24/7, reducing the load on human VAs. AI can also analyze support tickets to identify common onboarding pain points or suggest best next actions.

However, research underscores the importance of the human element. Automated agents lack empathy and can’t handle nuanced concerns. That’s why many companies adopt a hybrid approach – let an AI handle routine inquiries and initial scheduling, but have a live VA step in for personalized support. The “human premium” means a smiling voice or personal email from an assistant builds trust. Virtual assistants trained in customer service excel at addressing unique problems and establishing rapport.

As one industry observer put it, a strategic executive assistant can drive operations and amplify impact in ways AI alone cannot. Essentially, AI boosts productivity (by doing round-the-clock routine work and data analysis), while the VA ensures quality and relationship-building. Embracing both yields the best outcomes for onboarding.

Industry Use Cases

Virtual assistants help with onboarding across many sectors:

• E-commerce: For online stores, VAs can set up new vendor accounts, process initial orders, and guide sellers or buyers through the platform interface. They might run onboarding webinars for merchants or troubleshoot integration with payment gateways.
  
  
• Real Estate: Agents who sign up clients to property platforms can use VAs to input client criteria, schedule home tour video calls, and email welcome packets. A VA might also handle paperwork digitization for new listings, ensuring a quick start for the agent.
  
  
• Financial Services: Financial advisors bringing onboard new clients (investors or borrowers) need KYC documentation, account setups, and disclosure forms. A VA can gather documents, schedule advisory meetings, and provide links to educational resources.
  
  
• Healthcare & Professional Services: Medical practices or law firms signing up new patients/clients require intake forms, initial consultations, and portal setup. A VA can manage appointment scheduling, send secure intake questionnaires, and prepare welcome guides.
  
  
• Digital Marketing/Agencies: Agencies often need to onboard new clients to project management tools, gather brand assets, and start social media campaigns. A VA can coordinate the kick-off meeting, set up Trello boards or Slack channels for the client, and even begin drafting content calendars.
  
  
• Tech Startups/SaaS: Startups can benefit tremendously from VAs. For instance, a tech startup might hire a remote project manager to oversee onboarding of beta users – gathering feedback, running focus groups, and compiling data for product improvements. VAs can also train new users on software via video calls or live demos.
  
  

In each case, the VA learns the industry-specific processes. For example, MySigrid specializes in matching VAs to industries like VC, real estate, and healthcare. Whether it’s a social media planner for an e-commerce store or a scheduling expert for a busy entrepreneur, the key is aligning the assistant’s skills with the onboarding needs.

Scaling Your Business with Virtual Assistants

For entrepreneurs, mastering customer onboarding with VAs is part of a broader strategy to scale efficiently. Paul Østergaard, MySigrid’s co-founder, describes a “Minimalist Formula” to scale: CEO (vision) + AI (automation) + Executive Assistant (operations). In practice, this means the founder sets goals and strategy, intelligent tools automate repetitive work, and a dedicated assistant ensures execution. Using VAs fits this framework perfectly.

By delegating day-to-day tasks, you build a lean core team. This approach lets you expand into new markets without adding huge fixed costs. For example, instead of hiring multiple full-time customer success reps when launching internationally, you can hire a smaller number of VAs across time zones, all coordinated by a central team. This remote staffing model (outsourcing) is often quicker and more affordable than opening overseas branches (offshoring) or hiring in-house. In fact, a mix of outsourcing and offshoring is common: companies outsource to specialized firms for expertise, and offshore for cost savings.

Outsourcing vs. offshoring often gets confused, but they’re distinct. Outsourcing means delegating tasks to external parties (which can be anywhere), while offshoring specifically means using teams in another country. For example, hiring a U.S.-based VA company is outsourcing, whereas building your own Philippine support center is offshoring. Both aim to reduce costs and get talent faster. Your startup can choose based on needs: a specialized outsourcing provider like MySigrid offers remote staff (outsourced, but often in the Philippines) while preserving quality and continuity.

Whatever the model, the result is you can scale without growing a massive headquarters. Lower overhead means you can invest more in product development and marketing. Plus, virtual teams inherently bring diverse perspectives, which can inspire innovation.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Customer onboarding is a make-or-break part of the user journey. Leveraging virtual assistants for onboarding tasks brings organization, speed, and a personal touch that impresses customers. Entrepreneurs and business owners who use VAs report saving hundreds of hours per year and significantly improving customer satisfaction. By integrating VAs into your workflow, you ensure every new client feels valued and supported from day one.

If you’re ready to transform your onboarding process (and free up your team to focus on strategy), consider partnering with a professional virtual assistant service. MySigrid specializes in matching startups and CEOs with dedicated, full-time virtual assistants trained in project management, admin support, and customer service. Book a consultation with MySigrid today to learn how a skilled VA can become part of your customer success strategy. You can also connect with MySigrid co-founder Paul Østergaard on LinkedIn for expert insights on scaling with remote teams and the blend of AI and human assistants in modern business.

By smartly outsourcing administrative onboarding tasks and embracing remote staffing, your startup can provide a premium customer experience, drive higher retention, and grow faster – without the overhead of a big in-house team.

Ready to level up your onboarding? Book a consultation call with MySigrid here and see how a virtual assistant can help you delight every new customer from day one.

Sources: Industry studies and expert blogs. (Images: Pixabay)