Hello Reader!

There have been a lot of advancements and articles about AI optimization (many of them included below in this newsletter).

It's a lot to digest.

It was busting my brain. So, I've taken that information and created a lil' AI optimization checklist.

Please note: I haven't tested these optimization tactics. I'm simply organizing all the information from these articles and presenting it in a more digestible format.

Check it out if ya wanna.

Get the free checklist

Thanks for reading,

Ashley R. Cummings

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Expert Interview | Clare Knight

Free consulting: One smart expert, one focused conversation that you can apply to your work.

1/ Can you share what inspired you to focus so deeply on customer onboarding?

It's an underserved area of the lifecycle. I was responsible for customer onboarding in a number of roles, and I saw the impact of dedicating a team to it and the impact of NOT dedicating a team to it.

Companies talk about how it's important and pivotal. But then I also see a lack of investment in onboarding by those same companies.

When I see companies happy to leak money by allowing firefighting activities to be the norm throughout the lifecycle, that's when I know they don't truly understand the value of investing in customer onboarding.

You need a bigger picture view of the lifecycle to understand how ignoring onboarding improvements impacts every single point beyond it. So, I'll keep shouting about it because I know the revenue numbers that can be achieved through improving customer experience!

2. You often discuss transforming onboarding from a cost center into a growth driver. What are some overlooked opportunities SaaS teams can use to drive revenue during the onboarding phase?

I think it takes a shift from thinking of onboarding as a box-ticking exercise to a highly strategic role. I don't think onboarding should be seen as entry-level. Not only does it take project management skills, but also change management, workflow management, technical knowledge, investigative skills, analytic skills, and people skills. We have a project to manage that has an end point and throughout that phase we have the opportunity to identify revenue opportunities, key stakeholders who could be influencers or blockers, and champions who can vouch for the solution.

This leads to conversations around referrals, advocacy, and expansion opportunities. I think Onboarding Qualified Leads should become more common.

Depending on the length of your onboarding, you don't want to be selling hard to a customer straight away, you should build trust first. But there is no reason why we can't be setting up revenue opportunities through everything we learn and work on during onboarding (and get compensated for it).

3. With AI and automation playing a larger role in onboarding, how do you strike a balance between efficiency and creating a genuinely human, trust-building experience for new users?

Let's face it, there are plenty of companies with and without AI and automation doing a poor job at customer onboarding. There is a lot of work to do in the industry.

We talk about time-to-value during onboarding, "get them to that aha moment as quickly as possible!" We see that as a sign of success. It's often just a small piece of the puzzle because there is so much more going on under the hood as to whether a customer is successful.

What I like to focus on in my newsletter, The Onboarding Lab, is the soft skills element that humans are going to need to tightly grab a hold of from now on. We're good at understanding tone, and nuance, and reading between the lines. We're funny too! We can build so much trust by working in partnership with customers during onboarding, which sets the tone for the relationship going forward.

AI is only going to get better, but I feel very strongly that we will always need strong interpersonal skills for long term success. My question is, are we in danger of losing that? Should we be up-skilling team members in that area alongside AI? My answer is, yes.

Connect with the amazing Clare on LinkedIn

Must-Read Content This Week

1/ Google’s AI-powered zero-click search is quietly killing your traffic, up to 34.5% gone overnight. Read the article →

2/ Moz’s new AI agents handle SEO grunt work—like content refreshes, backlink prospecting, and keyword gap analysis. Read the article →

3/ Static content gets skipped—interactive content gets 5x the views and 2x the conversions. Read the article →

AI Updates + Tools To Watch

🤖 Aleyda Solis shares a must-bookmark checklist (with examples + Google Sheet) to help SEOs optimize content chunks, structure, authority, and indexability for AI.

🤖 Wil Reynolds’ quadrant method: Combines paid search data with AI Overview visibility to spot where AI is stealing clicks—and where you can still win.

🤖 AI, a new digital habit: Users now spend 101% more time on LLM platforms like ChatGPT and Claude, signaling a shift from tools to primary engagement hubs. Search use stays flat. (Datos, a Semrush company)

What's New In Content?

💡 Smarter Content Metrics: Ahrefs says top teams now track content output, traffic growth, share of voice, referring domains, audience growth, engagement, and conversions, not bounce rates or scroll depth.

💡Sharper user-focused content: Start-Rite Shoes boosted visibility by 1500% by removing low-value pages, answering real questions, and aligning content with search behavior (Omisido).