10 times higher trial-to-paid conversion with Userlane

Berlin-based Ninox is a No-Code/Low-Code platform for database users. Userlane helped customers get up to speed more quickly and boosted both trial customer conversion and paid customer retention. They found that trial users who onboarded with Userlane were 10x more likely to continue using Ninox, than those who didn’t.

The customer challenge

Ninox helps database users automate their processes such as spreadsheets and CRMs.

Ninox software is rich in functionality and the company is always looking for new ways to help trial users and early-stage customers understand the basics so they can get to use it more quickly and efficiently. Foundational skills include creating databases or tables, importing and exporting data and learning how to write scripts.

While trial users were reaching important milestones during their trial, Ninox also wanted them to be able to experience the true potential of their platform. This was a challenge when they were just relying on traditional documentation. As a result, conversion had room for improvement.

How we helped

In 2020, Ninox tried several different onboarding tools and decided that Userlane was the best fit. The team found that Userlane offered a lot of flexibility in its customization allowing guides to be targeted for different target audiences.

Ninox implemented a Userlane trial phase to validate the solution for its customers giving them an option to use it. The intention was that users would quickly be able to understand the basics of Ninox and get to the heart of the solution early in their trial period. The overall experience was positive so Ninox decided to activate Userlane for new users, and so the onboarding software was offered to all users.

Here are the benefits Ninox and its customers enjoyed:

A seamless customer onboarding experience

Ninox was able to make an active effort to onboard its customers directly rather than leave them to find their own way via documentation. A phased roll-out also allowed the company to trial Userlane on a smaller scale before introducing it to the complete user base. They quickly created enough interactive step-by-step guides so customers could understand the basic functionality of the platform and get familiar with it. Interactive guidance allowed Ninox to improve engagement and boosted customers’ confidence in the software because Userlane accompanied them every step of the way as a personal virtual assistant.

Less customer reliance on documentation 

Previously, customers who were getting to know Ninox would rely on manuals and other support documentation. With the addition of Userlane, they could onboard themselves with little effort and skip the reading unless they wanted to go deeper into the software from the start.

With Userlane, Ninox could store and provide access to helpful documentation directly in the system as well as create new interactive support content.

Long-term customer retention and happiness

Since implementation, Userlane has had a dramatic impact on customer retention, application usage and conversion. In the first six months, 53% of trial sign-ups made use of Userlane, increasing engagement with Ninox. Those users were 10x more likely to continue using Ninox. This increased retention is a key business metric for the SaaS company.

During the same period all of the 74% of users who booked a subscription made use of Userlane.

The results 

• 53% Userlane engagement rate by trial users & costs

With Userlane, trial customers were able to use the Ninox platform intuitively, improving overall software engagement.

• 74% Userlane adoption rate by paid audience

By boosting software adoption, the week 1 retention rate for paid customers increased already by 11%.

• 10x as many retained users

With Userlane, users were 10x more likely to be retained/converted to Ninox.

Ninox is positive that Userlane will continue to reduce the time customers need to get onboarded with Ninox. The team is excited to explore further features of Userlane, including the ability to send announcements from within the app, the Tooltips and more. They also plan to use the software’s search functionality and integrations to internal collaboration tools and knowledge bases.