Initial setup

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Initial setup

    The Initial Setup phase in the Customer Success Management onboarding process is designed to collect essential information for onboarding a customer account. This includes identifying key contacts, assigning responsibilities, and configuring integrations and teams to ensure a smooth onboarding experience.

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    Key Activities and Their Purpose

    • Select account: Choose the customer account to automatically generate an account onboarding case, streamlining the onboarding initiation.
    • Enter onboarding related info: Specify the assigned provider agent, select required Service Exchange integrations (such as remote catalog, remote task, or foundation data sync), define the onboarding type (phased or full), and set the Go live date.
    • Add customer team: Input customer contacts with their basic details to involve the client's team in the onboarding process.
    • Add customer team responsibilities: Assign predefined roles to each customer contact, ensuring clarity on points of contact and responsibilities. At least one contact must be designated as the customer onboarding point of contact.
    • Add account team: Add internal ServiceNow team members, including administrators, and assign their responsibilities. Note that internal team members can have multiple roles.
    • Add squad: Optionally include squad members involved in onboarding tasks.
    • Create engagement: Optionally initiate an engagement to further support onboarding activities.

    Automation and Notifications

    Completion of certain steps triggers automated emails:

    • An email identifying the primary point of contact is sent to all users assigned that responsibility.
    • A second email listing key team members is sent to other customers involved in onboarding.
    • When internal account team members are added, an email notification is sent to all members to inform them of their roles.

    Field Mapping and Status Management

    The onboarding case and task progress are automatically synchronized through predefined mappings between the State, Stage, and Progress fields:

    • For account onboarding cases, updates to the Progress field automatically set the State and Stage fields to reflect current status (e.g., New maps to Not started).
    • For case tasks, State changes update the Progress field accordingly (e.g., Open maps to Not started).
    • If using earlier versions of the Customer Success Management application, customers should follow specific instructions to correct these mappings.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    This structured setup process helps ServiceNow customers efficiently onboard new accounts by ensuring all necessary information is collected, roles are clearly assigned, and communication is automated. The automatic status mappings provide transparency and consistency in tracking onboarding progress, reducing manual updates and potential errors. Optional activities like adding squads or creating engagements offer flexibility to tailor the onboarding experience to specific customer needs.

    This phase is meant to gather the initial information required onboard a customer. For example, gathering core information like onboarding manager name, key customer contact, internal and external stakeholders, their responsibilities, and so on.

    Activity Details
    Select account When you select the customer account, a new account onboarding case is generated.
    Note:
    If the account onboarding case was generated from a case, this field is auto-populated.

    Select Continue to go to the next activity.
    Enter onboarding related info The next activity in the playbook involves gathering onboarding related information. The required fields to be entered are:
    • Assigned to: Select the provider agent who is working on this case.
    • Service Exchange integration: Select one of the following options:
      • Not required: No Service Exchange integration is required.
      • Remote catalog: A Service Exchange integration for the remote catalog feature is required.
      • Remote task: A Service Exchange integration for the remote task feature is required.
      • Foundation data sync: A Service Exchange integration for the foundation data sync feature is required.
    • Type: Select one of the following:
      • Phased: A specific part of the onboarding process for this customer is managed through this Customer Success Management onboarding case.
      • Full: The entire onboarding process for this customer is by this Customer Success Management onboarding case.
    • Specify the Go live date and select Mark complete to proceed with the next activity.
    Note:
    The State field is set to New for a new record. If this field is updated, the Stage field is automatically updated based on the predefined mapping. This mapping is also available for account onboarding case tasks between the Progress and State fields. See Field mapping for account onboarding cases and case tasks for details.
    Add customer team

    Add the customer contacts working on the account onboarding case.

    • Enter the First name, Last name, Email address and select Add to create a customer contact.
    • Select Mark complete to move to the next step.
    Add customer team responsibilities
    Note:
    • At least one user must be set up as the customer onboarding point of contact.
    • Each customer contact can have only one responsibility.
    		 Assign responsibilities to each of the customer contacts that have been added.
    • Select the Contact that you’ve added in the previous step.
    • In the Responsibility field, select one of the predefined user roles and select Add to assign responsibility for the customer contact.
    • Select Mark complete to move to the next step.

    When this step is completed, two emails are automatically generated. The first email identifies the primary point of contact for the account onboarding case. The second email identifies the key team members participating in the onboarding process.

    Note:
    • The first email is sent to all users who have the customer onboarding point of contact responsibility.
    • After the Add account team step has been completed, the second email to sent all other users except the customer onboarding point of contact.
    • The text for the email can be configured directly in the playbook.
    Add account team Add and assign responsibilities to the internal team members (service providers) working on the account onboarding case. This includes the ServiceNow administrator handling the case. After the account is added, an email is sent to all the team members.
    • Select a predefined user role in the Responsibility field.
    • Select a user who is assigned this role and select Add to assign responsibility to the team member.
    • Select Mark complete to move to the next activity.
    Note:
    • An account team member can have more than one responsibility.
    • All tasks in the playbook are assigned to the provider's ServiceNow Developer/Admin user by default. If there is more than one user with this role, the tasks need to be manually assigned.
    Add squad Add the squad members who will be involved in completing the onboarding case and other activities. This is an optional activity.

    Select Mark complete to move to the next activity.
    Create engagement This is an optional step. See Create an engagement for details. SelectCreate to create the engagement and move on to the next stage.

    After the Initial Setup stage has been completed, the case information, account, customer, and squad team member information you have added is displayed in the left panel.

    Field mapping for account onboarding cases and case tasks

    For account onboarding cases, when the Progress field is updated, the State field is automatically updated based on the mapping shown after this:
    Table 1. Account onboarding case mapping between State and Stage fields
    State Stage
    New Not started, At risk
    Unassigned Not started, At risk
    Active On track, At risk
    Blocked Paused, At risk
    Closed Finished
    Canceled Finished
    For account onboarding case tasks, when the State field is updated, the Progress field is automatically updated based on the mapping shown after this:
    Table 2. Account onboarding case task mapping between State and Progress fields
    State Progress
    Open Not started
    Awaiting customer Paused, At risk
    Awaiting internal Paused, At risk
    In Progress On track, At risk
    Review On track, At risk
    Closed Finished
    Canceled Finished

    If you’re using an earlier version of the Customer Success Management application, follow the instructions in KB1651427 to correct the mapping between these fields.