Collaborative Onboarding & Success

STN’s Onboarding & Success Playbook

A collaborative and defined onboarding process that guides new partners’ journey from launch to implementation and growth.

STN Video is a comprehensive online video platform that delivers a turnkey solution for content, technology, and monetization. Kevin Buffitt, Sr. Manager of Publisher Integrations, uses this playbook to onboard new clients, with the goal of getting them to scale as quickly as possible through a collaborative partnership that sets clear milestones and measurements for success.

Why should I use this playbook?

Kevin says that this playbook has transformed the way STN Video works with new partners by creating a clear, repeatable system that creates accountability between all parties. 

At its core, the playbook:

• Keeps track of the timing of each task
  

Throughout the onboarding process, STN’s team has many tasks to do outside of customer-facing calls, such as: preparing for meetings, pulling analytics, creating reports, etc. Documenting each of these steps in the playbook and assigning it a due date helps keep the team on track and prepared to deliver value to new customers.

• Create a more consistent, focused approach to onboarding
  

By defining all of the steps in their process and following them for each new client, onboarding teams can work faster, improve consistency, and stay focused on the tasks that matter – while still having flexibility to make adjustments as needed.

• Provide better visibility and communication
  

All stakeholders have full visibility into updates, deliverables, and next steps, which improves collaboration and visibility into the implementation’s progress.

What’s in this playbook?

This Onboarding & Success playbook covers stages and steps for a 90-day onboarding process with STN Video, giving plenty of time for companies to scale and see results with the solution.

The first stage in the playbook is internal-only, with the business development team conducting a warm handoff of the new partner to Kevin and the onboarding team. They set up the playbook’s summary page with details about the new partner’s goals, and schedule a launch meeting.

The next stage is Publisher Launch, where the onboarding team meets for the first time with the new partner. The onboarding team shares the summary and success plan, invites all stakeholders into the Accord workspace, and shares deliverables through the Resources page.

Over the next 90 days, the playbook outlines a three-stage onboarding process, with regular check-ins, performance reviews, and recommendations to help the partner reach their full potential with STN Video. At the end of the 90 days, the onboarding team hands off the account to the publisher success team, who schedules ongoing quarterly business reviews and reinforces the lessons established in the playbook during the onboarding period.

Who is this playbook for?

This playbook and process is used for STN’s medium and large partners that have matrixed organizations requiring buy-in and resources from multiple stakeholders. STN Video works with companies of all sizes, however, and adjusts their playbook depending on the deal size, organizational complexity, and scope.

STN still uses a playbook in Accord to maintain consistency across their team and keep timelines on track for smaller deals. They simplify the playbook in these instances by taking out some of the unnecessary technical steps, and changing the more involved “Coverage Map” reviews to normal check-ins throughout the process.

How should I use this playbook?

Kevin’s advice for using and adapting this playbook for your process:

• Remove the steps that are unique to STN Video (publisher ad tag integration, etc) and replace with any technical or specific requirements for your company’s process
• Adapt and adjust the playbook as you begin to use it – always be looking for ways to improve, and be flexible with customizing for each customer or partner
• Keep it simple – focus on what you need to keep your team and customers on track

About STN Video

STN Video is North America’s largest independent online video platform, helping digital publishers, content providers and advertisers thrive with online video. STN Video delivers brand safe video from more than 200 providers, including MLB, Rolling Stone, Variety, Associated Press, the NBA and Bloomberg and in contextually relevant environments across 1,800+ trusted, local publishers, including the New York Post, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald and more. 

STN Video has a library of 1 million videos and counting, spanning sports, business, technology, entertainment, lifestyle and more. Using Smart Match® AI-powered technology, publishers simply place one single embed code on their website and relevant video content is matched with their articles.

STN Video offers advertisers a premium environment for their brands combining an industry leading scale of over 1.5 billion monthly available impressions with the granularity of local and diverse audiences across North America. 
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For more information, visit stnvideo.com or follow them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.