--- name: customer-segment-onboarding-timeline-builder description: "Generates a phased onboarding project timeline calibrated to customer segment (SMB, Mid-Market, or Enterprise) with milestone dates, task owners, Time-to-Value checkpoints, risk flags, and a customer-facing summary — all reverse-engineered from a target activation date. Use when planning a new customer implementation, standardizing onboarding by segment, or building a project timeline to hit a first-value or go-live date." argument-hint: "[segment] [activation-date]" allowed-tools: ["Read"] --- # Customer Segment Onboarding Timeline Builder ## Purpose Produce a phased, date-stamped onboarding timeline tuned to a specific customer segment and reverse-engineered from a target activation date — with named phases, milestone gates, owner assignments, and Time-to-Value checkpoints — so implementations stay on schedule and customers reach first value within segment benchmarks instead of drifting. ## When to Use Invoke this skill when the user asks to: - Build an onboarding or implementation timeline for a new customer - Plan a project schedule to hit a specific go-live or activation date - Standardize onboarding plans across SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise segments - Estimate how long onboarding should take and when first value lands - Create a phased kickoff-to-activation plan with owners and milestones - Turn a signed contract or target launch date into a working project plan ## Inputs Required Before starting, collect: - **Customer segment**: SMB / Mid-Market (MM) / Enterprise (ENT) - **Target activation date**: The date the customer must be live or reaching first value - **Kickoff or start date**: When onboarding begins (defaults to today if omitted) - **Product complexity**: Self-serve setup / Guided config / Custom integration & migration - **Key deliverables or integrations**: Data migration, SSO, API integrations, custom training, etc. - **Team resources**: Who is available (CSM, Implementation Manager, Solutions Engineer, Support) - **Known constraints**: Customer-side blockers, holidays, freeze windows, hard deadlines If complexity or resources are missing, apply segment defaults (SMB: self-serve, single owner; MM: guided, CSM + IM; ENT: custom, full pod) and note the assumption. ## Instructions ### Step 1: Establish Segment Baseline and Time-to-Value Benchmark Anchor the plan to segment norms before scheduling anything. **Time-to-Value (TTV) benchmarks by segment:** - **SMB**: First value in 7–14 days; full activation in 14–30 days. Low-touch, template-driven. - **Mid-Market**: First value in 21–45 days; full activation in 45–90 days. Guided, moderate integration. - **Enterprise**: First value in 45–90 days; full activation in 90–180 days. High-touch, custom integration and change management. State the benchmark TTV window for the selected segment and flag immediately if the target activation date is inside or outside that window. ### Step 2: Reverse-Engineer the Timeline Work backward from the target activation date, not forward from kickoff. - Anchor the **Go-Live / Activation** milestone on the target date - Subtract each phase duration to place preceding milestones - If the resulting start date is later than the provided kickoff, note the slack - If it is earlier than the kickoff (impossible), flag the timeline as **at risk** and recommend either scope reduction or a revised activation date ### Step 3: Build the Phase Structure Use these phases, adjusting duration by segment: **Phase 1 — Kickoff & Alignment** - Kickoff call, success criteria definition, stakeholder map, project plan sign-off - SMB: 1–2 days · MM: 3–5 days · ENT: 5–10 days **Phase 2 — Discovery & Requirements** - Data audit, integration scoping, technical requirements, access provisioning - SMB: 1–3 days · MM: 5–10 days · ENT: 10–20 days **Phase 3 — Configuration & Setup** - Account config, workspace setup, roles/permissions, branding - SMB: 2–4 days · MM: 7–14 days · ENT: 15–30 days **Phase 4 — Integration & Data Migration** - SSO, API connections, data import, validation (skip or compress if none) - SMB: 0–2 days · MM: 5–15 days · ENT: 15–45 days **Phase 5 — First-Value Milestone (TTV Checkpoint)** - The customer completes their first meaningful action / sees first outcome - This is a hard gate — do not advance until confirmed **Phase 6 — Training & Enablement** - Admin training, end-user training, documentation handoff, certification (ENT) - SMB: 1 day · MM: 3–7 days · ENT: 10–20 days **Phase 7 — Go-Live / Activation** - Full rollout, launch confirmation, success criteria validation **Phase 8 — Post-Activation & Handoff** - 30/60/90 check-ins, handoff to CSM, adoption review - Runs 30–90 days beyond activation depending on segment ### Step 4: Assign Owners and Milestone Gates For each phase, assign: - **Owner**: The single accountable role - **Customer-side dependency**: What the customer must provide, and by when - **Milestone gate**: The binary condition that must be true to advance (e.g., "Data validated: yes/no") ### Step 5: Flag Risks and Buffers - Mark any phase where duration is compressed below segment minimum as **schedule risk** - Add a buffer of 10–15% of total duration before Go-Live for MM and ENT - Flag customer-side dependencies as the top delay driver and note mitigation - Call out any conflict between the target date and TTV benchmark explicitly ### Step 6: Produce the Customer-Facing Summary Condense the internal plan into a clean, 3–5 milestone summary the customer can read — phases, dates, and what's expected from them — without internal owner or risk detail. ## Output Format - **Structure**: Segment baseline callout → reverse-engineered timeline table → phase-by-phase breakdown → risk flags → customer-facing summary - **Length**: 800–1,200 words - **Format**: Timeline as a table (Phase / Start Date / End Date / Duration / Owner / Gate); phase detail as structured bullets; customer summary as a short milestone list - **Sections**: TTV Benchmark & Feasibility → Master Timeline Table → Phase Breakdown with Owners & Gates → Risk Flags & Buffers → Customer-Facing Summary - **Tone**: Implementations project lead — precise, date-driven, accountability-first ## Quality Checklist Before delivering output, verify: - [ ] The timeline is reverse-engineered from the target activation date, with dated milestones - [ ] The selected segment's TTV benchmark is stated and feasibility against the target date is judged (on track / at risk) - [ ] All 8 phases are present with segment-appropriate durations - [ ] Every phase has a single named owner and a binary milestone gate - [ ] The First-Value (TTV) checkpoint is placed as an explicit gated milestone - [ ] A customer-facing summary is included and contains no internal owner or risk detail ## Notes - Customer-side dependencies are the number one cause of onboarding slip — surface them early with hard due dates - If the target activation date is impossible for the segment, say so plainly and offer two options: reduce scope (defer integrations to post-activation) or move the date - For ENT deals, treat the First-Value milestone as separate from Go-Live — proving value before full rollout de-risks the account - Duplicating this timeline as a reusable template per segment is the fastest path to standardized onboarding --- ## How to use this skill This file is a Claude Code skill in [Anthropic's standard format](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top. **Installing in Claude Code:** - `~/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects) - `/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills) Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register. **Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:** 1. 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