The Customer Experience team standing outside in Collie work overalls
The Customer Experience team
Teams

Customer Experience

What this team is responsible for: who they are, how the customer journey works end to end, and the answers other teams ask for most.

1

About this team

Hi! We're Customer Experience — Arwin, Marius, Lara & Renee.

We onboard new customers, stay closely involved with them afterward, and gather the feedback that keeps Collie improving. This page covers how we do that.

2

Customer Journey

Every phase a customer moves through after Sales marks a deal "closed won", end to end. Click a phase to expand it. Steps marked ◆ supporting material open up to show what's actually sent or used with the customer at that point.

1
Pre-onboarding
4 steps
1.1

Closed Won

  • Sales hands the customer over to Customer Experience.
  • Customer info is checked complete and payment is confirmed.
  • A call is made to schedule the pre-onboarding visit.
Gate: info incomplete or payment unconfirmed → wait / request info from Sales before scheduling.
1.2

Pre-onboarding visit

  • Farm visit: gather details, walk the farm, photograph the layout for mapping.
  • Check and reset customer expectations where needed.
  • Set up a WhatsApp group with the customer; document everything in the CRM.
Open the questionnaire
1.3

Mapping / farm & account creation

  • The farm is created in Collie and fields/paths/barns are mapped in QGIS.
  • The farmer creates an account, logs in, and adds gate pins per field.
  • Fetch routes are mapped and the cow list is imported once mapping is confirmed accurate.
1.4

App exploration & mapping check

  • The farmer explores the app and walks the farm to verify mapping accuracy.
  • Questions get answered and readiness to onboard is confirmed.
Gate: not ready → additional support before moving on. Ready → pre-onboarding marked complete in CRM.

How the support profile gets decided

Assessed during pre-onboarding, before training starts — this is what determines the support profile a customer gets in Onboarding:

  • Did they already practice grazing before Collie?
  • Do they want to change their grazing method?
  • How comfortable are they with technology?
  • What does the farm's infrastructure look like?
  • Are other big changes happening on the farm at the same time as the Collie start?
2
Onboarding
3 steps
2.1

Pre-training

  • Collar delivery logistics and the training week schedule are confirmed.
  • Briefing covers the daily timeline, expected cow behaviour and emergency steps.
  • Collars are checked on delivery for battery level and function.
Shared with the customer: Collie training guide

Collie gids (training guide)

shared during the pre-training briefing

A Dutch-language training manual (web-based, with embedded diagrams) handed to the customer alongside the briefing call, covering both the behavioural training progression and the technical side of the device:

  • Training protocol5-day phased approach: each day the herd is challenged step by step until they fully rely on the collar.
  • The appExplanation about the app.
  • The collarExplanation about the collar.
  • FAQ'sAnswers to common questions.
  • Emergency stopExtra attention to emergency stop and "what to do if…?"
Open the Collie gids (external-tools.collie.eu) Open "Pre-training Preparation Materials" (Notion)

Collie Tekentool (training drawing tool)

used at the farm

A Dutch-language, browser-based mapping tool CS uses together with the farmer, on-site, to plan the rotational grazing layout. It steps through the farm boundary, the barn (entrance marked green, exit marked red), cow paths, fetch routes with optional balloon markers, grazing zones (Standard / Pasture A/B/C, each toggled active or inactive), physical safety fencing distance, water troughs and gate points — guided by Next/Previous/Skip/Undo controls across the 5 training days plus scenario planning, then exported as a PNG with a legend.

Example outputreal tool export — "training week example"
Collie Tekentool example: five satellite-image panels, one per training day, each showing the farm boundary, the active/inactive zone lines, and the growing safety-wire distance (5m on day 1-2, 10m on days 3-5) until day 5 shows only the final zone line with no wire.
Open the Collie Tekentool (external-tools.collie.eu)
2.2

Installation & training

  • Collars go on the cows; the training protocol runs over roughly 5 days (extendable).
  • Every customer is matched to one of 4 support profiles based on their farm's situation — this sets how much attention CS gives them from day one of training onward, not just during the week itself. See the matrix below.
  • After 5 days, proper attention to the herd is still needed! It takes roughly 5 days to remove the physical safety wire. Keep paying attention with every new pasture the herd starts grazing virtually in.

Support profile — matched at the start of training

Every customer is matched to one of four support profiles based on their farm's situation. This isn't just about the training week — it sets how much attention CS gives from day one onward, for as long as that profile applies.

GRAZING CHANGE FOR THE CUSTOMER Low High SUPPORT NEEDED Low High Path 1 — Low-touch Farmer installs, trains solo Remote monitoring only 2 check-in visits Path 3 — Remote-intensive Farmer installs, trains solo Intensive remote monitoring + daily check-ins 2 check-in visits Path 2 — Guided start Installed together, on-site On-site for days 1–2 2 check-in visits Path 4 — Full guidance Installed together, on-site On-site days 1–3, on-site adjustments, intensive monitoring 3 check-in visits
Same training protocol for everyone — the profile only changes how much on-site presence is scheduled and how many check-in visits happen, matched to what this specific farm needs.
2.3

Post-training

  • The week after training: regular check-ins, remote data monitoring for concerning patterns.
  • Quick responses to questions while the farmer builds confidence operating solo.
3
Onboarded
Ongoing
3.1

New customer — first season

  • Early (month 1): weekly check-ins, same-day response to any question.
  • Mid: bi-weekly check-ins as the farmer gets more independent.
  • Late: monthly check-ins — largely independent by now.
  • End of season: confidence is evaluated and the customer is classified for season 2.

Loop — support classification, season to season

New customer season 1 end-of-season eval High support bi-weekly check-ins Low support monthly at most, reactive needs guidance confident, independent still needs guidance stays independent the goal
The source material only documents a High → Low transition as the explicit goal; a documented path back from Low to High support wasn't found — worth confirming with CX before treating that as "never happens".

Open question — the reverse direction

Mirroring the loop above: what would move a customer back from Low to High support isn't written down anywhere reviewed so far. Shown here as an open question, not a confirmed process.

To do: note real examples we've seen so far below, discuss between Sales and CX, and write up the actual pattern once we have one.

Low support monthly at most, reactive High support bi-weekly check-ins ? trigger not documented
Illustrative only — if this path exists, what triggers it (repeated setbacks after being marked independent? a change in ownership? the farm expanding?) isn't in any source reviewed. Worth asking CX directly rather than assuming either way.
Examples seen so far

To be filled in by Sales/CX — real cases of a customer needing more support again after being marked low support.

3.2

High support customer — season 2+

  • Bi-weekly proactive check-ins, active data monitoring, same-day response to questions.
  • Explicit goal: build confidence and transition to low support when possible.
3.3

Low support customer — season 2+

  • Brief check-in at season start, then minimal proactive outreach (monthly at most).
  • Immediately available if the customer reaches out, but otherwise trusted to run independently.
Source: Notion → Customer Journey (From Closed Won). All content here mirrors knowledge-bank/teams/customer-experience/ in the repo — still status: draft, pending Renee's review.
3

FAQ's

Concept — not yet validated by CX. The answers below are summarized from existing Notion documentation (Customer Journey, Working agreement Sales) as an example of the format. A CX team member needs to review each one before this goes live.

The answers Sales needs most often about the handover and the onboarding journey. Click a question open for the full answer.

8 questions

What happens after a deal is closed?

CX schedules a pre-onboarding farm visit as soon as customer information is complete and payment is confirmed — this is the formal handover moment from Sales to Customer Experience.

Customer ExperienceOnboardingHandover

As soon as you mark a deal closed won, CX first checks whether the customer information is complete and the payment status is "paid".

  • Yes to both → CX schedules the pre-onboarding visit.
  • No → CX requests the missing info from Sales, or waits for confirmed payment. This can cause delay, so hand over as complete a picture as possible.

During the pre-onboarding visit, CX goes out to the farm: expectations are checked again (and reset if needed), a WhatsApp group is set up with the customer, and everything is documented in the CRM. From this point on, the customer is "CX's" — with one dedicated point of contact wherever possible.

See also — Who is my point of contact at CX for a specific customer?
Source: Notion → Customer Journey (From Closed Won) · CX Edit this answer →

How long does the whole journey from sale to an independently-running customer take?

Expect a few weeks of pre-onboarding and mapping, a training week of roughly 5 days, and a first season where CX scales down from weekly to monthly contact.

Customer ExperienceOnboardingTiming

The journey has three phases:

  • Pre-onboarding — farm visit, mapping fields/paths in QGIS, account creation, app exploration. Duration depends on how quickly the customer responds to mapping feedback.
  • Onboarding — a training week, typically 5 days, during which collars go on and the training protocol is worked through. Can be extended if needed.
  • Onboarded / first season — CX calls weekly in the first month, scales back to bi-weekly, and to monthly by the end of the season. At the end of the season, CX decides whether the customer becomes "high support" or "low support" for season 2.

Relevant for Sales: don't expect the customer to be "let go" immediately — count on several months before a customer is truly running independently.

Source: Notion → Customer Journey (From Closed Won) · CX Edit this answer →

Why does one customer get much more hands-on support during the training week than another?

CX picks one of four training levels based on how much guidance the farmer needs and how big a change the grazing management represents.

Customer ExperienceTraining

Two axes determine the level: how much hands-on guidance the farmer needs (low/high), and how big a change in grazing Collie represents for them (low/high). That gives four paths, ranging from "farmer installs independently, monitored remotely" to "Field Support is physically on-site for 3 days, with intensive monitoring and on-site adjustments". More change, or less confidence, means more visits and daily check-ins.

Relevant for Sales: if during the sales conversation you notice a customer is about to make a big shift from their current grazing approach, or comes across with little experience or confidence, pass that on to CX at handover — it helps them get the right level right from the start.

Source: Notion → Customer Journey (From Closed Won) · CX Edit this answer →

Do I as Sales still need to follow up after the sale, and when?

Yes — call the farmer around 3 weeks after onboarding finishes. A calendar entry for this is created automatically once CX wraps up the onboarding.

Customer ExperienceSalesWorking agreement

This is an explicit working agreement between Sales and CX: once CX finishes the onboarding journey, a date automatically appears in your calendar to call the farmer roughly 3 weeks later and ask how things are going.

Two reasons for this: the farmer hears again from the person who sold to them (personal touch, strengthens the relationship), and you learn directly what might have gone differently — or been promised differently — during the sales conversation.

Source: Notion → Working agreement Sales · Sales Edit this answer →

Who is my point of contact at Customer Experience for a specific customer?

CX aims for one dedicated point of contact per customer wherever possible — look it up on the customer accounts board on Monday.

Customer ExperienceContact

CX tries to make sure each customer deals with the same person as much as possible, whether that's proactive check-ins, mapping questions, or technical troubleshooting. Anyone within CX can, in principle, fill any of the roles (Customer Success / Office Support / Field Support), depending on experience and who's available at the time — but one fixed point of contact is maintained per customer.

Look it up on the Customer accounts board on Monday.

Source: Notion → Customer Journey (From Closed Won) · CX Edit this answer →

When does a returning customer become "low support" vs. "high support" for the next season?

At the end of each season, CX evaluates the customer's confidence and independence and classifies them accordingly for season 2 onward.

Customer ExperienceClassification

High support customers get bi-weekly proactive check-ins, stay under active data monitoring, and the goal is to move them toward independence. Low support customers are self-sufficient and get at most a monthly touchpoint — CX is available reactively as soon as the customer reaches out themselves.

This classification is reviewed at the end of every season; a high-support customer can move to low-support once confidence and results justify it.

Source: Notion → Customer Journey (From Closed Won) · CX Edit this answer →

What tone does CX take with the farmer, and why does that matter for me as Sales?

CX communicates as "the respectful partner": honest about what will be hard, focused on building independence — don't make promises in the sale that clash with that.

Customer ExperienceExpectation management

CX is radically transparent: the first period is intensive, and that's not glossed over. Both the farmer and the cows need time to adjust — a cow breaking through the virtual fence, or a collar that's tricky to pair in the app, is a normal part of getting started, not a failure.

For Sales, this means concretely: don't sell perfection or "it works flawlessly from day one". Expectations you set in the sales conversation are ones CX will have to live up to — an overly rosy promise leads to a disappointed customer in the first training week. Prefer language like "we expect that…" over hard guarantees about the future.

Source: Notion → Customer Journey (From Closed Won), Working agreement Sales Edit this answer →

Is there customer support during the weekend?

Yes — someone is always reachable on the emergency number. CX rotates who's on weekend duty. Non-urgent questions get picked up again after the weekend.

Customer ExperienceAvailabilityEmergency

Yes. The emergency number is staffed at all times, including weekends — CX rotates who covers weekend duty.

Smaller, non-urgent questions that come in over the weekend aren't answered immediately; they're picked up again once the work week starts.

Source: Provided by Renee Laban · CX Edit this answer →