How to Set the Tone for Onboarding New Clients

How you get a client started with your company sets the tone for the relationship going forward. Making the onboarding process flow smoothly not only will impress your clients but also make you happier! Check out some tips and tools below to revamp your onboarding process.

Review all the steps of your onboarding process. Do they make sense in that order? Is there a way to reorganize the steps that make it easy for your clients and for your company?

Now that the steps are in the optimal order, how can you make them flow more smoothly? Consider tools like the ones listed below.

CRM

Use a CRM to track when a client is ready to be onboarded. If your CRM includes project or task management, use that to track all the steps you just put into order.

Don’t have a CRM yet? Start with a simple spreadsheet. If you use Gmail, we recommend Streak for when you need something more robust than a spreadsheet.

Task/Project/Checklist software

Once you have identified that a client is ready to be onboarded, you will want somewhere to track all the tasks in order very easily. Find a solution that keeps the tasks in order, preferably one that can also automatically assign the person responsible and the due date. 

Using a checklist-type system may seem like overkill but you will be amazed at the amount of time, energy, and effort you save when the same automated template is used over and over. 

For simple checklists, we recommend using Process Street. 

When you need something more robust, considering using Asana.

Signature Management software

With tools like this DocuSign, you can have a master template and you simply fill in the information that changes. From there, a few clicks get the documents to your clients or vendors for their review. They do not have to check email. They do not have to print, sign, scan, and send it back. They do not risk signing in the wrong places or missing a spot. 

The software guides them through where they need to sign, initial, date, etc. Then they hit submit and voila! You are done. 

Invoicing/billing

I think most everyone uses some sort of accounting software these days. From many of those, you can send invoices directly. And, of course, most people have figured out how to accept online payments in ways that make sense to them. 

One thing to consider is how to automate that first payment. Some signature and appointment setting solutions include a payment option. Be sure to explore those options if initial payment is an integral part of your onboarding process.

Scheduling

While it is great a client has agreed to hire you, you must be concerned with the half-life of enthusiasm. The harder it is or the longer it takes to get started with you, the less likely they will. This is why timely follow up is so important to having a successful small business. The more your onboarding process can flow between these tools seamlessly and automatically, the better. 

The final tool we recommend is for scheduling. Getting a client to schedule that first meeting is key to setting up the relationship for long-term success. Use a scheduling solution such as Calendly to make it easier on you and on them. You set your availability ahead of time and the client can choose from those options what is best for them.

The last step is to create a habit of periodically reviewing your process. Does the order of the tasks still make sense? Do they need to be updated to match what you really do? 

I noticed that, in the beginning, we tended to review our process when a new person  joined our Core Team. Their fresh eyes reminded us when a task wording no longer matched what we actually did, etc. We would also review when we added a now software solution for that same reason: adjusting to the new parameters made us review what we currently had.

The other day, a client shared some feedback about where we were in the process when they first received the contract. We took a moment to explore whether we should change that order of the steps. That seems to have become our practice now--we review our processes whenever we receive feedback on them--because we are constantly trying to improve.