Creating a kickass client journey - Part 2: Onboarding

When I first started my business, here’s what my onboarding process looked like:

I created a custom package and invoice for every new client.

I updated my contract for each new client as I learned more about what worked and what didn’t in my client relationships.

I spent way too much time answering emails from my clients and figuring out how to get the information I needed to start our work together.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! Check out this video to learn more about streamlining this process while still taking care of your clients:

Listen to the audio:

Start streamlining your onboarding process

Do you want to create a supportive, streamlined, efficient process for your leads and clients throughout the relationship with you? (If you haven’t checked out the first post in this process, you can find it here.)

If you'll recall, the first part of the process was making sure that the experience is consistent for your leads no matter where they're coming from. This means that they're all coming into the same experience no matter where they are coming from. It also means that the next step for them is all the same so that you're not doing all of this communication and scheduling and managing all of these things manually.

So what's the next part of the journey? Once you have had a discovery call with someone or they have moved to the part of the process where they've decided they're ready to buy from you in whatever way that looks like for your business, the next stage is to onboard them.

So what does that look like? For most people, at bare minimum, onboarding is going to include sending them some sort of contract or agreement and some sort of invoice. Now I also encourage you to go beyond this. You should have some sort of welcome email, welcome packet - something that is going to help them feel more connected to you and give them more information so that they know more about what working with you is going to look like and so that they know what's expected of them and what they need to do next.

Creating a great welcome email

So what do I mean by this? They might have to fill out a questionnaire before you can keep going. Maybe now that they have signed their agreement and paid their invoice, the next step is to book an appointment with you. Maybe there are documents or other things that they need to send to you. Maybe they have signed up for some sort of group program and it's not starting until a particular date so they don't need to do anything until then.

Whatever it is that is happening at this point, they should clearly understand what's expected of them and what is happening next. If your clients don't know what they're supposed to be doing next, chances are they're not doing it.

An inconsistent onboarding process is also going to make them feel anxious and disconnected if they're not clear on the expectations.

I encourage you to at least send some sort of email or PDF outlining some key points of what they need to know and highlighting what it is they need to do next.

Here are some things you could include in a welcome email/package:

• A timeline or list of important dates or milestones

• FAQs

• A to do list for the client

• A link to a questionnaire

• Who to contact if they have any issues

• How to book a call with you if needed

If your welcome package is an attachment or a link in your welcome email, I encourage you to put the client’s next step in the email, even if it’s listed in the welcome document. It never hurts to have it repeated in multiple places. Depending on what software you're using, you can also use some automation to set up reminders if there are things that clients need to get to you.

Automating the onboarding process

You can definitely automate most of the onboarding process - especially sending out contracts, invoices, and documents. This means you need to have standard agreements and pricing that you are using for your clients, or set up multiple automated workflows if you have different packages, services, etc.

Onboarding is a very important part of your business. It's where you set the tone for your relationship with your clients. It's where you set all your expectations. So it's important to nail this.

But nailing it does not mean that it needs to take all of your time and attention. You can automate most, if not all, of this part of the process, until you get to your next touch point with that client that actually involves you personally.

As long as your onboarding components and automation are set up properly, your clients are going to feel taken care of and they're going to do what they need to do without you holding their hand.

I encourage you to think about your current onboarding process. Are there more things that you could do to create more clarity for your clients so they know exactly what they need to do as soon as they sign up?

Are you spending a lot of time answering individual questions and concerns from new clients? Maybe there is standard information or FAQs you could send out to all new clients to prevent this. There's so many opportunities here to save you time and create more efficiency without sacrificing the experience for your clients.

Do you need help touching up your onboarding process? Let me know down in the comments or feel free to reach out.