The Client Onboarding Process: 6 Musts for a Smooth Start

The client onboarding process is a double-edged sword. On one side, your clients are your lifeblood. They give you work and pay the bills.

On the other side, they often need back-and-forth conversations and time-intensive education to be successful.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

With the right client onboarding processes in place, you can create longer-lasting client relationships in less time. It’s a win-win situation for you and your clients.

However, getting started is the hardest part. But you don’t have to figure it out all on your own. Below, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about the client onboarding process, including expert tips, client onboarding best practices, and the most effective methods of client onboarding.

What Is Client Onboarding?

Client onboarding is the process of kickstarting your relationship with a brand-new client. It includes setting expectations, getting them set up on whatever product or service your business offers, outlining next steps, and establishing milestones.

Basically, the client onboarding process makes the working relationship as smooth, easy, and productive as possible.

Why Is Client Onboarding Important?

Client onboarding is important because it eases new users into using your product or service, teaching them how to use it without tons of confusion. But more than that, customers are 50% more likely to remain loyal to a company with an effective client onboarding process. Not only is it better for your clients, but it can help you keep a solid customer base.

Here are a few more reasons why you should take client onboarding seriously from the get-go:

• Reduce Client Churn: A good onboarding process makes your business easier to work with and increases trust. If customers trust your business, they’re 62% more likely to stay loyal. 

• Avoid Scope Creep: A client onboarding process with clear expectations can help you avoid scope creep and keep you on the same page with your clients. Preventing scope creep is super important in making sure your project doesn’t go over budget or past set timelines.

• Improve Efficiency: Client onboarding can help you and your client get more done in less time. For your client, they’ll be set up for success and can get started using your product or service soon after onboarding. In turn, you’ll be able to get to other work by setting up an onboarding process that solves your client’s needs early, rather than them having to contact you for help.

• Increase Your Client Base: With less time spent managing your current clients, you can spend more time bringing in new clients.

• Make More Money: Improved efficiency plus more clients equals additional income. By having a client onboarding process that runs smoothly, you can increase budgets and take on more projects.

Client Onboarding Checklist: 6 Musts for a Smooth Process

This checklist has everything you need to make sure your client onboarding process is a success. 

1. Finalize Deals With Contracts

If you haven’t already before this point, put the deadlines, deliverables, and payments of your partnership down in writing and seal the deal with a signature. Contracts help keep both parties on track and prevent scope creep.

Months from now, you won’t have to dig through your Slack messages or emails to find the agreed-upon billing rate or scope of work—instead, you’ll have it nice and tidy in a signed document.

Use DocuSign to make trading electronic signatures quick and easy and integrate DocuSign with Stripe to make the contract negotiation and payment process seamless.

A helpful, budget-friendly space to manage clients, contracts, and invoicing—especially for freelancers—is Fiverr Workspace.

2. Send an Email Welcome Series

Kick off your client onboarding process with a welcome email to new clients! This can be a templated email that includes everything your clients need to know about your product or service, including:

• Welcoming Your Client: Roll out the red carpet and get them excited. This client welcome email sets the tone for your conversations moving forward.

• Reaffirm Their Decision: Remind them how working with you will help them achieve their end goals. Think of this as a way to remove post-purchase dissonance.

• Set Expectations: Confirm the deliverables, timeline, and budget. Lay out what they should expect to see in the coming days and weeks.

• Meet Your Team: Let them know everyone they’ll be working with. For example, “Meet your dedicated team—Krystal (Graphic Designer) and Luke (Video Producer) will be doing the creative work while Jen (Account Director) will be your main point of contact. You can reach out to any of our team members using the following email address…”

• Documents: Send over the documents that need to be confirmed and signed, such as NDAs, contracts, and approved budgets.

• Communication Preferences: Decide which tools you’ll use for feedback and communication. Invite them to your Slack channel or set them up with their own Punchlist guest account. 

• Software: Let your client know what tools you use to coordinate projects and decide who should own the accounts. In some cases, the client should own and manage the account, like in Github. For other projects, you may be able to export and share final files from your own account, like in Figma. Try not to overload clients with too many logins—decide which are most important to your process and start there.

• Next Steps: Outline what’s next in the process, and detail what steps they need to take (sign contracts, schedule a kickoff call, etc.) and what your team will be working on in the meantime (e.g. market research, customer discovery).

Include a Typeform questionnaire to collect all the details you need from their side, including:

• Contact information
• Logins and access (e.g. Google Analytics, social media accounts)
• Logo files and brand guidelines
• Competitor research
• Anything that will help you make better work for your client

3. Implement the Right Software

The right software can set your relationship up for success in the client onboarding process. Don’t make your clients jump through hoops and download a ton of whozits and whatzits to work with you.

For example, for creative feedback and QA, you can use online collaboration tools like Punchlist to consolidate comments and feedback in one place.

For synchronous conversations, consider using a communication tool like Slack. While email is a tried-and-true, it’s not the best when you need quick answers and back-and-forth threads. These days it’s easy to include a client in your Slack workspace through guest accounts or shared channels.

Also Read: How to Integrate Slack with Punchlist for Instant Visibility

As for video conferencing, Zoom is the industry leader. However, it is an additional application your clients will need to download if they don’t have it. Instead, try video call platforms that don’t need installation, like Dialpad and Google Meet.

By listing out all the tools you use for collaboration early on, your client will know what to expect and can spend time upfront determining who needs an account and getting familiar with the tool.

4. Provide Clear Documentation

The saying that you only get one chance to make a first impression is true. By establishing a smooth and streamlined client onboarding process, you’re signaling that you’re communicative, organized, and excited about the work from the jump.

That’s why in the client onboarding process, you need to provide clear communication and detailed documentation on day one to put their minds at ease. As you start to deliver on some of the work outlined in the SOW, that trust will grow. Ideally, your client will become your biggest cheerleader, championing your work with internal stakeholders and recommending that friends or colleagues use your business.

5. Set Recurring Meetings and Respond Promptly

It’s better to overcommunicate with your clients than under-communicate. That’s why you should provide regular check-ins and updates proactively. Don’t wait to be asked. Set a schedule for recurring meetings (weekly or biweekly) to provide progress updates, look over deliverables, answer questions, and get everyone up to speed on the next steps.

Setting a recurring meeting time should be one of the main points of action in your first client onboarding email. Again, Calendly is a great tool for doing this that takes out all the needless back and forth.

In addition, you need to respond to client emails and messages on time. The better you execute your client onboarding process, the fewer interruptions you’ll have in your work, but never leave your client hanging. We live in a world where people expect responses almost immediately. Yes, you need to maintain professional boundaries, but it’s better to stay on your client’s good side by responding quickly, even if it’s just to say “I saw your message and I’ll respond to you by today at 4:00.”

Also Read: Handling a Client Follow-Up Email After No Response (With Samples)

6. Finalize and Automate Your Client Onboarding Process

The last step in the client onboarding checklist is automating your client onboarding process. Here are some steps you can take to set up consistent, repeatable processes:

• Set Up Automated Workflows: Use your CRM or project management platforms to automate routine tasks like sending welcome emails, scheduling follow-ups, or alerting when key deadlines come up.

• Create Standardized Templates: Make some templates for emails, contracts, questionnaires, and project briefs that can be easily personalized to each new client’s onboarding.

• Test and Refine: Run through your checklist with a few new clients, get some feedack, and tweak the process as needed. See how you can make onboarding as seamless and stress-free as possible.

• Train Your Team: Make sure everyone involved in client onboarding is familiar with the process and can get to the necessary tools and templates. Hold a training session to make the transition and execution smooth.

• Review and Update Regularly: Schedule regular reviews of your onboarding checklist to make sure your onboarding process is still effective.

Client Onboarding Best Practices

Along with setting up your client onboarding checklist, here are some client onboarding best practices you can use to make the client onboarding process even better.

1. Personalize the Onboarding Experience

The client onboarding process should fit each client’s unique needs and preferences. Why? 58% of customers say that it is absolutely crucial they receive a personalized experience when interacting with a company. These personal touches can go a long way in building a strong relationship. Include personalized video introductions or send a small welcome gift that shows you know something about your client, their interests, or their industry.

2. Set Clear Communication Protocols

Answering how and when communication will happen between you and your client should be defined from the get-go. This includes setting preferred communication channels (email, Slack, phone), acceptable response times, and what to do in emergency situations.

3. Educate Your Clients

No, your clients won’t be focused on your work every second of the day. But, you should let them in on some educational resources that they can go back to to learn about your process, tools, and any industry-specific knowledge they might need. This could be through client handbooks, video tutorials, or documented FAQ sections on your website.

4. Build Trust From Day One

The golden rule: always be transparent. Be clear about potential challenges, timelines, and costs. Being clear in your communication will build more trust than any results you provide.

5. Establish Clear Milestones

Break down your project into milestones and timelines for deliverables. This will help your clients see progress and reward them (and you) when milestones are reached. These can also serve as natural points for check-ins and feedback.

6. Gather Feedback Early and Often

Ask for feedback early in the client onboarding process to get an outsider's perspective. Regular feedback loops can help your client feel heard and give you insights into gaps in your process.

7. Agree on Goals and Success Metrics

Make sure you and your client both say yes to what success looks like during the onboarding process. Define clear goals and success metrics early and go back to them every so often to see if you’re below, on track, or about to exceed expectations.

8. Keep the Momentum Going

After the client onboarding phase, you’ve got to keep the momentum going. Give regular updates, consistently communicate, and hit milestones on time to keep your client’s confidence in your ability to deliver high.

9. Document Everything

Throughout the onboarding process, document all important discussions, decisions, and deliverables. This will be used as a reference point for you and the client, keeping everyone on the same page.

10. Reflect and Improve

After finishing the client onboarding process, it’s time to look back on what went well and what could be improved. Gather feedback from your team and the client, and use it to change what your onboarding process looks like in the future.

What Is the Most Effective Method of Client Onboarding?

When it comes to client onboarding, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. The most effective method depends on your processes and what works best with your clients. Here are some potential pros and cons of different client onboarding methods.

Personalized Onboarding Calls

Personalized onboarding calls allow you to walk your client through every step of the onboarding process, answering questions in real-time. This is especially beneficial if your business is complex or you have processes that require in-depth explanations.

Pros:

• Builds a personal connection with the client
• Allows for immediate clarification of questions
• Tailored to the client’s specific needs

Cons:

• Time-consuming for both parties
• May not be feasible for businesses with lots of clients

Automated Onboarding Emails

Automated onboarding emails are a popular method for onboarding clients, especially for businesses with standardized processes. These emails can be part of a welcome series that guides the client through each step, from signing contracts to setting up necessary tools.

Pros:

• Easy to scale and time-efficient
• Keeps consistency in the onboarding process
• Can be scheduled to deliver at the perfect time

Cons:

• Less personal touch than a call or meeting
• Not able to hit on specific client concerns

Interactive Onboarding Portals

For businesses that have lots of onboarding steps, interactive portals can be a good method for onboarding. Here, clients can get to resources easily, check off tasks, and track their onboarding progress.

Pros:

• One platform for all onboarding activities
• Tasks can be completed at their own pace
• Easy to scale and customize

Cons:

• Requires investment in technology and setup
• Clients may need initial guidance on how to use the portal

In-Person Onboarding Sessions

In-person onboarding sessions are ideal for high-touch services or industries where trust and relationship-building are super important. Meeting face-to-face means you can give an in-depth walkthrough of the product or service, show off the tools, and build a deeper connection with the client.

Pros:

• Strong relationship-building opportunity
• Allows for hands-on demonstrations and training
• Can create a memorable first impression

Cons:

• Hard to do with geographical constraints
• Time-intensive, so may not be possible for all clients

Video Tutorials and Webinars

Need to educate your clients? Video tools are your friend. They allow clients to learn at their own pace and revisit the content as needed. Webinars, in particular, offer the added benefit of real-time interaction.

Pros:

• Accessible at any time, allowing for flexible learning
• Can cover complex topics in a visual and engaging way
• Works with large audiences

Cons:

• Less personal touch than live interactions
• Requires high-quality content

Hybrid Approaches

Finally, many businesses use a hybrid approach for client onboarding. Combining initial onboarding calls with automated emails and access to an interactive portal can offer the best of both worlds: clients receive personalized attention and benefit from a consistent process.

Pros:

• Both personalized and scalable
• Can adapt to client needs and preferences
• Provides multiple touchpoints for clients

Cons:

• Possible to overwhelm your client with too much info
• May need more resources for multiple media

Streamline Your Client Onboarding Process

The client onboarding process shouldn’t be a painful part of running your business. If you get it right from the start,  it should be a set-it-and-forget experience for you—and an easy experience for them.

One tool you can integrate into your client onboarding process to help with feedback management, QA, and bug tracking, is Punchlist.

Punchlist is the #1 tool for feedback management, allowing the people reviewing your work to easily leave actionable feedback on all of your deliverables. It also consolidates feedback from all the sources you used to get it from; that means no more looking through old email chains, Slack messages, or meeting notes to find feedback you need to implement. 

Plus, there are no downloads or installations required. Your client will love the seamless process and your projects will get checked off faster.

To start your 30-day free Punchlist trial, head here. Take a look at our client onboarding process to see how easy yours can be too!