Everything You Need to Know About Client Onboarding (From a CX Specialist)
Hello there, darling! Welcome to Le Blog, your new favorite (and free!) resource for improving your client experience, one step at a time. My name is Chloe, and I’m a client experience specialist. I help small business owners like you improve the behind-the-scenes of running your business, from eliminating boring, repetitive admin tasks to creating a seamless experience for your clients.
For a while now, I’ve been reallyyyy wanting to share with you what a smooth client onboarding system looks like. Because client onboarding is one of the most important parts of running a business people can’t stop raving about. So pour yourself a cup of tea and curl up in your favorite chair. Let’s dive in!
Why You Should Really Care About Your Client Onboarding Process
Client onboarding kicks off the second your client signs and pays their deposit. It’s also when you hand over everything they need to know about working with you – questionnaires, guides, resources, the whole welcome package.
When done correctly, the onboarding process makes your client feel excited and confident that they made the right choice by working with you. When done incorrectly, your client is overwhelmed and seriously starting to question the investment they just made.
My job is to teach you how to onboard your clients quickly, efficiently, and—most importantly—easily.
Softening the Shift From “Promising Lead” to “Paying Client”
Think about this from your client’s point of view. Onboarding is really the first part of the experience that they receive as your client. Before this point, they were just a lead, and you were still in “sales mode.” And in sales mode, everyone is nice. Everyone goes out of their way to make the lead feel welcomed, comfortable, and excited.
But once your client has paid, they start to wonder, “Is this person still going to take care of me now that they have my money? Or was all of that just an act to get me to sign the contract?” Unfortunately, that’s a common experience for so many people! You have to show them that you’re different, starting from the moment they sign. Your onboarding process should make them feel confident and cared for.
Setting the Tone for Your Work Together
Whether you’re a wedding vendor, brand and web designer, travel advisor, or other service provider, there’s a good chance that your client has never worked with someone like you before. The way you onboard them sets the tone for the whole relationship.
If you inundate them with information immediately, they’re going to be overwhelmed. Even if the information you’re sending is good and helpful and makes perfect sense, they don’t know that yet. The goal during client onboarding is to ease them into the experience, not dump everything on them at once.
This is why the onboarding process is the most delicate part of the client experience. You need to be intentional about what you share when so your client has the necessary information without getting overwhelmed and shutting down.
Elements of a Smooth Client Onboarding Process
Pace The Information
Client onboarding should be a two-way street. You’ve got to provide some information, but you likely have to collect some, too. The best way to make sure everyone gets what they need is to pace the information. Only share what they need to know right now. If something can wait until you’re closer to a delivery date or project milestone, then wait! Even if it’s “more efficient” for you to give everything all at once, it creates friction between you and the client. Most people can’t absorb and retain too much information at once.
Make it Easy for Them
When you’re first sharing information, share it in bite-size pieces—not a 90-page guide (looking at you, wedding vendors). In the same way, when you’re requesting information from a client, make it as easy for them as possible. I often pair questionnaires with a short video walkthrough to help clients answer the questions. It’s not long, but clients respond well because they don’t feel like they’re figuring it out on their own.
Include a Kick-Off Call
You can call this whatever you want—a kick-off call, strategy call, onboarding call, get to know you call, whatever—just make sure you have one. These calls are a simple but important way to connect with your clients and ensure you’re aligned before you dive into the real work.
Plus, it makes your clients feel seen and considered when they get some face time with you after they first sign and pay. It helps them trust that you’re not going to disappear now that you have their money. That feeling of being taken care of right from the start is what makes them either a returning client or your biggest fan and source of referrals!
Flawless Onboarding with Custom CRM Setups
I’ve been building bespoke CRM (Client relationship management) setups for five years now. And before that, I worked at Disney—one of the most intentional and experiential companies out there. All this to say, I have a deep understanding of what makes a client experience unforgettable, especially in the onboarding phase!
A custom CRM lets us optimize every touch point. It ensures that every piece of information you send is genuinely valuable and helps you pop in at the exact right time, so your clients always feel seen and cared about. And on the back-end (where you, the business owner, hang out), a custom CRM means the onboarding process is as hands-off or hands-on as you want it to be.
Onboarding a new client doesn’t need to feel like a long, arduous process. It doesn’t have to become something you dread because it takes so much time and energy. When you dread the process, you subconsciously don’t want to sign new clients, because you know what’s waiting for you after that signature. A good CRM completely removes that dread and replaces it with confidence and clarity so you know exactly how to introduce your clients to working with you!
Feeling confident in your business (and having your clients feel that same confidence in you) starts with the systems behind the scenes. A bespoke CRM might be exactly what’s missing. Client onboarding is just one piece of the puzzle. When we work together, I make sure that each piece fits together, so your business runs smoothly and your clients are consistently impressed by how easy it is to work with you.
Explore my bespoke Honeybook and Dubsado CRM setups, and fill out the calling card on my website to chat with me directly! I’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have.
