The Designing of a successful Client Onboarding Process

If it appears that each time you engage with a brand new customer for a project you're spending the same amount of time on their induction than you do on the project, it may be time to begin thinking about streamlining this part of your company. An efficient process for onboarding clients will help you build lasting connections, inspiring new client referrals, and saving you and your team considerable amounts of time.

What are the reasons to develop the client onboarding process

There are several reasons why an effective process for onboarding clients is imperative to the success of your business

• It establishes expectations. A well-designed process assists your clients in understanding how the project will be accomplished, what is required of them, and when to seek out status updates. This also makes them feel more comfortable when working with you and your staff.
• It saves your company the time. A standardized, automated process for onboarding will help you and your clients save time both at the beginning of the project, but as long as it continues. If clients are aware of what they can expect, they'll have fewer inquiries and don't be compelled to continually check in on the status of the production.
• It improves client retention. Your most reliable revenue comes from existing customers. If a customer is hiring your company for the first time, it is crucial that they understand what to expect, know where to find certain data and be able to feel comfortable throughout the experience. An excellent first experience won't just encourage your customers to work with you, but it can also help them become your primary referral source.
• The HTML0 code boosts revenue overall. The more long-term clients you have you have, the less your costs for acquisition are as time passes. If your current clients and their referrals are keeping your busy, you don't need to put as many hours or dollars in marketing. This keeps your revenue higher and the marketing cost less.

Client onboarding checklist

How to design your onboarding procedure for clients

Once you've identified the details you'll need to supply to and get from your customer, you'll have to figure out the best method to transfer and keep these details and the systems that must be in place to ensure a smooth, simple-to-manage experience.

Create client screening and registration forms

Depending on the nature of your company, you might not ask clients to pay for the services up front. You may first ask them to answer a question to determine the scope of their project or if the services you offer fit with the client's needs.

The checkout process can be simplified

If you've added more field fields for your products or require a lengthy registration, you'll want to push simplicity and efficiency even more in your checkout. Try to keep your checkout simple and distraction-free so customers don't become frustrated. The things you can try to simplify the process are:

• Eliminate distractions. Eliminate navigation and sidebar widgets so that your customer stays focused and does not wander off to explore other options.

Set up a secure client portal

After your client is signed up on your website, you'll want ensure that they've got access to all the information they'll need, and are able to give you any information your team needs. A secure client portal is the ideal way to store confidential information together as well as provide safe access to everything you'll need for working together.

You can make payments simpler with subscriptions

Through Memberships and Subscriptions, you can:

• Create automated payment plans
• Free trials are available.
• Clients are able to pause their memberships
• Let clients upgrade or downgrade their membership
• Prorate memberships when clients upgrade or downgrade services

Make a welcome pack for clients

Develop a sequence of letters and other documents to will introduce your client to working with you. In an introduction email, you could provide every legal and financial information you'll need to collect from the client. Also, you can request project-specific specific information, such as brand guidelines, or even send a questionnaire which aids in defining the project's scope. Also, provide information on your working hours, collaborative tools you use to collaborate with clients, and the best way they can use them, and other important information.

• Provide other suggestions: Automatically send clients emails suggesting other services they may be interested in, based upon what they've purchased.
• Send SMS notifications You can send your customers SMS notifications following an purchase.
• Provide card expiry notifications Inform customers of upcoming debit or credit expiration dates of cards that they have saved on their account. This could reduce the number of failed transactions as well as additional customer support work.

After your client has been onboarded, you can use these similar tools and methods to encourage retention. Upsell them on additional services, recommend new ones to them at the close of a contract or membership period, and offer them incentives to send new customers your way.

When your procedure has been set up and is implemented, this does not mean that you are able to take it easy, though. While good systems improve your workflow but you'll have to improve your processes in time. Check your onboarding processes regularly and work to improve it in response to the feedback of your clients as well as changes to your business. An efficient onboarding process will not only well-planned in the beginning, but one which evolves with time to best serve your clients and your company.