Client onboarding
Onboarding is the period between someone paying you and someone being glad they did. It is short, it is almost entirely within your control, and it decides retention more than the quality of the work does.
That last claim is uncomfortable and it holds up. A client who has a clear, confident first month forgives a later mistake. A client whose first month is silence and confusion churns after work that was technically fine, and frequently cannot articulate why.
The most common onboarding failure is a gap. They sign, they pay, and then nothing happens for nine days while the work is scheduled internally. Nothing is wrong, but from the outside it is indistinguishable from being forgotten, and it is exactly when buyer’s remorse arrives.
Ask these seven questions first
Ask these on the day the deal closes, not at handover. By handover the answers are gone, and they are the most valuable thing in the whole process.
1. What exactly did they buy, and what did they pay?
2. Who sold it, and who delivers it? Is that the same person?
3. What did they tell you during the sale? Their goal, their constraint, and
what they were worried about
4. What do you need from them before work can start?
5. What is the first real thing they will receive, and when?
6. Who is their named contact, with a direct number?
7. What usually goes wrong in the first month with a client like this?
Question 3 is load bearing and it is the one that gets lost. It is known by the person who sold and needed by the person who delivers, and nothing in a CRM captures it unless somebody writes it down at the moment it is said. Write it down at the moment it is said.
Question 5 decides retention more than the quality of the work does. If the honest answer is “nothing for three weeks”, that is the finding: the plan then has to be a scheduled update on a promised day, because silence in week two is indistinguishable from being forgotten.
Question 2 exposes the seam where onboarding collapses. If the seller and the deliverer are different people, the handover has to be introduced by name, in writing, before it happens. An unexplained new face reads as being passed to the B team.
The shape
Five phases. The timings suit a service business and should move for longer or shorter engagements, but the order does not change.
| Phase | When | The job |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm | Within 1 hour of yes | Remove doubt. Say what happens next and when |
| Collect | Days 1 to 3 | Get everything needed, once, without ten emails |
| Kick off | Days 3 to 7 | Agree scope, contacts, dates and how you will work |
| Deliver something | Week 1 or 2 | Anything real and visible. This is the phase that matters |
| Check in | Day 30 | Ask how it is going while it is cheap to fix |
Detail on each in references/the-first-30-days.md. A copy ready checklist is at assets/onboarding-checklist.md, messages at assets/welcome-templates.md.
The first hour
The confirmation message is the highest leverage message in the entire relationship, and most businesses send an invoice.
It needs four things:
- Thank them, briefly
- Confirm exactly what they bought, in their words
- Say what happens next, with a date. Not “we will be in touch”
- Name their person, with a direct contact
Thanks David, welcome aboard.
You are booked for the switchboard upgrade at 14 Marsden Street, starting
Monday 16 March. Ben will be your main contact and he is on 0400 000 000.
Tomorrow I will send a short form for site access and your preferred
invoicing details. Once that is back we will confirm the exact start time.
Anything at all before then, reply to this email or call me directly.
Four sentences, sent within the hour, and the entire “have I made a mistake” window closes. The date is what does the work. Vague reassurance does not, because the client has heard it before from someone who then disappeared.
Deliver something early
Something real and visible in the first week or two, even when the main work takes months.
- The site survey report
- The draft plan
- The first fix, however small
- Access to the system, set up and working
- A finding from the discovery work
A quick win converts a buyer into an advocate, which matters because the person who hired you often has to justify that decision to somebody else. Give them something to show.
If the work genuinely cannot produce anything for a month, then the deliverable is communication: a scheduled update saying what is happening, on the day you said, every time. Silence in week two is the most expensive silence in the relationship.
Collect once
Ten separate emails asking for one thing each is the most common way to look disorganised while working hard.
Make one list, send it once, with a deadline and a reason for each item.
To get started I need four things by Friday:
1. Site access arrangements, so we can schedule the right crew
2. Your preferred invoicing contact and any PO requirement
3. Switchboard location and any known faults
4. A signed copy of the attached, which covers insurance requirements
The reason beside each item roughly doubles the response rate, because it converts a chore into something with a purpose.
Chase once, then call. An unreturned form after three days is not rudeness, it is a busy person. One reminder, then a two minute phone call that completes it in the call.
Wire it into the systems
Onboarding fails when it depends on someone remembering. The parts that can be triggered should be.
| Trigger | What fires |
|---|---|
| Deal marked won | The confirmation message, within the hour |
| Deal marked won | The internal task list, assigned with dates |
| Intake form returned | The kick off booking link |
| First delivery complete | The check in scheduled for day 30 |
leadconnector_add_contact_to_workflow the onboarding sequence
leadconnector_create_contact_task internal tasks with owners and dates
leadconnector_send_message the confirmation, immediately
hubspot_create_task
servicem8_create_job the job, with the client attached
servicem8_create_client
xero_get_contacts check they are not already a contact
Create the client record once, properly. The most common data problem in a small business is the same customer existing three times across the CRM, the job system and the accounting system with three spellings. Check before creating, and use the same name in all three.
Rules
- Somebody owns onboarding by name. “The team” means nobody, and this is the process most likely to fall between roles
- Confirm within the hour, in writing, with a date
- Never let the first fortnight go quiet. If there is nothing to report, report that on schedule
- Set expectations low enough to beat. “Two weeks” delivered in ten days makes a better client than “one week” delivered in ten days, for identical work
- Write down what they told you during the sale. Their goal, their constraint, their deadline, the thing they were worried about. Onboarding is where that knowledge gets lost between the person who sold and the person who delivers
- One list, once. Not ten emails
- Ask at day 30, while the cost of fixing a misunderstanding is a conversation
What not to do
- Do not send a contract as the first thing after yes. Confirm, thank, then send the paperwork
- Do not make the first interaction a request. They just gave you money. The first thing they hear should not be a demand for four documents
- Do not hand off silently. If the person who sold is not the person who delivers, introduce them by name and explain the handover. An unexplained new face reads as being passed down to the B team
- Do not ask for things you already have. Asking a client to re enter details they gave during the sale signals that nobody read their file
- Do not over onboard a small job. A $600 job does not need a kick off meeting. Scale the process to the size of the work, and keep only the confirmation, which always applies
- Do not skip it for a client who came by referral. They arrive with the highest expectations of anyone, because someone vouched for you
The day 30 check in
A short call, not a survey.
Three questions, and the third is the one that pays:
- How has it gone so far
- Is there anything you expected that has not happened
- Is there anything you are unsure about, or that has been more difficult than you expected
Question 3 gets the truth. Questions 1 and 2 get politeness. What comes out of question 3 is usually small, always cheap to fix at day 30, and the thing that would otherwise have quietly ended the relationship at month seven.
This is also, by a distance, the best moment to ask for a review or a referral. They are at peak satisfaction and it has cost them nothing yet.
Reference files
Everything the skill tells your AI to read, exactly as it ships in the zip.
references/the-first-30-days.md 6.2 KB
# The first thirty days
## Phase 1: Confirm. Within one hour
The highest leverage message in the relationship, and the one most businesses replace with an invoice.
**Why one hour.** The gap between deciding and being reassured is when doubt lives. A message inside the hour closes it before it opens. A message the next day arrives after the client has already wondered.
**What it contains:** thanks, what they bought in their own words, what happens next with a date, and a named person with a direct contact.
**What it does not contain:** a contract, a form, a request, or a list of your terms. Those come next, and leading with them makes the first thing they feel after paying a demand.
**Automate the trigger, not the words.** Fire it from the deal moving to won so it never depends on someone remembering. Keep the text specific to the job, because a visibly automatic message does the opposite of what this message is for.
## Phase 2: Collect. Days 1 to 3
Everything you need, requested once.
Build the list from what you actually need to start, not from what would be nice to have on file. Every item added to an intake form reduces the completion rate of the whole form, so the question for each field is whether the work can begin without it.
**Give each item a reason.** "Site access arrangements, so we can schedule the right crew" gets answered. "Site access details" gets postponed.
**Do not ask for anything they already told you during the sale.** Re asking is the clearest possible signal that nobody read their file, and it costs credibility you spent weeks earning.
**Chase once, then call.** A form outstanding after three days is a busy person, not a rude one. One reminder, then a two minute call that fills it in during the call. This single habit saves more onboarding delays than any tool.
## Phase 3: Kick off. Days 3 to 7
Proportional to the job. A half hour call for most service work, a meeting for a large project, nothing at all for a small job.
What it settles:
| | |
|---|---|
| Scope | What is happening, in plain language, and what is not |
| Dates | Start, milestones, finish |
| People | Who does what, on both sides, by name |
| Communication | Which channel, how often, who to call when something is wrong |
| Dependencies | What you need from them and when. Say the consequence of a delay once, now, calmly |
| Money | What gets invoiced when |
**Send a written summary within a day.** Not minutes. Six lines: what we agreed, who does what, the dates, what happens next. This is the document both sides refer to in week six, and the thing nobody regrets having written.
**Name the failure mode out loud.** "The thing that usually slows this down is site access on the day. If we can lock that in now it will not bite us." Saying it in the kick off makes it a shared problem. Saying it in week four makes it an excuse.
## Phase 4: Deliver something. Week 1 or 2
Something real and visible, early, even when the main work takes months.
The client who hired you frequently had to persuade someone else. A tangible thing in week one is what they show that person, and it converts a purchase into a defended decision.
Candidates: the survey report, the draft, the first small fix, the system set up and working, a finding from discovery.
**Where nothing can be delivered, the deliverable is communication.** A scheduled update on the day you said, saying what is happening and what is next, every time. Silence in week two reads identically to being forgotten, and the client cannot tell the difference from outside.
## Phase 5: Check in. Day 30
A short call, not a survey. Surveys get politeness, calls get information.
1. How has it gone so far
2. Is there anything you expected that has not happened
3. **Is there anything you are unsure about, or that has been harder than you expected**
Question 3 is the one that pays. What comes out of it is almost always small, almost always cheap to fix at day 30, and is usually the thing that would otherwise have quietly ended the relationship six months later.
**Log what they say, and act on one thing visibly.** A client who raises something and sees it change is more loyal than one who never had a problem at all.
This is also the best moment in the whole relationship to ask for a review or a referral. Peak satisfaction, and it has cost them nothing yet.
## Handover, if the seller is not the deliverer
The most common point of collapse in a small business, because it is the seam between two people who each assume the other has it.
- **Introduce by name, in writing, before the handover.** "Ben will be running this. He has been across it since the quote."
- **Transfer the knowledge, not just the file.** Their goal, their constraint, their deadline, the thing they were worried about in the first conversation. Write it in the CRM at the moment it is said, not at handover, because by handover it is gone
- **The seller stays visible for the first fortnight.** One message in week two from the person they trusted first is worth more than it costs
- **Never hand over silently.** An unexplained new face reads as being passed to the B team
## Scaling it to the job
| Job size | What to keep |
|---|---|
| Under a few hundred | The confirmation message. Nothing else |
| A few thousand | Confirmation, one intake list, a written summary, day 30 check in |
| Large or ongoing | All five phases, with a real kick off and a named owner |
Over onboarding a small job is its own failure. It wastes their time and yours and signals that the business does not distinguish between a tap washer and a fit out.
**The confirmation message always applies.** It takes two minutes and it is the one step that is never worth skipping.
## Measuring it
Four numbers, and they are all cheap to collect:
| Metric | Why |
|---|---|
| Hours from yes to confirmation | The one that predicts the rest |
| Days from yes to first delivery | The silence window. Shorten it |
| Intake completion rate, first ask | A low rate means the form is too long |
| Day 30 check in completion rate | The one that gets skipped when busy, and the one that catches churn |
If only one is tracked, track the second. The silence between paying and receiving is where most early churn is created, and it is the number nobody looks at.
assets/onboarding-checklist.md 3.0 KB
# New client onboarding
| | |
|---|---|
| Client | |
| What they bought | |
| Value | |
| Sold by | |
| Delivered by | |
| Start date agreed | |
| Onboarding owner | |
## From the sale, before anything is forgotten
<Fill this in on the day the deal closes, not at handover. By handover it is gone,
and it is the most valuable thing in this document.>
| | |
|---|---|
| What they are actually trying to achieve | |
| Their constraint (budget, time, a person, a deadline) | |
| What they were worried about when buying | |
| Who else had to approve this | |
| How they want to be contacted | |
| Anything they asked twice about | |
## Phase 1: Confirm. Within 1 hour
- [ ] Confirmation message sent, within the hour
- [ ] It names what they bought, in their words
- [ ] It gives a date for the next thing, not "we will be in touch"
- [ ] It names their contact, with a direct number
- [ ] Internal tasks created and assigned with dates
- [ ] Client record created once, checked against existing records in every system
## Phase 2: Collect. Days 1 to 3
- [ ] One list sent, once, with a deadline
- [ ] Each item has a reason beside it
- [ ] Nothing asked for that they already provided during the sale
Items needed:
- [ ] <>
- [ ] <>
- [ ] <>
- [ ] Signed agreement or acceptance
- [ ] Invoicing contact and any purchase order requirement
- [ ] Access, permissions or site arrangements
- [ ] Chased once at day 3
- [ ] Phone call made if still outstanding at day 4
## Phase 3: Kick off. Days 3 to 7
<Scale to the job. A half hour call for most work, nothing at all for a small job.>
- [ ] Booked
- [ ] Scope confirmed, including what is not included
- [ ] Dates agreed: start, milestones, finish
- [ ] People named on both sides
- [ ] Communication channel and frequency agreed
- [ ] Their dependencies stated, with the consequence of a delay, once, calmly
- [ ] Invoicing points agreed
- [ ] The usual failure mode named out loud
- [ ] **Written summary sent within 24 hours**
## Phase 4: Deliver something. Week 1 or 2
- [ ] Something real and visible delivered by day <14>
What it was: ________________
- [ ] If nothing could be delivered, a scheduled update was sent on the day promised
## Phase 5: Check in. Day 30
- [ ] Scheduled at kick off, not left to memory
- [ ] Call made, not a survey sent
Asked:
- [ ] How has it gone so far
- [ ] Is there anything you expected that has not happened
- [ ] Is there anything you are unsure about, or harder than you expected
- [ ] Answers logged
- [ ] One thing acted on visibly
- [ ] Review or referral asked for, if the answers were good
## Handover, if the seller is not the deliverer
- [ ] Introduced by name, in writing, before the handover
- [ ] Context transferred, not just the file
- [ ] Seller checks in once during the first fortnight
## The numbers
| | |
|---|---|
| Hours from yes to confirmation | |
| Days from yes to first delivery | |
| Intake returned on first ask | |
| Day 30 check in completed | |
<The second one is the number that predicts early churn. If only one is tracked,
track that.>
assets/welcome-templates.md 4.3 KB
# Onboarding messages
Adapt, do not send as written. A message that reads as a template does the opposite of what these messages are for. The structure is the reusable part, the words are not.
No exclamation marks, no "we are thrilled", no stock enthusiasm. Calm and specific reads as competent, which is what a new client is hoping they bought.
---
## 1. Confirmation. Within one hour of yes
**Subject: Confirmed, <what they bought>**
```
Thanks <name>, welcome aboard.
You are booked for <exactly what they bought, in their words> at <where>,
starting <specific date>. <Person> will be your main contact and is on
<direct number>.
<Tomorrow / On Monday> I will send a short list of what we need from you
to get started. Once that is back we will confirm <the next specific thing>.
Anything at all before then, reply here or call me directly on <number>.
<Your name>
```
**The date is the part that works.** Everything else is courtesy. "We will be in touch shortly" is what the last supplier who disappeared also said.
---
## 2. The intake list. Day 1
**Subject: Four things to get <project> started**
```
Hi <name>,
To get started I need four things from you by <day>:
1. <Item>, so <reason>
2. <Item>, so <reason>
3. <Item>, so <reason>
4. <Item>, so <reason>
<Link or attachment>
Most people get through this in about ten minutes. If anything is
awkward to find, call me and we will do it over the phone.
<Your name>
```
The reason beside each item roughly doubles the response rate. The offer to do it by phone is what unblocks the item people are avoiding.
---
## 3. The reminder. Day 3. Once only
**Subject: Re: Four things to get <project> started**
```
Hi <name>, just floating this back up.
Still waiting on <the specific outstanding items>. Once those are in we
can confirm <the thing they are waiting for>.
If it is easier, call me on <number> and we will knock it over in two
minutes.
```
Send this once. If it is still outstanding the next day, call. Do not send a third email.
---
## 4. Kick off summary. Within 24 hours of the call
**Subject: <Project> summary and next steps**
```
Hi <name>,
Good to talk today. Writing down what we agreed so we are working from
the same page.
What we are doing
<Two or three lines, plain language>
Not included
<The things that came up and are out of scope>
Dates
<Start>
<Milestone>
<Finish>
Who does what
<Your side>: <person>, <what they do>
<Their side>: <person>, <what they do>
What we need from you
<Item> by <date>
Updates
<Frequency and channel>. If something is wrong, call <person> on
<number> rather than waiting for the next update.
Anything above that does not match your understanding, tell me now
rather than later.
<Your name>
```
That last line does real work. It invites the correction at the cheapest possible moment.
---
## 5. The scheduled update, when there is nothing to report
```
Hi <name>, quick update as promised.
<What happened this week.>
<What is happening next week.>
<Anything we need from you: nothing, or the specific thing.>
On track for <date>.
```
Three lines, on the day promised, every time. The value is entirely in the reliability. A client who knows a message arrives every Friday stops wondering on Thursday.
---
## 6. Handover, when the seller is not the deliverer
**Subject: Introducing <name>, who will be running <project>**
```
Hi <client>,
<Name> is taking this forward from here. He has been across it since
<the quote / our first conversation>, so you will not need to repeat
anything.
<Name> is on <number> and <email>, and is your first call for anything
day to day.
I am still here and will check in during the first couple of weeks.
<Seller name>
```
"He has been across it since the quote" is the sentence that prevents this reading as a downgrade.
---
## 7. Day 30 check in. Prefer a call, this is the fallback
**Subject: How is it going?**
```
Hi <name>,
We are a month in. Rather than assume everything is fine, three
questions:
1. How has it gone so far?
2. Is there anything you expected that has not happened?
3. Is there anything you are unsure about, or that has been harder
than you expected?
Question 3 especially. Whatever it is, it is much easier to fix now
than in six months.
<Your name>
```
Calling the third question out explicitly is what gets it answered honestly. Without it, most people answer the first and stop.
