Onboarding

Client onboarding is what you do when you get a new customer. You’re probably going to want to work with that customer for a long time, as it’s much easier to keep your nice new client than have to go to all the trouble of finding another one.

Thinking through your client onboarding process is a good way of making sure that you have a good relationship with them right from the start.

What do you do at the moment when you have a new customer?

Do you just send them an invoice straight off? A boring contract? Rush into getting started?

Have a think about what you can give your customer when you get started with them.

Can you send them a welcome pack? A free gift of something related to the work you’re going to do together?  I don’t mean a food hamper or anything that looks like a bribe, but something useful which also marks the occasion of you starting to work together.

Can you write a brief Guide to getting the most out of working with me pdf? Send them a book – maybe one you’ll be referring to or one which you’ve written yourself.

If you make your client love you in the first few days of signing them up, they’ll be reassured that they’ve made the right choice and are much more likely to love you back. So they’ll stay as a customer for longer, see you as very professional and high end, and recommend you to all their friends.

Think about your client onboarding ritual and how you can improve it, and what this might mean for improving your sales figures.

Image – from Bernard Spragg from Flickr under a creative commons license.