Recently, we shared with you on our social media our secret to more money and freedom: the client onboarding package. In this post, we’ll show you:
#1 What does it mean to have a client onboarding package?
#2 How do you structure an onboarding package?
#3 What to include in an onboarding package?
#4 How does a client onboarding package look like and when should you send it?
#5 Why is the onboarding package important to your brand?
Before having an onboarding package, we had emails or calls about work on Sundays, on holidays, at midnight (a 4 am one was particularly annoying). But we always felt the need to reply.
So we introduced an onboarding package that:
- set expectations
- addressed concerns
- created a VIP experience for the client
For us, this translated into FREEDOM and MONEY.
So here’s everything you need to know about this one small, but impactful element of your branding experience.
#1 What does it mean to have a client onboarding package?
When creating your client onboarding package, there are 2 things your need to consider:
1. The client perspective: what it means to your clients
From the client’s perspective, your client onboarding package sets the rules and expectations of your engagement with your clients. Your clients will perceive you as a serious and committed professional and feel reassured by knowing how your work engagement will run.
- Your business perspective: what it means to you and your business
From your perspective the client onboarding package sets boundaries for your business and creates freedom and space for more clients/projects, so that your business can grow and scale.
#2 How do you structure an onboarding package?
Think about this as an opportunity to not only tell your prospective clients how you work, but also to convince them to work with you by making it easy for them to take action. We have 4 sections in ours:
- Introduction
- How we work
- Perks of working with us
- Ways to work with us
#3 What to include in an onboarding package?
Think about this from your client perspective: what do they need to know? What would make their decision easier and what do they need to be reassured of with regards to your services? Our onboarding package includes:
- Time zones – we have clients from all over the world, from America to the Philippines and they need to know when they can reach us.
- Official working hours – so that we don’t get random emails at 4am on a Sunday
- Holidays – we have different bank holidays in England and Sweden
- Payments – how we want to be paid
- Invoices and timeframes for processing them
- Payment plans and refunds
- Confidentiality
- Project management
- Time tracking
- Communication – how fast they should expect an answer from us
- Support – the level of support they will receive from us throughout our engagement
- Turnaround – how quickly they will receive what we promised to deliver
- Discovery calls
- Retainer packages
#4 How does a client onboarding package look like and when should you send it?
Typically, an onboarding package is a PDF document, structured, written and designed with your brand elements. We like to send it when the client has greenlighted the proposal and confirmed they want to work with us. We attach it alongside the contract.
You can send it earlier. Some entrepreneurs choose to send it before the discovery call. Because the onboarding package feels a bit like a VIP service, it may also make the client more interested in having a discovery call.
#5 Why is the onboarding package important to your brand?
It’s all about the client experience and you should always aim to create a VIP experience. A while ago we shared a post about what your customers want from your brand. In the post, you will find that consumers have high expectations of brands and that your relationship with your clients should go beyond a transaction. We used Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to illustrate how you can address typical client needs in your content.
Your clients want to feel safe, reassured, taken care of and empowered. This is what they will actually remember from working with you. So if you want powerful testimonials and social proof, focus on providing the best client experience you can. And your onboarding package is part of that.
