Introduction to Client Onboarding

Client onboarding checklists are becoming increasingly popular for businesses worldwide. Providing clients with what they need to succeed is crucial and checklists are a good failsafe to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks. Welcome email? Check. Data collection? Check. Software installation? Check.

There's no denying that these steps above are important to follow. But beyond the client onboarding checklist, setting your clients up for success with exceptional customer success management is vital to reducing churn, increasing retention, and ultimately fostering business growth overall.

Kaitlyn Cvejic, a Client Success Agent at Wrk, shares what a seamless client success strategy looks like beyond a simple checklist.

Internal Knowledge Transfer

First up is Kaitlyn Cvejic who articulates that ensuring a smooth and seamless client onboarding experience is paramount for any business in 2023.

“It's really a make or break event. If a client doesn't have a good onboarding experience, they're really likely to drop out within the next year or not renew. Treating it as an ongoing process rather than a one-time event is something that’s been stressed to me since I started at Wrk,” she says.

But how do you start off strong? Any successful RevOps team knows that you must start the customer onboarding process with a seamless handoff from Sales to the Client Success team—which comes before you even send the welcome email to a new client. And this step is what's often looked over when it comes to a typical client onboarding checklist.

Customizing Approach

There are several key items that should be included in this process that will differ depending on your business. But typically, a successful knowledge transfer strategy will start with the client’s unique problem that needs to be solved, specific contact information for the client, as well as contact details for any other points of contact that may need to be consulted in the future. It’s also important to share initial client expectations in terms of timelines, exact pricing, and execution to ensure everyone is on the same page as soon as possible.

This internal knowledge transfer could be carried out in a variety of ways, from a simple email to a meeting between the sales representative and the customer success agent.

For example, at Wrk, when a client signs a contract, an automated process is triggered through which our sales representatives receive a detailed form with several fields to fill out, like which process our client is looking to automate today, whether or not we have system access to launch our client’s first Wrkflow, and how often we’ll need to run the Wrkflow once the first output is shared.

Once the form is filled out, it’s sent to the first available customer success agent. This then triggers a welcome email that’s sent to the client with a link to their agent’s calendar to schedule an onboarding call at a date and time that works best for both parties. By automating this process, we’re able to get our clients up and running quickly and efficiently.

Defining Success and Setting Expectations

During the actual client onboarding call, clients can define what success will look like and set specific expectations or goals. This also usually involves setting up users and, if necessary, gaining access to a client's internal system.

Prior to the onboarding call, Kaitlyn again provides some helpful advice to share with clients to make the most of that meeting:

“Have clear expectations within your own organization before you try to convey them to someone else. If internal goals are misaligned, you may provide conflicting information. Being on the same page with yourself before you try and bring your problem or process to another company is crucial.

After all, what succes...