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Finding clients should be the hard part of business, not onboarding them. Unfortunately however, there are many business owners that simply do not have the client onboarding processes in place to seamlessly navigate the period immediately following an agreement being made. This is problematic. First impressions matter. If you do not show clients a flawless onboarding process, they may wind up being quite dissatisfied with your service. Find out the customer onboarding best practices you need to set each and every client up for success below.
Prep Your Team
The absolute first thing you want to do is prepare your team before you hold the initial client onboarding meeting. Brief them on the particular client that will soon be joining you, just as you would brief them on a new corporate travel policy before you roll it out. Identify each team member’s role in the onboarding process. Discuss the client’s goals and objectives, so everyone knows what they are working towards. This will help set you up for a flawless first meeting with your new client.
Create A Checklist
In the first meeting with your new client, take the time to create a checklist customized to their specific needs. Get a feel for your client’s knowledge of your systems and procedures. Then, you can devise a checklist of what is needed as a part of the client onboarding process for each individual client. This way, you address their unique strengths and challenges, and set them up for success with your company.
Provide Training
After you have made that checklist, you can accurately identify what types of training each client requires. Then, provide them with that training. Whether this is done in-person in groups or one-on-one sessions, or via video or a free webinar service tutorial does not matter. Certain training formats may work better than others for your particular business needs. Regardless of how its done, make sure to provide necessary training in the customer onboarding process. This way, your clients will have no questions left unanswered.
Share Your Successes
Your business should also take this opportunity to share previous successes with your new client. Your products or services are great, sure. But, it is always good practice to remind customers what they can do for them. This will help to keep clients inspired and driven to achieve the goals your products or services make possible for them. This is certain to help you maintain a positive working relationship with your clients.
Keep Communicating
Be sure to keep communicating with clients long after the first customer onboarding meeting is adjourned. This is not just one of the most effective sales strategies. A steady flow of positive, effective communication is one of the most critical client onboarding best practices. The whole process will be much better for both parties if you arrange a communication schedule during the initial onboarding meeting. Identifying a preferred method of contact for all involved is also a good idea. This way, you can be sure to maintain client communications throughout the onboarding process and beyond.
If you are a business owner, you know that finding clients is difficult. But, did you ever realize how difficult client onboarding can be? Probably not, until you had to do it. Thankfully, there are some guiding best practices you can follow to ensure a smooth, successful client onboarding process. Follow the client onboarding best practices mentioned above, and you and your client are sure to pleased with your results.
Photo from https://www.brightlocal.com/2017/02/01/4-ways-to-successfully-onboard-a-new-client/
