Client Onboarding: Fail-Proof Process Guide For Agencies & Consultancies

Sometimes, a first impression is all that matters, simply because we tend to base our entire opinion of something or someone based on that first interaction. This is also known as the halo effect, and it plays a huge role in your agency’s client onboarding process.

According to stats, 63% of customers will consider the onboarding period before subscribing to a service or buying something. And your clients are no different, which is why an outstanding onboarding process can create positive momentum in your relationship with the client early on.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the ins and outs of client onboarding for agencies, as well as our fail-proof guide on how to do it.

What Is Client Onboarding for Agencies?

Client onboarding for agencies is a process that involves introducing a new client into your agency. It’s a defined workflow that includes sharing all the relevant information, documentation, goals, and expectations with the client, but it’s also a lot more than that.

It’s also a manner in which you establish trust and rapport with your client and get your partnership off to a good start. The way you onboard the client into your agency sets the tone for the entire relationship, which is why it’s so crucial to get it right.

Why Client Onboarding Matters

While the technical and logistical aspects of agency client onboarding are essential, it would be a mistake to neglect the less tangible, human angles of it.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the most common ways in which client onboarding positively impacts your agency:

• Reduces client churn: According to research, SMBs identify poor onboarding among the top 3 factors that cause client churn. Conversely, if done properly, client onboarding becomes the biggest driver of customer retention.

• Creates a repeatable process: When the onboarding is repeatable, it introduces consistency and efficiency, and leaves less room for error.

• Increases client appreciation: Once you go the extra mile in the onboarding process, it leaves a great first impression and makes your clients happy. This, in turn, can generate more work for you and attract new clients, because word-of-mouth marketing is still as powerful as ever.

• Aligns expectations and objectives: Presenting clients with realistic goals and expectations right off the bat prevents misunderstandings later in the process, and sets the groundwork for client satisfaction. It also prevents scope creep, which saves your team from burnout.

• Increases client lifetime value: Excellent agency onboarding experience not only helps build rapport with your clients but also makes them most understanding in case there are potential hiccups. Once they are aware of how invested you are in your relationship with them, they will be willing to stick around for longer, which boosts your clients’ lifetime value (LTV).

• Boosts confidence to get new clients: When you combine positive client feedback and the well-oiled onboarding process, it gives your agency team a surge of confidence to pursue additional clients.

11 Essential Steps for Client Onboarding in Your Agency

We have a lot of ground to cover when it comes to agency client onboarding, so let’s cut right to the chase.

Whether you are running a brand new agency or looking to fine-tune to approach after being in the game for a while, here is a step-by-step guide to turn your client onboarding into a success story:

Set Clear Expectations

Before you do anything else regarding client onboarding, make sure that your agency and your client are on the same page in terms of expectations. Obviously, your clients should know what you can and will do for them, but it works both ways, because you should also know what you can expect from them.

In order to avoid potential misunderstandings and keep your collaboration on track, here is a short checklist you can run through at the beginning of the agency onboarding process:

• Outline your communication plan: With this, you cover client expectations when it comes to desired response times and the frequency with which you will update your client. Also, this is where you agree on communication channels, which we’ll talk more about in a separate step of this guide.

• Define roles: Setting clear roles and responsibilities both on your team and your client’s team will reduce the chance of confusion or redundancy once everyone knows what they are supposed to do.

• Agree on Service Level Agreements (SLAs): In case of agencies, you honor the SLA by sticking to expected milestones and KPIs, which are used to quantify the success of your client’s projects.

Once both parties agree on the aforementioned issues, the next step is to deal with the legal stuff.

Complete All the Legal Requirements

By legal stuff, we mean all the legal paperwork that formalized your relationship with the client, and which will protect your agency in case of potential legal issues or disputes down the line.

You should cover the following legal bases:

• Get the contract signed: Once all the vital contract terms have been agreed upon, such as the duration, timeline, deliverables, payment methods, termination, and confidentiality, it’s time for your client to sign it.
• Consider addressing NDAs: If you and/or your client have confidential information or data, signing an NDA is a good idea. The same goes for NDAs that deal with intellectual property, proprietary tools and methods, as well as project specifics.
• Set availability boundaries: Manage client expectations when it comes to your team’s availability to prevent scope creep and help them maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Conduct Agency Client Onboarding Interview or Questionnaire

Although meeting your agency’s client might seem like the next logical step, you should gather as much information as possible about the client, such as their project expectations, scope, ideal timeline, target audience, and goals.

This is usually in the shape of a questionnaire, which can be done via Google Forms, Google Sheets, or a dedicated onboarding app. Keep the questionnaire relatively short, which means no more than 15-20 questions, but at the same time cover as much ground as possible.

Here are some example questions that you may want to consider:

Once you have all the client-specific information, you can create a customized meeting agenda, and discuss the meeting logistics (time, date, in-person or virtual),

Schedule a Client Kickoff Meeting

It’s finally for your team to meet the client’s team. This step is vital, because this is where you and your client start to develop trust and interpersonal relationships.

As for the meeting itself, here is what it should include in most cases:

This step is also a good representation of how your agency and its client will establish processes and implement them on your projects down the line.

Perform a Technical Setup

Before your agency team can start developing a winning marketing strategy or tackle the most creative aspect of the project, you need to do a technical setup that is going to make everything possible in the first place.

This means you should:

• Get access to client accounts: Gather all the necessary credentials, access rights, and login info for all client websites, apps, and platforms your team will need to work with. This usually means all social media accounts, analytics platforms, and CRM software, just to name a few.
• Integrate systems and tools: Depending on the industry, your client might use various specific tools and software, which you will need to integrate with your agency’s systems, such as project management platforms, reporting and analytics tools, and different dashboards.
• Get familiar with the existing setup: It’s very likely that each client is going to have its own unique tech stack, which means they will need to show you how their website is set up (for example, which CMS they use), what data they track, as well as which tools they use to do it.

Set Up the Project in Project Management Software

With the technical foundation in place, it’s time to start gathering all the team members you’ll need to carry out the project successfully, organize tasks and workflows, and centralize all information. In other words, you will begin to create a project plan.

You can pretty much break this down into the following steps:

• Break down the project into tasks and milestones: For each task and milestone, establish a timeline during which it needs to be completed, so that your team can make steady progress.
• Assign team members to tasks: Make sure that each member of the team knows what they should be working on, when, as well as what their roles and responsibilities are.
• Use project management software: Now, while you can pretty much track most projects using Google Spreadsheets, it’s much easier and more efficient to use project management, productivity, and time management software to do it.

To streamline the way you run project for your agency’ client, you can use ActiveCollab. ActiveCollab is a productivity workspace that enables you to manage all aspects of your projects, with features for task and time management, communication and collaboration, reporting, and invoicing.

You can easily keep an eye on how each team member is progressing on their tasks, identify any potential blockers, manage even workload distribution, as well as create detailed reports for your client, so they can see how their money is being spent.

Do a Client Audit

So, at this point have set your project up and have access to the client’s ad, social media, and analytics account, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start auditing your client.

Why an audit? Well, even though you are somewhat familiar with your client at this point, you still need to have a clear idea of what you are dealing with. For example, you may need to check your client’s website traffic, social media following and engagement, and main acquisition channels.

An audit lets you gauge how much work there is to be done, so you can translate it into actionable tasks, and provide your client with figures that are realistic. You can also identify which channels or activities are not giving a worthwhile ROI, and which have to potential to be huge.

Ultimately, a client audit gives you baseline figures that you can compare with your final result and quantify your success based on that.

Create a Shared Workspace

This refers to both your project management or productivity workplace like ActiveCollab, as well as Wiki pages, Google Workspace, or dedicated portal which acts as a central source of information for your agency and its clients.

What information should you share? We think that it’s a good idea to keep a record of the following:

You can also choose to present some of the aforementioned info in video form, which makes it more easily digestible and user-friendly.

Define Communication Channels

Regular and transparent communication is a must during every stage of the project, and that includes client onboarding as well. One of the crucial steps of agency onboarding is to establish the communication channels through which your team and your client will keep in touch.

This is usually a combination of email, messaging apps such as Slack, productivity and project management software, like ActiveCollab, as well as video conferencing apps like Zoom or Google Meet.

During this stage, you should also decide on the frequency of your meetings and updates.

Set Up Client Reporting and Metrics

It’s inevitable that every single project your agency does is going to require handling end-user requests, such as answering your client’s questions and sending regular updates on crucial tasks and milestones.

And that can get very time-consuming, especially on large projects, which is why you need to set up a client reporting system during client onboarding. ActiveCollab, for example, can generate automated time reports that let your clients know how much time was spent on each task, and provide estimates on upcoming ones.

This type of consistent and accurate reporting not only keeps your client updated, but also builds trust.

Follow Up With Your Client

The final step in the client onboarding process is to follow up with your client over time. The follow-up serves not just to strengthen your relationship with the client, but also to make sure that you’ve covered all the key project points.

Depending on your time and resources, you can set up a meeting or send out a follow-up email that summarizes the onboarding process. Client reporting and providing regular feedback is also a part of this step.

In the beginning, you may want to have weekly check-ins, and then space them further apart as you and your client get to know each other.

Conclusion – Ensure Smooth Agency Client Onboarding with ActiveCollab

Even though it may seem complex or even intimidating, client onboarding for your agency is a fairly simple process at its core. It’s all about understanding what matters to your client, as well as what you need for them in order to provide the best possible experience and services for them.

By having a clearly defined and intentional approach to client onboarding, you can also prevent scope creep, manage expectations, and lay the groundwork for the project ahead. But, laying the groundwork for a fruitful partnership also requires you to have the right tools.

ActiveCollab is the best ally you could ask for when onboarding your clients, as well as seeing the project through to its successful completion.