“80% of a company’s future revenue will come from 20% of its current customers” – Gartner
- Client onboarding is critical to ensure that you deliver a great first impression in order to keep your clients.
- Professional services companies, technology companies, and financial institutions incorporate compliance as well as client-facing views into client onboarding.
- Tallyfy is a workflow platform that can run your client onboarding process. It’s the easiest way to share status and collect information from your customers externally.
- To grow revenue – you need to create a clear, trackable, and predictable client experience. Nobody likes a mess of phone calls, emails, and office/branch visits. Schedule a call with Tallyfy.
Client onboarding is the process of welcoming new clients into your business, addressing their questions and concerns, and ensuring they understand the services available to them. Don’t make the mistake of assuming your current customer service structure will take care of the client onboarding process as this can lead to clients becoming frustrated and canceling their accounts. Client onboarding is one of the most important functions for any business because it directly affects the client’s experience with your company, which will affect profits.
As we pointed out in this article, it’s important not to drop the ball immediately after signing up a new client. Assuming your clients can figure things out on their own can damage your relationship with your client and lead to lost business. It is necessary to streamline your client onboarding process so that they have everything they need and you aren’t losing business.
What is the client onboarding process?
Different people will have different ideas about how to successfully onboard new clients. But in general, a successful client onboarding process can be summed up by two questions:
- Have you successfully introduced your new client to your business and addressed all their questions and concerns early on?
- Have you gathered information on your clients so you have insight into what products and services would benefit them?
To summarize, a successful onboarding process will meet both the needs of your clients and your business needs. To do this you must have a full understanding of your business’s needs and goals. How much data collection does your business require? If the client onboarding process fails to meet the needs of your business then it is ultimately useless. A good client onboarding process should not only retain your client but encourage them to continue to buy new products and services. Also, consider proper client onboarding software to really differentiate from your competitors.
What are the benefits of client onboarding?
One of the most obvious benefits of a successful client onboarding process is continued service from your client. When you lose a client it means that all the time spent on marketing, developing the relationship, drafting proposals, and investing your time to meet with them has all gone to waste.
According to the Gartner Group, 80% of a company’s future revenue will come from 20% of its current customers. However many businesses allocate few marketing resources toward retaining their current customers. There is an incredible opportunity for future revenue with repeat clients so it is in your best interest to keep your current clients happy.
Another benefit to retaining your current clients is the opportunity for referrals. When your clients are happy with the service you provide them, they are more likely to refer you to others. According to this article, about 20-50 percent of all purchases came based off of recommendations made by other people. Word-of-mouth marketing can work to your business’s benefit or detriment. If you do an exceptional job of onboarding your new clients, you will set yourself up for positive word-of-mouth marketing.
The 5 Steps for a Successful Client Onboarding Process
It takes a lot of time, money, and energy to bring on new clients, so it doesn’t make much sense to lose them the minute they finally sign up. This is why it is so important to have an effective onboarding process in place. With a proper plan and direction in place, you can ensure that both the needs of your client and your business needs are being met.
Here are 5 steps you can use for onboarding new clients:
- Assess your client’s current needs
One of the most important parts of the onboarding process is learning about your client’s needs. Every client is different and will have different resources to work with. When you understand their strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to develop a plan for how to work with them.
Make a list of your client’s current assets as well as any areas that need improvement. When you review this with your client, use it as an opportunity to position yourself as an expert.
- Outline the client’s desired outcomes and goals
All successful marketing campaigns have a goal in mind. You should already have an idea of what your client is hoping to accomplish, you have a clear understanding of what you are working with, and now it is time to develop a goal and a plan to move forward.
You need to take your assessment and turn it into measurable goals that your team can act on. The more clearly you articulate your goals to your client and your team, the easier it will be for everyone will stay on track. Be sure that you don’t promise anything you can’t deliver on, and make sure everyone is involved in the goal-setting process.
- Be sure your team is briefed on your client
Before your team becomes involved with the client, you need to make sure they have a clear understanding of your client, their industry, and the work involved. Assign your team any necessary reading materials, be sure they have access to the assessment and contract, and provide any notes available on your client. Once your team knows your client’s desired outcomes and objectives, they will be better prepared for the client kickoff call.
- Have a kickoff call
It is important to have a great kickoff call so everyone is on the same page and has all the information they need. Your client needs to have a good impression of your entire team, not just you. Be sure your team demonstrates that they fully understand the scope of the work and have everything they need to move forward. Give your client time to articulate their objectives and expectations.
- Check-in after 30 days
This is an opportunity for you to gain feedback from your client, get a sense of how the process is going so far, and address any concerns they may have. Use this check-in call as an opportunity to build on your relationship with your client and let them know you value their business. Have a list of questions prepared and summarize all the work that has been done in the past 30 days. When the call is over, your client should feel confident that they made the right choice by doing business with your company.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the customer onboarding process can take some trial and error to perfect, and few businesses get it exactly the right the first time around. Continue to develop your client onboarding process and figure out what works and doesn’t work. Stay positive and keep trying different things until you find what works for your business. Make sure you are constantly improving this process for your customers and keeping the needs of your clients first.
A big part of developing a successful customer onboarding process is having an effective workflow to create each of the steps listed above. This is where Tallyfy can help. Tallyfy allows you to build workflows that are designed to accommodate every step of the client onboarding process. You can customize workflow based on customer feedback and use metrics to track and improve any weak spots. If you want to learn more about how our software has helped other business optimize their workflow needs, visit our customer stories page.
Related Questions
What are the steps in client onboarding?
Client onboarding usually comprises six primary steps: welcome and introduction, information collection, expectations setting, paperwork preparation, service set up and follow up. It begins with an introductory welcome email or meeting and then gathers a few key details from clients. Now you’ll create a project timeline, identify milestones, and plan how you’ll communicate. Once you do paperwork and contracts, you’ll establish any needed accounts or services. And plan a follow-up at the end to make sure everything goes well and there are no lingering questions.
What is the customer onboarding process?
Customer onboarding is your customer’s initial touch with your product or service. It’s the same as teaching someone to drive – you keep it simple to begin with and gradually add more complex features. This consists of onboarding materials, product tutorials, and occasional check-ins. Consider it as bridging the gap from registering to being a successful, long-term user of your product.
What is client onboarding in KYC?
Customer onboarding in KYC (Know Your Customer) is an authentication process in use across multiple industries, to verify the identity of client entities and to define their associated risks. It’s like a background check you would undergo to rent an apartment. The process of onboarding includes taking and verifying ID documents, running checks on sanctions lists, and getting to know the client’s business and financial flows to avoid fraud and meet regulatory requirements.
What should be included in a client onboarding form?
A client onboarding form should gather key information without being cumbersome to the client. Important ones are general contact info, company details, project outline/goals, budget ranges, communication preferences, and tech stack specifics. Think of it as issuing a client a “passport” — you want enough information to help them, but you don’t want to request an arbitrary passport number or track the individual’s lineage all the way back to the Middle Ages.
Why is Client Onboarding Important?
Client onboarding is important because it establishes the precedent for the rest of your business relationship. It’s like laying the foundation for a house — do it well, and it’s a stabilizing force; do it poorly and, in the worst-case scenario, the whole thing could crumble. Excellent onboarding manages client confusion, avoids misunderstandings, increases client satisfaction, and dramatically reduces client churn. It also allows you to standardize your processes and to grow your business with ease.
What is the difference between customer onboarding and client onboarding?
Though the two terms are often applied interchangeably, customer onboarding generally implies a more transactional, product-oriented relationship, while client onboarding implies more of a service-oriented, depth of relationship. Customer onboarding might mean helping someone get started with a software product, while client onboarding tends to entail a more complex, personalized service and a longer-term relationship. Think of it as the difference between purchasing (customer) a car or having your own personal financial advisor (client).
How long should client onboarding take?
Client onboarding time varies based on your industry as well as service complexity. For a simple software service, that might take a few days; for complex financial services, it could take several weeks. The question is a matter of striking the right balance between thoroughness and pace. You want to be a gracious host, spending enough time with guests for them to feel warmly received, but not so long that would-be hosts in the queue outside grow impatient.
How can you improve your client onboarding process?
Enhanced customer on-boarding Journey automation and standardization for repetitive tasks. Leverage digital tools to make document gathering and signature collection easy. Develop easy-to-understand process maps and checklists. Frequently collect feedback from clients, and change your process. Consider it similar to getting a machine precisely tuned – small adjustments can make a huge difference in how well it performs and how smooth it runs.
What are common client onboarding mistakes to avoid?
Enhanced customer on-boarding Journey automation and standardization for repetitive tasks. Leverage digital tools to make document gathering and signature collection easy. Develop easy-to-understand process maps and checklists. Frequently collect feedback from clients, and change your process. Consider it similar to getting a machine precisely tuned – small adjustments can make a huge difference in how well it performs and how smooth it runs.
How do you measure successful client onboarding?
Effectiveness of client onboarding can be tracked using metrics such as time-to-value, client satisfaction scores, customer retention and the count of support tickets in the first 100 days. You’ll also want to monitor how many processes are getting completed and you’ll want to collect the qualitative feedback. Think of it as taking your client’s temperature – the more you check, the more likely you are to identify, and fix, things before they become problems.
