Five Ways to Automate Your Client Onboarding Process
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Your website is your prime marketing material. It helps attract potential clients and allows them to learn more about your offers. But that’s not the only purpose of your website.
With a bit of upfront work, your website can help you create a stellar client experience. In the long run, this frees up your time and ensures that your clients receive all the necessary information they need to work with you.
In this post, we’ll take a look at five different ways you can automate and streamline your client onboarding process.
Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Automate Your Client Onboarding Process
As I mentioned above, automating your client experience is one of the easiest ways to save time in your business. But that’s not the only reason why you should do it.
1. It Allows You to Focus on Other Areas of Your Business
There are a lot of steps involved in onboarding clients. From scheduling all the necessary calls to sending them the contract and the invoice, making sure they receive their welcome packet…all of those seemingly tiny tasks end up taking a lot of your time.
And while those tasks are a necessary part of being a service provider, they aren’t necessarily the best use of your time. Instead of wasting time on those tasks, you could be:
Working on a digital product or a course as an additional income stream
Pitching yourself to podcasts or looking for speaking opportunities to build brand awareness
Or simply enjoying the extra free time with your friends and family or enjoying your hobbies
I don’t know about you but that sounds like a good deal to me.
2. Ensures Nothing Slips Through the Cracks
By putting up a few simple automations in place, you’ll ensure that nothing slips through the cracks. Each client you work with will go through the same process which means they will receive the same client homework and the same information.
No more forgetting to include certain questions or reinventing the wheel from scratch when it’s time to onboard a new client.
3. It Sets the Stage for What It’s Like Working With You
Lastly, your onboarding process is one of the first few touchpoints a client will have with you. By presenting them with a clear and organized process, you’ll leave a lasting impression and position you as the professional that you are.
This helps boost their trust in you, shows them that they made a good investment when they decided to work with you, and ultimately leads to better testimonials and more referrals.
But, Wait… Won't’ Automation Take Away The Personal, High-Touch Experience?
Now, you might be thinking that automating your client onboarding process will take away the high-touch experience you want to provide. Or that all the automation may seem too impersonal.
But let’s clarify something. The steps I am recommending here aren’t full-blown automation that leaves you out of the process completely. You will still need to go in and make necessary adjustments for each client.
Rather, we’ll take your existing client workflow and find ways to automate tiny tasks that end up wasting a lot of time without really being beneficial.
On top of that, this is the same process I use in my business and with every testimonial I receive, my clients rave about the client experience they’ve had.
So, with that out of the way, let’s get started.
Before You Begin, Outline Your Client Onboarding Workflow
Before we dive into different ways of automating your client onboarding process, it’s important to outline your client onboarding workflow. You might already have a pretty good idea of what your workflow includes. If that’s the case, feel free to move on straight to the section below.
But if you’re still starting from scratch and going from memory each time you book a new client, take 10-15 minutes to outline the steps you usually take to onboard a new client. Here are a few questions to help you get started:
How do clients usually find you?
How do they inquire about your services?
What steps do they need to take to book your services?
What happens when they decide to book your services?
How do they sign the contract?
When and how do they pay you?
How do you send client homework?
Any additional materials that you send them? (welcome packet, client gifts, etc.)
What happens if they don’t book?
How do you follow up with clients?
How do you keep them updated on the project status?
In my case, my client workflow looks like this:
Clients usually find me through Google or Pinterest
They submit an inquiry through the form on my website
They receive an automated email with a link to my online calendar
We have the call
If we’re a good fit:
They’re sent proposal, contract, and invoice
Once contract is signed, a zap sets them up as a new project in Asana
Dubsado sends them a welcome email with a link to my client Welcome Packet
If they’re not a good fit, they get an email with suggestions for other designers
If they aren’t ready right now, they get added to the Follow Up Board in Asana.
Five Ways to Automate Your Client Onboarding Experience
So now that you have an idea of what your client onboarding process looks like, it’s time to find ways to automate and streamline it.
1. Prep All The Necessary Documents
The first step is to prepare all the necessary documents in advance. By setting this up ahead of time, all you have to do with each new client is change out the client and package details.
This may include:
Client homework and pre-work questionnaires
Contracts and proposal
Canned emails
Your Welcome Packet
Sales call scripts
And any other document you might need in your business
Keep in mind that this doesn’t have to be anything fancy. A simple Google Doc with all the information they need is perfectly fine. You can always tweak and perfect it later on.
In my case, I use a combination of Dubsado and Google Workspace for all my docs. Dubsado houses the contract, proposal, invoice, client homework, and canned emails. Google Workspace houses all the sales call scripts and templates for clients’ sitemap and website copy.
2. Automate Call Booking
Client discovery calls are the best ways to get to know the client and see if they are the right fit for your services. But scheduling calls manually is not only time-consuming but can quickly turn into a nightmare.
With a little preparation, you can automate your call booking. This makes it easy for potential clients to find a time that works for them while still making sure that the time works with your schedule.
There are many appointment scheduling apps available. My personal favorite is Acuity Scheduling. It handles pretty much everything I need to make sure that the call booking is a streamlined and efficient:
It syncs with my Google Calendar to make sure that there are no overlaps between existing calls, events, and appointments
It sends automatic appointment reminders to reduce the chances of clients not showing up
It also allows me to add forms to my calendar where I can ask a few basic questions and get an idea of what the client is looking for even before our appointment takes place.
Best of all, Acuity integrates with Zoom which means I can easily include the link to my Zoom room in the appointment confirmation email.
A few other tools that you can use to automate your call booking include Calendly, Dotcal, SavvyCal, YouCanBookMe, and others. If you’re using Dubsado, you can use their Scheduling feature and add it to your website as well.
3. Automate Client Homework Delivery
If you have client homework that you need before you start working on your client project, there’s no need to send it manually. If you use Dubsado, you can set up a simple workflow that sends them their client questionnaire immediately after they sign a contract.
You can also set up an additional step that sends them a reminder email a few days before the project is due to start to ensure you get client homework on time.
Alternatively, if you use a different service to sign and manage your contracts, such as DropboxSign (formerly HelloSign) or similar, you can use Zapier to send an email with a link to your client homework questionnaire once the contract has been signed.
4. Set Up Automatic Payment Reminders
Getting paid on time is important. But sometimes, life happens and we all get busy. It’s easy to miss a payment simply because you forget the day that it’s due. You can minimize the chances of this happening by setting up automatic payment reminders.
Most CRMs that allow you to accept payments will have a system in place to set up payment reminders. If you use PayPal to invoice your clients, you can also set up up to 3 automatic payment reminder emails that will go out at 7-day intervals.
Alternatively, accounting software also has built-in features that make it easy to remind clients about missed payments.
5. Set Up Fun Extras
Lastly, you can set up a few fun surprise automations that will delight your customers. For example, use Zapier to send a handwritten thank you card whenever a contract has been signed.
A service like SimplyNoted makes it easy to send personalized, handwritten notes to your customers when a contract has been signed in your preferred CRM. This includes Dubsado as well as SalesForce, HoneyBook, Bonsai, Kitchen.co, and others.
Another fun extra that you can set up is a personalized video message. Keep in mind that you will still have to record the message separately for each client, but this is a good way to stand out and impress your clients.
A service like Bonjoro is easy to connect with your client management tool of choice or even your email marketing software. Then, once a client signs a contract, you’ll get a notification to record a message. When you’re done, Bonjoro will take care of the rest by sending them your sweet and short welcome video.
Use Automation to Elevate Your Client Experience
As you can see, there are a few different ways to use automation to your advantage and elevate your client onboarding process. When done correctly, you’ll create a memorable experience for your clients that will leave them raving about working with you.
Now it’s your turn to take action. Examine your client workflow and find different ways to streamline and automate the entire process so you can save time in your business, ensure all clients go through the same process, and set the stage for working with you. Need help setting up an unforgettable client experience? This is exactly the kind of thing I can help you set up during a VIP day. Learn more about it here and let’s chat about elevating your client experience.
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