If you want to grow your B2B business, you need an onboarding process.  It would be best to look at it as a must have, not a nice to do.

Your onboarding process needs to get your clients excited about working with you.  It’s the beginning of your relationship.  Setting the expectation and giving them the next steps, letting them know that you will take care of them through your working relationship while giving them the confidence that they made the right choice in choosing you, is a vital part of the process.

I’m going to share with you a simple process that you can adapt to suit your requirements.  In fact, I’m sharing two.  You can use the email process as the basis for creating an automated nurturing sequence of emails.  Automation, in this instance, doesn’t mean shortcuts, it means seamless, and that’s what you want and your new client needs.  The onboarding process needs to be great from end to end, giving both of you peace of mind.

Not all clients are the same, so ensure your onboarding process has room for individualisation. There is nothing worse than using a cookie-cutter approach. – Jacqui James

Email onboarding process flow using automation

Your onboarding process needs to work for your business and should depend on your onboarding requirements, your expectations.  The following points are the basic steps you can take.

  • Update your client in your CRM and tag them.
  • Send them a welcome video, letting them know to look out for an email from you that will share the next steps of the process.
  • Email #1 – Next Steps
    • Introduce them to any team members they will be working with.
    • Let them know what other emails they can expect from you and in what order.  Putting everything into one email makes for a huge email that can not only be overwhelming for your client but important steps can be missed.
  • Email #2 – Meeting Schedule
    • Let your client know when they can expect to meet with you and the duration.
    • Send them a schedule if relevant.
    • Share your booking link – give them the power to control the booking.
  • Email #3 – Other ways to connect
    • Share other ways your client can connect with you
    • Private groups or social media.
    • Slack, WhatsApp, Email, Text
  • Email #4 – What you need from them/your expectations
    • Open communication
    • Trust
    • Flexibility & Boundaries

There is an alternative to sending a heap of emails, and that is to send one email.  Yes, one with a link to a web page that contains all the information your client needs.  You can then use your client web page as a portal for them to access future documents or information specific to them.

Alternative to emails process

Suggested inclusions:

  1. Create an individual page for your client that requires a password to access.
  2. Create a personalised video to embed on the page
  3. Include all the information that you would put in the emails above.
  4. Include all your downloads.  (Host this on Google Drive, Dropbox or Amazon S3).

Regardless of what option you choose, either of the above options will show your client you care, value them, consider their requirements and value your working relationship.  If you need help setting this up, please click here to reach out.

Since 2011, I’ve specifically been helping small business owners spend more time with their clients.  I help them do this by taking the stuff they keep in their head and turning it into the systems and processes they need to drive their business.  To find out more about how I can do the same for your business, let’s organise a chat.

Being an expert in business administration, systems and processes is the most important thing for my clients.