Autograph New Client Onboarding Checklist Made Easy

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- How exciting is it when you sign a new client? But how frustrating is it when you realize that you can't dig into the work because you're missing a critical signature or an important piece of information? Today on Free Mama TV we're walking through your new client onboarding process so that you can start new projects on the right foot. Plus at the end of this video I'll tell you how to get your hands on an amazing resource to make sure you have everything you need to start and run a successful freelancing business. So make sure you stick around for that. (upbeat music) Hey, I'm Lauren Golden here with a new episode of Free Mama TV, showing moms like you how to start and run a successful freelancing business from home. Subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to be notified when I post a new episode of Free Mama TV, right here each and every Tuesday. It's really easy to get caught up in the excitement of signing a new client. Your business is growing. People like like you, congratulations, by the way. But when you sit down to do the work it is no fun to realize you're missing things you need. Maybe you forgot to ask for a login or password. Or you suddenly realize that the client didn't attach the signed contract to the email with the subject, "signed contract attached." There's a lot of stuff that goes into kicking off a new project and it's important for you to create a formal onboarding process. Now don't worry, onboarding is just a fancy word for all the stuff you need to get started on a project. It's not complicated but it is critical to the success of your business. So let's get your onboarding process squared away. But first I have a question for you mama. Have you ever tried to start a project only to realize you didn't have what you needed? Tell me about it all in the comments below. Okay, now it's time to create your client-onboarding process. Basically you want to create a checklist of all the things you do every time you start a new project with a client. Usually you'll start off a new project by gathering some basic information. That might include contact information such as email, telephone number, and mailing address. Now it's important to verify how the client wants to be contacted. And make sure you have the right information. For example, if your client lives in her Facebook Messenger, she probably doesn't wanna have to go check Voxer six times a day. Find out her preferences and note them. You'll also want to make sure you have the client's website address. And if you're planning to send a card or a gift then you could go ahead and ask for the client's birthday too. Depending on the work you're doing for the client you might also need to ask for her target audience, competitors and business goals. Now once you have all that initial information, what will you do with it? Do you have a spreadsheet or a CRM where you'll enter it? Create a process for getting all of the important information into the right place so that you can use it when you need it. Next step, do you need to send anything back to the client? You might want to send a welcome letter, thanking the client for her business and outlining your agreement, a countersigned version of the contract and any relevant policies. Your welcome packet could also include details on the work expectations for your business relationship. When you work, how quickly you respond, how the client should contact you, how you'll hand confidential materials. And details on invoicing and payment expectations. If you are planning to mail any sort of welcome gift to your client, make sure that you've accounted for that in your process. Again, you'll nee that mailing address and you'll want a way to track that you've checked off sending the gift. And of course, part of your onboarding process will likely be some sort of kickoff call. It's important to figure out the process for the kickoff call itself. And to create an agenda so you can be sure you cover everything that needs to be done. For example, that initial call might be where you set up your communication processes, determine a time for your weekly or monthly calls, establish initial goals and set overall expectations. If you're coming in to do a single, specific project, you might have a list of questions you need to go through to get all the information you need. If you're going to be working with a client longterm, be sure to take notes throughout the engagement and continually update your onboarding process to reflect what you've learned for each new client. These best advice I can give you is to sit down as if you're going to start the work and think of everything you'll need. Then you'll know what information to ask for. For example, let's say you're going to be managing a client's inbox and calendar. Right away you know you'll need access to those. So you'll need user names and passwords. You'll need to know if the client already uses specific shorthand, tags, or labels and what those are. If you've create tab or labels, you'll wanna keep a running list so that the client can easily understand what you're doing. If you make a point of doing a practice run, setting down as if you're going to do the work, you'll have a really good indication of the information you need to get for your onboarding process. So now that we've got onboarding handled, let's make sure that you have absolutely everything you need to get your business started so that you can earn extra money from home. I wanna give you my very own client-onboarding process for free and all you have to do is connect with me on Instagram and send me a DM asking for my awesome onboarding checklist and it's yours. You can find my handle down below this video. Also if you want to join a community of mamas just like you, I have a Facebook group where thousands of mamas come together for support and action-taking tips and motivation. If you liked this video, please let me know by liking it below. Subscribe and share it with your fellow mamas and comment below with #iamafreemama if you are excited about onboarding your clients the right way and getting paid for working from home as a free mama. (light music) So, now that we've gotten onboard. Sorry, my phone's going off. Started on your onboarding (speaks gibberish) dang it. To check Voxer, that seems like a weird thing to say. Hello, or a CRM will your, (coughs). And any. If you liked this video, please let me know by liking it (speaks gibberish). Don't be like that, I don't know know, maybe it's not work (laughs).