Your agency’s onboarding process sets the tone for your client relationship and success. A seamless and optimized workflow doesn’t just impress clients—it builds trust, reduces client churn, and enhances your agency’s capacity. Learn exactly how onboarding glitches can be transformed into opportunities for better outcomes with practical tips you can apply immediately. Here’s how an expert refined one agency’s process in under 35 minutes and created a scalable system that maximized efficiency.
The Fundamental Issues: What’s Broken in Typical Onboarding Processes
🔍 1. Lack of Communication: Internal and External
Many agencies fall short when it comes to timely communication. There are two types of communication to consider:
- Internal Communication: Teams often miss key updates due to manual checks and poor coordination. For example, the client submits a signed contract, but no one notices for days, delaying onboarding unnecessarily.
- External Communication: Clients frequently feel neglected. During a multi-day onboarding process, they might only hear from you three times: when they sign the contract, submit a form, and attend the onboarding call.
🚩 Why It Matters: Every delay and missed touchpoint invites dissatisfaction. Imagine making a first impression on a client and showcasing inefficiency right off the bat—it can create “buyer’s remorse.”
💡 Pro Tip: Consider onboarding emails and SMS updates to keep clients informed about the next steps, progress, and timelines. Avoid silent gaps longer than 24 hours during onboarding.
🏗️ 2. Over-Reliance on Manual Tasks
Manual processes for creating Slack channels, Google Drive folders, and sending onboarding emails are outdated and prone to error. For instance, if a team member forgets to create required documents or folders, the onboarding process comes to a halt.
🚩 Why It Matters: These manual tasks are time-consuming and inefficient, especially for high-volume agencies onboarding many clients at once.
💡 Pro Tip: Prioritize automation using tools like Make.com for task delegation and notification systems.
📋 3. Incomplete or Unoptimized Onboarding Forms
Your onboarding form should serve as an information hub, but many agencies face typical problems:
- Too Generic: Not enough tailored questions to collect critical or personal info that could improve client experience.
- Unclear Instructions: When clients face uncertainties in completing forms, delays increase.
- No Follow-Up Reminders: If the form remains incomplete, nothing happens to nudge the client or notify the team.
🚩 Why It Matters: The onboarding form influences how quickly you can provide services. Missing forms equal delays in delivering results.
💡 Pro Tip: Add clear step-by-step guides with screenshots, videos, or instructions for software sign-ups and form completion. Bonus: Use reminders via SMS or email to encourage form submission.
🎁 4. Missed Opportunities for Client Relationship Building
The onboarding stage leaves plenty of room for client gifting and added touches to enhance trust. Small tokens like handwritten notes, custom PDFs, or tailored gifts can reassure clients and eliminate doubts about their decision to work with you.
🚩 Why It Matters: Building emotional trust during onboarding can lead to longer-term retention and higher lifetime value.
💡 Pro Tip: Create a system for personalized client gifting using services like Handywritten (robot-written cards) or small Amazon gifts tailored to their preferences.
🔄 5. No Welcome Sequence = Missed Relationship Nurturing
Most agencies think the selling stops when the contract is signed, but that’s wrong. Even after the payment arrives, you’ll need nurture sequences to establish and maintain trust. Welcome sequences help reassure clients that they’ve made the right decision and explain the processes ahead.
🚩 Why It Matters: Without a well-thought-out welcome sequence, clients feel left out, especially if partial payments are involved. Agencies lose an advantage to increase client confidence.
💡 Pro Tip: Create a 7-day or 30-day welcome sequence with client success stories, upcoming timelines, process updates, or even niche-specific resources (e.g., ebooks, PDFs).
Simple Fixes That Revolutionize Client Onboarding
📢 1. Always Stay in the Loop (Internal Communication)
Set up automated notifications for key events:
- Contract Signatures
- Onboarding Form Submissions
- Payment Confirmations
💻 Tools for Automation: Use Slack integration or project management tools like ClickUp or Notion to send alerts and assign tasks.
🎯 Example Fix: An automation that sends alerts to your team when onboarding forms are signed to avoid delays.
💌 2. Strengthen External Communication
Keep clients updated on every step. Use automated messages when critical milestones, like onboarding form submissions or document sharing, occur.
📱 Best Practice: Set up SMS notifications. For instance:
- Upon Payment: “Thanks! Onboarding starts soon!”
- After 6 Hours: A nudge for incomplete tasks.
🛠️ Tools to Use: Fireflies AI for meeting reminders or Slack updates.
🎯 Quick Tip: Call clients after payment for a quick thank-you note. Use scripts or minimal personalized effort to build rapport.
✍️ 3. Optimize Your Forms
Here’s how:
- Personalize Questions: Add fields about birthdays, anniversaries, favorite sports teams, or hobbies.
- Step-by-Step Guides: Include video tutorials for complex setup tasks.
- Reminders: Schedule automatic follow-ups via SMS or email for an incomplete form after 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours.
📋 Tool Suggestion: Use Typeform to create engaging forms with visually appealing interfaces.
🎯 Quick Fix Example: Replace generic third-party tool signup links with affiliate ones to increase your revenue.
🛍️ 4. Build Trust Through Thoughtful Gifting
Clients love feeling appreciated! Gifts can range from handwritten cards to niche-relevant items.
🎁 Gifting Strategy Example:
- Step 1: A handwritten thank-you card delivered after sign-up (via Handywritten).
- Step 2: PDFs or eBooks as a thank-you for completed onboarding forms.
- Step 3: Personalized Amazon gifts after 30 days of service.
🎯 Budget Tip: Gifts under $50 work splendidly but can scale based on client size.
🌟 5. Automate for Optimal Efficiency
Automate repetitive onboarding tasks such as:
- Creating Slack channels.
- Assigning team folders in Google Drive.
- Sending reminders for incomplete tasks.
🚀 Recommended Automations:
🎯 Quick Tip: Test automations monthly to ensure smooth operations.
Toolbox of Resources
Below is a list of tools mentioned in this strategy overhaul:
- Typeform: Build engaging onboarding forms effortlessly.
- ClickUp: Streamline task creation within your project management flow.
- Make.com: Automate repetitive processes like Slack alerts.
- Pandadoc: Simplify contract and signature workflows.
- Notion: Document SOP instructions for wider team application.
- Handywritten: A service for creating robot-written notes.
- Fireflies AI: Automate meeting transcription and reminders.
- OnlineJobs: Hire virtual assistants to streamline onboarding tasks.
- Noloco: Build no-code apps to integrate workflows.
- Blitzit: A productivity tool designed for efficiency.
The Big Takeaway
A streamlined onboarding process isn’t just a logistical necessity—it’s your first opportunity to “wow” the client. First impressions matter, and by investing time into thoughtful communication, personalized touches, and automation, you’ll generate higher confidence while reducing churn rates. Beyond the technical fixes, never forget human connection. A quick thank-you call or client-specific gift can smooth out rough patches while creating genuine relationships.
💡 Actionable Next Step: Audit your current onboarding process. Highlight three constraints, THEN prioritize solutions for immediate implementation.
Every onboarding upgrade you make today grows your agency’s capacity tomorrow. ✨
