Your client roster is getting larger, you’ve been rockin’ the sales!  But, the steps you take to those new clients aren’t clearly defined.  The whole process feels messy and disorganized.  You need a client onboarding standard operating procedure (SOP) stat so things can run smoothly and you look and feel professional with your clients every-single-time. 

Client onboarding is the beginning relationship with your client.  It sets the tone, professionalism, and they get to know you as a business.  To ensure that you’ve got the right stuff in the eyes of your client, the process should go smoothly and having a written down standard operating procedure system can help with that.  To some, it may not be the exciting part (I absolutely love creating SOPs!), but to be more efficient in your processes they are so important. 

Where should you start?

  1. Think about the steps you take from the beginning of first contact with a potential client to the start of services. 
  2. Write or type it all down – don’t leave anything out!
  3. If there are a lot of steps, break it down into categories. I have three different SOPs for my business under these categories: Pre-sale (CRM), Onboarding Process (contract-to service), Client & Task Management.
  4. Make a flow chart if you like to see things visually. I was stumped on this part and then found Lucidchart.com as an add-on to Google docs.  With the free version, you can create some simple charts that can help visually get you through your SOP. 
  5. Print it out if you think you’ll use it more – it’s ok if you’re a paper person! I’ve got my binders for all of the learning materials I use – but everything else I do digitally.

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