Building Happy Relationships: Onboarding New Clients

Building Happy Relationships: Onboarding New Clients
by
Megan Richards

Developing positive relationships with new clients is an important part of onboarding and establishing a successful working relationship. It's essential for businesses to effectively welcome and integrate new clients to foster long-term loyalty and trust.  

Our marketing team explores how businesses can use onboarding to build great relationships (and a squad of brand ambassadors) with new clients. Let’s grow!

businessmen shaking hands after making a deal and starting the client onboarding process

First, What is Client Onboarding?

At its heart, client onboarding is the process of welcoming new clients to your business.  

It is your opportunity to:

  • Begin setting the foundation for a strong relationship
  • Get the client up to speed
  • Address any main pain points they have
  • Outline the strategy moving forward  

At the end of the day, you want your customer to believe that they made the proper decision and that your business will meet all of their diverse needs.

Easy, right? Not so much. Many brands forget to put time, effort, and care into their onboarding process. And it truly helps to set the tone for everything the customer will expect from you.  

The Difference (Good) Onboarding Can Make

One e-commerce client we’ve helped had what we deemed ‘a moment of silence’ after a new person joined their program. After the order confirmation, the new client heard NOTHING for about a week – until their order shipped.

This caused a lot of customer service headaches, bad reviews, and short average lifetime value. People were quitting 2 weeks after they started the program. But, that all changed with email and text messages that supported them (and kept the new client excited) while they waited.

In a few months this onboarding, increased LTV to nearly 5 weeks on average! Retaining who they had really added to the company’s bottom line.

The Importance of Client Onboarding

As you can see, client onboarding isn’t just a nice add-on, it is a crucial part of your marketing strategy! When done effectively, it leads to:  

Less Client Churn

This is what we were talking about before. Client churn is the percentage of clients who stopped using your company’s services or products within a certain timeframe.  

New clients are at a high risk of churning within the first 90 days.  

Aim to build relationships and demonstrate your value early on to keep them interested!  

Enhanced Efficiency

A seamless onboarding process benefits both you and your clients. It immediately provides you with all the information you require, putting you in the best possible position to start working with your new client.

Happier Clients

Customers like to engage with companies that are experienced, have a defined course of action, and cultivate lasting bonds with their clients. When you demonstrate this, not only will your customers be happier, but you’ll foster long-term loyalty to your brand.  

More Clients

You are much more likely to receive recommendations based on your good work and connections if you impress your clients from the start.

However, keep in mind that not all onboarding procedures are the same. To take advantage of all the wonderful advantages mentioned above, you must streamline your onboarding procedure such that it helps you to create strong bonds with your new clients.

business women meeting to network and move toward their business goals

Building a Relationship

You want your clients to feel confident and avoid any potential feelings of buyer's remorse.  

We believe the main goal of the onboarding experience is to build trust.

Here are a few steps that you can take to ensure that you are building and maintaining a healthy client relationship from the beginning:  

Pre-Engagement

In this stage, your client's point of contact is established, relevant data like website logins are requested, and a kickoff meeting is scheduled.

Tip: A video call can be a more personal way to introduce yourself to new clients. It allows them to put a face with the name and gets them energized for future interactions. Too busy to hop on a call? Record a welcome message and include that in your email/text onboarding.

Kick Off

The kick-off meeting is a great opportunity to start your relationship on the right foot. At this point, you may have only spoken through email. This meeting is an opportunity to answer questions and clarify the terms of the contract and your new client’s expectations.  

There is one important question you should ask in every kickoff meeting “What does success look like?”

The answer will tell you what your client is looking for and how working with you will be a great experience for them.  

Ongoing Interactions

Every interaction with a new client offers the chance to check in on how things are progressing.

  • Every encounter should be interpreted carefully.
  • Make sure your client is confident and getting what they need from your team by asking the difficult questions.

For instance, if a client doesn't provide much or any feedback on projects, it may be a sign that they are busy or that something is wrong. Encourage your clients to give you honest feedback, they are paying for your services after all!  

Maintaining the Relationship

In the end, you want to be more to your clientele than just another provider. You intend to be their partner. A key aspect of that kind of relationship is maintaining that positive rapport that you developed during onboarding.  

Best practices to develop trust with your clients throughout your working relationship include:

  • Touch base to evaluate their ongoing needs. These meetings can be as frequent as needed.  
  • Take notes. This helps you build trust with your clients and deepens your personal relationships. Ask how college is going after a few months if a client indicates their child just graduated high school.
business owner meeting with client to discuss onboarding process and solve problems in current business strategies

Problem-Solving & Negative Experiences

Client relationships often have a few hiccups along the way. It's crucial that these setbacks don't cause your client to stop working with you. 

Addressing these snags right away will keep things running smoothly and, hopefully, save your relationship, whether it's because of a communication breakdown or the customer feels like you're not solving their problems.

business women professionals meeting to discuss business goals and layout business strategy for the upcoming financial quarter

Learn More > Retention Marketing: Win Back Your Existing Clients

Build Trust with Your Clients

Take the time to get to know your clients, listen to their needs, and be upfront and honest in all communication. Creating clear expectations, setting boundaries, and providing quality services will help you build trust that lasts long-term!

Looking to build trust with your clients? It calls for Charisma! Contact us to schedule a marketing consultation today!