Getting sales is a difficult task. It’s like a machine with many moveable parts – Everything needs to work together. You need excellent copy for your website, eye-catching ad creatives, and the correct audience to target.
But unfortunately, many small businesses ignore what happens after the click. If you don’t professionally present your business, you’ll frustrate them. And that leads to no sales.
So how do you avoid that?
The Answer is Great Client Onboarding!
But what exactly is customer onboarding, and why should you care about it?
Well, customer onboarding is a process that makes sure you and your customer have the best relationship possible. The many benefits include:
- Happier clients. First impressions count! And if your site doesn’t set the correct expectations, your client will be disappointed and won’t buy from you again.
- Less stress and wasted money. Not only will your client be in a better mood, but you as well. With the proper onboarding, you can automate many repetitive and tedious tasks, reduce back-and-forth emails, and more.
- Collect Valuable Information. Whether you’re testing out new products or starting projects, you could get the correct information whenever you need it by sending forms to your clients.
Designing Your Client Onboarding Process
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Now that you understand the excellent benefits of great onboarding, it’s time to get started. But how do you create a good one? Continue reading to find out.
Step #1 – Analyze Your Current Situation
First, we need to understand your current location. Only then can we start making decisions and improvements to your process. So how can you find it out? Well, start by asking yourself some questions:
- What is already working? Most likely, you already have something that is working well. This could be an excellent invoicing system, great autoresponders, etc. So write everything down, and ask the next question.
- Where could I improve? Start by looking at what isn’t on your list. Maybe it’s your communication channel, fulfillment, or something else. Then start brainstorming solutions. Once you’ve done that, look at what you could make better with the things already working. Improving them makes the process that much better!
Step #2 – Map Out Your Improvements
Now you know where you need to make your improvements! So start planning your next steps. I suggest you first fix the most crucial problems. And then gradually work on less important ones. Soon you’ll have one of the best customer onboarding processes out there.
8 Recommended Tools to Create a Smooth Onboarding Process
You know what to improve! You created a plan for it! Now all that is left is to take action. But for the smoothest process, you’re going to need to pick the right tools. That will ensure you that no additional frustrations come! Here are my top eight tools:
#1 – Calendly
Calendly is scheduling software that helps you and your customer pick a meeting time most efficiently. All you have to do is, set the dates and times that you’re available for meetings, and Calendly handles the rest. That helps you say goodbye to those back-and-forth emails.
#2 – Google Forms
Maybe you need a bit more information before a meeting? Or you’re looking to get feedback on your newest product? Either way, Google Forms will help you get that information. With this free software, you can create new forms within minutes.
#3 – Stripe
So you just landed a sale in the meeting call! But how are you going to collect their payments? That’s where Stripe comes in. It’s a financial service company that offers payment processing software. With this online service, you could make both one-time or recurring invoices in a matter of minutes.
#4 – Google Drive
It’s always good to back up your files to a cloud service! Then, whatever happens to your laptop, your most necessary invoices and files are safe and sound. And that’s what Google Drive gives you. You can save up to 15GB of files for free in there!
#5 – Trello
Trello is a list-making application with many uses! For example, this could be used for project planning and also as a communication device. You could show your clients the progress you’re making and what still needs to be done.
#6 – Hubspot
Hubspot is a CRM software that helps you out with sales. With this software, you could get invaluable information about your clients and how your sales team is doing. If you’re looking for more information about CRM and why you need it, check out this article.
#7 – Adobe Sign
Sometimes you cannot get a face-to-face meeting. But that doesn’t mean you cannot sign a contract. That’s where Adobe Sign comes in! With it, you can sign contracts online, even if your client is on the other side of the world.
#8 – Zapier
Unfortunately, these services cannot communicate with each other. That could bring new repetitive tasks you need to. Well, that is if you’re not using Zapier! With this powerful tool, you can connect with over 3000 apps and services, including all the aforementioned software. That means you could tell Zapier to add the meeting information to Hubspot or Trello.
Conclusion
And that’s how you do it! I hope you now understand the importance of streamlining your client onboarding process and how to do it yourself. If you need any help improving your client onboarding process, don’t be afraid to ask for help. I would love to help you with the planning and setting up.