After getting a client for your agency, onboarding them accordingly is often the next step. You’ll go over what the clients themselves will expect during their partnership with you and how each of their needs will be met.
On top of that, the onboarding process can also be a solid building block for succeeding in your marketing campaigns. After all, a client would love to be treated like a priority by someone who is serving to fulfill specific needs.
This guide will discuss client onboarding and how it can do more than just solidify success for your agency. Let’s get started right now.
What Exactly Is Client Onboarding?
Client onboarding is defined as the steps a business or agency takes to bring their new clients up to speed on certain parts of the operation.
They include introducing them to crucial team members, the tools that are being used for specific services, and the process from start to finish. In a sense, the onboarding process will be one of the most critical parts of the client experience before any work is completed.
For agencies that want to make this process as seamless as possible, using an agency onboarding checklist will be a huge plus.
This way, they will be able to perform the necessary tasks while keeping things simple. Meaning they won’t overwhelm the client during the onboarding process.
A straightforward onboarding process can work wonders for a marketing campaign – especially if a client is looking for an agency that believes in simplicity rather than complexity.
CRM Integration: How It Plays A Role In Onboarding?
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system may be one of the best tools for agencies to have on hand when it comes to onboarding. The purpose of this tool is to keep track of all kinds of different aspects of the client-agency relationship.
They include but are not limited to communications, project updates, and other data points. When a CRM system is set up, agencies will be able to provide clients with updated information involving project milestones, follow-up from previous interactions, and also update any client requirements when necessary.
The Importance of Building Trust and Credibility
An agency’s goal is to make sure that they build trust and credibility with the clients they work with. As such, the onboarding process is the perfect opportunity to lay the foundation for a strong and long-lasting relationship.
This is where an agency will be able to help the client through a period of steps and explain each part of the process in a simple and straightforward manner. They do this in an effort to show their expertise, professionalism, and transparency.
The onboarding process will also give your agency the opportunity to show clients how the entire project breakdown will look like from start to finish. Using their goals to achieve their own business success, you’ll map out a process on how your agency can help them achieve their desired results.
It’s all part of creating a tailor-made approach specifically for their needs and making sure that they get the best return on their investment possible for working with your agency.
With success comes a much more solid trust than ever before. Happy clients will also leave glowing testimonials for your agency, which can also create plenty of pre-selected trust from other prospective clients.
A potential client could reach many positive reviews and decide whether or not that their needs might be met by an agency like yours. However, there is no guarantee that every prospect will become your client – so don’t feel frustrated if you miss out on one since another will always come along.
Setting Goals And Expectations
Onboarding will also be useful for getting the clear goals and expectations of the client and their project set up. This will include what the client’s vision is, their marketing objectives, and their key performance indicators (or KPIs).
It will make things easier when it comes to putting together a tailor made plan for their clients – not a one size fits all solution that won’t always work and generate the results.
Tailor-made communication
By setting these goals and expectations, will prevent any miscommunication between the agency and the client. It is important to make sure a communication plan is set to help preserve the relationship between each other.
This includes how frequent the communication must be and the method that is being used. The more solid and consistent communication is, the more mutual trust there will be between your agency and your clients.
A communication plan will be dependent on the client’s schedule, preferred method of communication, and more. Some clients may prefer to be contacted via email and others may be more apt to communicate with your agency via messaging apps like Slack.
Using Feedback for Improvement
The onboarding process will also serve as a great way to earn feedback from their clients. An agency will ask the client about their overall experience with the onboarding process so they can be able to make adjustments (if necessary) for future clients.
An agency will use this feedback to identify any weak points in their onboarding process and make the necessary adjustments.
Feedback that is collected during onboarding will allow you to get real-time data on your client’s overall experience, the communication style they enjoy using, and their other preferences. From there, you’ll be able to make your onboarding process more client-centric.
Final Thoughts
Your agency can thrive when it comes to the way you onboard your clients. It can be great for your marketing success and can be a selling point that drives in new clients for years to come.
Make sure that your onboarding process is simple and straightforward so the client has an understanding of what to expect. Use a CRM to monitor each client’s progress and make any necessary adjustments based on the available data.
