Height’s client onboarding template helps you give your new clients a great first impression with multiple lists to keep you organized and an easy-to-replicate task flow for every new client.

Here’s how:

• Easily start onboarding your new clients by creating a workflow with all the right components via a task form
• Stay highly organized with multiple lists: a library of all your onboardings, a list of currently onboarding clients, and individual lists for each new client you take on
• See what’s in progress and completed through onboarding and beyond so no task slips through the cracks

What is client onboarding?

Client onboarding is the process of educating new clients about how you will partner and collaborate, as well as collecting important information before you get started working together. During the onboarding process, you’ll take the time to learn more about your client, the project, and their goals and expectations; you’ll give your clients essential information about what it’s like to work with you and your team; and finally, you’ll make sure you take care of all the logistics involved in working with a new client.

There are four main phases involved in client onboarding. With Height’s client onboarding template, for each new potential client, you’ll be able to create a task list addressing each of these phases with just one click. Here’s an overview of the four phases of the client onboarding process:

1. Initial project consultation: This is the learning phase of onboarding when you’ll discover essential information about your potential client. You should consider having your client complete a project questionnaire to give you background and context on what they’re looking for. During this phase, you’ll likely host a discovery call where you’ll establish their goals and learn more about them. After the call, you’ll have key details about the client’s needs, like their intended budget and desired timeline.

2. Create a proposal: After the initial learning period, it’s time to create a formal proposal for your prospective client. This is where you’ll ensure you and your client are on the same page about the project’s scope and deliverables, timeline, and forecasted cost. When you send a proposal to your client, make sure you let them know you’re open to questions — especially if this is a client’s first time working with a service provider or agency, they’ll appreciate feeling supported throughout the process.

3. Set up a contract: Your client has reviewed the proposal and let you know they’d like to move forward (yay!), so now it’s time to set up a contractual agreement for both parties to sign. In your contract, you’ll want to define the payment terms and explicitly lay out all of the scope and timeline details you discussed in prior stages. It’s important to make sure you get this signed agreement back before starting any actual work, but in the meantime, you can also create and send over an initial invoice (and you’ll want to ensure you track receipt of that payment).

4. Kick off: Once your new client signs the contract and makes a payment, it’s time to kick off the project. This involves creating a project for the client in your project management tool, completing an internal review with your team, and potentially, inviting the client to join relevant tools or platforms.

Why is client onboarding so important?

Client onboarding helps you set your new clients and yourself up for success. It’s the foundation of a positive, smooth client relationship because it sets the tone for what it’ll be like working together. Logistically, it gives you the chance to learn more about your potential clients and educate them about what’s possible and/or realistic, so you can meet and exceed their expectations. If you want to have lasting relationships with your clients, you need to show them that you’re highly organized and prepared to deliver an excellent level of service, and onboarding is your first real opportunity to do just that.

Who is this client onboarding template for?

This client onboarding template is meant to help agencies, freelancers, customer success teams, and other service providers stay organized throughout the client onboarding process and beyond, so you can focus on delivering an impeccable client experience. The template will work for teams of any size, so whether you’re still running a solo business or you have multiple teams, you’ll be able to start onboarding clients more effectively with Height.

How do I start onboarding clients efficiently in Height?

Seamless client onboarding starts with getting organized. Here are the three steps to start being more organized and easily onboarding new clients using Height’s client onboarding template:

1. Create a new workflow and list for every new client in just one click.

To get started onboarding a new client, you need to set up the actual workflow and tasks. Instead of creating all of your onboarding tasks manually every time, the template lets you do it in just a click or two with Height’s Task Forms: simply input the name of the client and what you’d like to name their new client list. Once you submit the form, a new task workflow will auto-populate with all the standard onboarding components as individual subtasks, ready to be delegated to the right team members. The task form will also create a new list for you specific to that new client, where you can house all of their projects and tasks moving forward even beyond the onboarding process.

Having this task form makes it seamless for even those brand new to client onboarding to look professional — it functions as a basic checklist, and as you learn about what specific tasks your agency needs to complete during onboarding, you can customize the form as you see fit.

2. Assign out onboarding tasks and organize all your current onboarding flows.

In Height, you’re able to assign multiple team members to any given task, so if more than one person will be managing a particular client account, it’s easy to give everyone access to the information and tasks they’ll need. But when you’re onboarding multiple clients at once, things can quickly become disorganized. This client onboarding template includes an active-client-onboarding list, a Height Smart list that displays just the current onboarding flows you’re working on, so it’s easy to see who’s completed what and which tasks still need to be done.

3. Run a seamless onboarding experience while focusing on what comes next.

Often, you’ll be finishing up multiple onboarding tasks for a client while kicking off the initial stages of their projects. When you’re intensely trying to build a strong onboarding flow, it’s easy to lose sight of what comes next; similarly, when you start working on client projects, sometimes remaining onboarding tasks slip through the cracks. With Height’s client onboarding template, you’ll be able to manage both onboarding and project tasks in every client’s individual specific list. Bring everything you’re working on for a client together in one place — view onboarding progress and work on actual tasks without missing a beat.

How do I get started with the client onboarding template?

Getting started is easy — all you have to do is click “Try in Height.”

If you already have a Height account, you’ll be all set and ready to start customizing your new workflow. If not, welcome! Creating a Height account is free, quick, and easy. You’ll be good to go in just a minute.