New Client Onboarding - The Unseen Hero

In this episode, we delve into the often overlooked but crucial topic of new client onboarding. Host Mary Sue Dahill shares insights on how to leverage your CRM to set the stage for success, create personalized welcomes, and celebrate milestones in a way that fosters a deep and lasting client relationship. Discover how a well-orchestrated onboarding process can be the game-changer your business needs. Tune in to unlock the secrets of maximizing the potential of your CRM in the all-important new client onboarding phase.

Key Takeaways:

• Importance of new client onboarding
• Setting the stage for success
• Personalized welcomes, not just greetings
• Utilizing CRM to automate the onboarding process

Quotes

"Setting the stage for success involves clear communication of next steps and mutual expectations."– Mary Sue Dahill

"With your CRM, you can make each new client feel important and eager about the journey ahead, creating a meaningful experience beyond just onboarding."– Mary Sue Dahill

Featured in this Episode

Mary Sue Dahill

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marysuedahill

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction

02:02 - The Importance of Clear Communication in the Onboarding Process

03:22 - How to Optimize Engagement in Your Program

04:24 - Enhancing Customer Experience and Loyalty

05:56 - Cultivating a Sense of Value and Excitement for Clients

06:54 - Engaging Experiences and Milestone Celebrations

08:18 - Maximizing the Use of Online Communities and Resources

10:23 - Outro

Produced by:http://www.heartcastmedia.com

Transcript

Mary Sue Dahill:

Would you like a 200% increase on your CRM investment? Hi there. My name is Mary Sue Dahill, and I'm the host of CRM Success Secrets. When you use a CRM effectively, you will see an average of 200% return on your investment. But That means you have to integrate your CRM into your business processes and use it as a hub of your business. In this 5 part series, I will share the most powerful and sometimes overlooked CRM strategies. When your CRM is more than just a tool and becomes the heartbeat of your business, that's when magic happens. We've already talked about lead generation, fortune in the follow-up, simple sales tracking, and hyper personalization. Now let's shine a light on an often underestimated hero, new client onboarding.

This is honestly my favorite topic and something that I have done with many, many clients and seen a huge impact on their business. So buckle up because today, we're delving into the powerhouse strategy of new client onboarding, And we will uncover why a well orchestrated onboarding process can be the game changer your business needs. So let's first start with how a CRM helps. As always, it starts with defining your process, prioritizing special touch points and odd than automating the system. So your CRM helps you deliver on your onboarding process and goals. So the 3 elements we're gonna focus on today are setting the stage for success, personalized welcomes, not just greetings, and milestone celebrations and checkpoints. So setting the stage for success. New client onboarding isn't just about filling out paperwork and sending a confirmation email.

It's about really setting the stage for a lasting relationship. And, the way I like to think about this step is that You've probably done a fair amount of nurturing leading up to them making their purchase. Once they make the purchase, Then they kind of go into this holding pattern until the program or whatever starts. And you, as the business owner, are Probably doing a lot behind the scenes to get ready for them to start, or other kind of logistical matters, But what you're sending to them may be lacking, and so your new customer client is probably feeling undervalued, unseen, and Kind of Used. And it's not intentional. I know it's not intentional at all, but it happens. So setting the stage for success includes just communicating the next steps, what's happening next, and how they can properly engage in a kind of pre-work, pre activity to be ready for working with you. You also wanna be clarifying what they should expect from you as well as what you expect from them.

 How should they show up to get the most transformation from your program? And you also wanna restate what the heck they purchased Because, again, people are buying from people, so they may not be paying attention to the details, and it's a good time to restate what they purchased in a personal conversational way. I can't tell you how many clients have said, well, they have all that in their contract. And who wants to read a contract? Not me. I will certainly never open it again. So if you don't pour over contracts to make sure you understand what you purchased, bet you your clients aren't either. So what your CRM can really help you do is smooth that transition and that gap between purse, purchase and initial activity. So this onboarding phase is where you make your first impression, So really pay attention to this transition point.

The second is personalized welcomes and not just greetings. So we're gonna talk about what you could be doing here to make this more of an experience and memorable journey versus just a transaction. So when someone purchases, most people will send them a confirmation of purchase, or They send, you know, a contract that has the signature on it, countersigned, all that kind of fun stuff, and just a thank you. That's a greeting. What we're talking about is really a personalized welcome to that person. It transforms that standard process into something that they will remember, that they will feel special, and that they will feel was a really great start to their working with you. So usually, the onboarding phase includes more than 1 email Because you wanna think of this as a drip campaign that is really nurturing a new client for their success and transformation. It's taking them from the purchase to that initial step or initial, Start of the program in a way that is going to help them be ready, feel like they made an awesome decision to invest in themselves and, that they feel like they're prepared to to get the most out of the program.

And a lot of my clients will incorporate a kind of a personalized gift at this point. Maybe they really selected based on the person. Maybe, they have a gift that's super focused on the phase, you know, that the person is in when they start the program. Everyone starts The same point, maybe it's a planning workbook for them to, kinda leaf through before they start the program. So there's lots of things you could be doing at this point. People also write personal thank you notes. So, again, you're just trying to make the person feel seen, that it's not transactional, that They are important to you. And with your CRM as the orchestrator, you can make every new client feel valued, understood, and Excited about the road ahead because it's not just onboarding.

 It's about crafting an experience that reflects your commitment to their success. So, I mean, I think that's pretty exciting stuff. 3rd is the milestone celebrations and check ins. Now this really extends beyond just the onboarding, but it continues that whole feeling that they're being seen and heard in a way that is more than just you delivering the program. Milestone celebrations and check ins matter because they transform the onboarding journey from a series of tasks into a dynamic and engaging experience. And they show your client that you're not just focused on the end goal, but generally care about their progress and satisfaction along the way. So the small thought thoughtful gestures of celebration contribute to a positive client experience, kind of reinforcing that they are more than just a transaction. So, Depending on when you actually get started, I have seen, you know, clients where their Person has purchased into a mastermind or a monthly program, so there may be a delay of a couple weeks before they start engaging with the group.

This is a great time to have them go through just kind of pre-work. And if you're using, like, an online course and they go through a little goal setting or, self reflection of the prior year, and they submit something to you, which one is valuable for them to do to document where they're at right now. And, 2, it's valuable for you to know where they're at, and you can celebrate that success, like them taking that step and really evaluating where they are right now. You can also set up an onboarding call, making sure that they know everything that's going on, before that initial event. So a lot of coaches and consultants, they'll have some sort of online community. They'll have Some sort of material that the person has to have access to. There's a schedule. There may be lots of things for the new client to be aware of.

So having a short onboarding call to make sure that they have access to all of those things and that they understand that they have to put The appointments on their calendar, you know, not only helps them, but helps you too in making sure that they're receiving everything. Also, making sure they know how to engage in your community if you have one. It's not about bringing a client on board. It's about creating that experience that resonates and sets the foundation for a long and prosperous relationship. So utilizing your CRM to automate your onboarding process keeps the client excited, engaged, and invested in the journey, ultimately fostering a really strong connection and laying the groundwork for a lasting and fruitful client relationship. So I hope you found this 5 part series on the 5 most important CRM strategies useful. And until our next series Happy CRMing