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We can probably all agree that new employees need to be properly trained in order to be successful in the long term in a company. But I've also discovered over the course of my PR firm that the same is true for clients. If you want to have a successful, long-term partnership – and believe me, I learned this the hard way – you and your customer have to be on the same page.
You may ask: why should you or the client agree to work together and sign contracts if you think you are not suitable for the company? Well, I compare it to dating (join me on that one). A mutual acquaintance may give the impression that you would be a good fit (e.g. a business recommendation) and you have the first date (e.g. an introductory meeting). You both do your best and try to find the commonalities that this common acquaintance suggests. On the surface, you may be the perfect couple and agree to continue the relationship (i.e. sign contracts), but over time differences will inevitably arise. Will this be the end?
Not necessarily when you're putting in the work, and for clients, onboarding comes into play – during that honeymoon phase, after you've agreed to see where it goes, but before any problems arise. Here are some important things to include in your process.
Related: 8 Types of Customers and How to Deal with Them
1. Discuss communication style
It's such a simple thing, but it gets so many relationships off on the wrong foot. Raised your hand here! I text and my PR team is used to receiving a quick message from me here and there addressing a high-priority issue that I don't want to lose in the inbox. While some customers are completely fine with this, others never want to receive text messages. Some prefer calls, some like Slack, and others like Bat-Signal.
Be that as it may, it is better to know this in advance than after the fact and with great annoyance. For employees, communication style is often discussed in orientation meetings with their closest colleagues. I now also focus on this in our onboarding process for customers.
Related: 9 Productivity Tips the 1% Know to Follow
2. Set clear expectations
It has been my experience that results and expectations are often confused with the same thing. For example, the contract may specify how many press releases and pitches we send out, what press materials we create, what type of media we work with on behalf of the client, and so on. These are delivery items. Expectations include your customer's definition of success, the rhythm of communication, the actions of each of you, his and your internal processes, and milestones.
Of course, some of these things will be discussed in some form or fashion before contracts are signed. However, after working through detailed expectations only for the customer to back out at the last minute, I learned to save the extended discussions for customer onboarding.
3. Identify touchpoints
Again, from the org chart to your specific chain of command to who you should stay away from until they've had their first cup of coffee in the morning, it's standard practice in employee onboarding to cover these bases. Not so much with customers. And that can have several reasons. A customer might start out with a good relationship with a particular team member, and you might just go along with it, even if it's not your typical process. You may not want to overload it with too many “do this, do that” instructions at the beginning. Or (gasp!) you might assume that this item was hidden somewhere along the way.
But from personal experience, if you standardize touchpoints through customer onboarding, you'll appear much more professional, saving yourself, your team, and the customer time and frustration later.
Related: The only way to attract customers is to be their first choice. Find out how to do it.
What a typical customer onboarding process looks like
At my PR firm, we try not to make the client onboarding process too complicated or time-consuming, but there are essential elements for every client. Once the contract is signed, we send the customer an email thanking them for choosing us and expressing how much we look forward to working with them. (Side note: You can never overestimate your customer's trust in you.) In this email, we provide an overview of our onboarding process, which includes:
- Contact persons and roles (on our site, and we ask the customer to specify these on their site)
- Communication and meeting preferences
- How we work with the customer and their team
- Expectations for the first two weeks, the first few months and then after that
- Elements that the customer must fill out, e.g. B. Biographies, brand overview, etc.
We then plan our first group conversation to discuss these points in detail and introduce the team to each other.
Yes, onboarding customers takes time, just like employees, but like any successful relationship, the effort is worth it. Not only are you more likely to meet and exceed your customers' expectations, you'll also be much more productive, enjoy the partnership even more, and have laid the foundation for a long-term commitment. And for an entrepreneur like me, this is a dream come true!
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