Did you know that integrating automated onboarding software into your strategy can save you at least 15 hours of work each month?
In fact, ChiroCandy (a chiropractor marketing agency) saved over 7 hours in onboarding calls alone! 🤯
The average onboarding process for a new corporate client can take up to 100 days.
So, it is no secret that the intricate path of client onboarding comes with numerous challenges.
From the copious amounts of contracts and forms, to the back-and-forth emails, maintaining that first great impression can be difficult when so many things can impact a brand new client relationship.
Automated onboarding software is a revolutionary way to approach client onboarding by ultimately optimizing the client onboarding workflow.
Want to learn how to automate your client onboarding? Keep reading and you won’t be disappointed!😄👇
First things first..what exactly do we mean by client onboarding?
Customer onboarding for agencies involves the process of integrating new clients into the agency’s operations.
This can be divided into 4 phases:
1. Client data collection
Gathering customer information allows agencies to tailor their services to the client’s needs and set expectations for upcoming projects.
2. Customer welcome
Welcoming clients facilitates a positive first impression and sets the tone for a lasting client relationship. Typically, this step also consists of detailed information on the relevant deliverables the agency is offering.
3. Client setup
Tasks such as adding client data into a CRM, making access requests, and setting up client accounts are all necessary for streamlined communications and customer satisfaction.
4. Legal formalities
Contracts, service agreements, and proposals are a key part of the onboarding process. These are important for mitigating potential risks and outlining the expectations each party has from the partnership.
Let’s be honest..
While these phases are useful for understanding the basics of client onboarding, the reality is that these manual processes can be a nightmare consisting of endless back-and-forth emails, calls, delays and misunderstandings! 😭
The benefits of automated onboarding
FUN FACT: 82% of enterprise organizations rate their onboarding strategy as a key driver of value.
This means that a smooth, standardized onboarding process will significantly reduce client churn and encourage clients to maintain their commitment to your services.
With an automated client onboarding process, you can use the right software to take care of all those repetitive tasks for you.
Onboarding automation can improve customer experience in the following ways:
Reduced costs
Statistics have shown that 74% of enterprise businesses have a dedicated customer onboarding team.
Automated workflows require less people, thus allowing you to save money on a big team.
Improved organizational efficiency
With enhanced collaborative features and automated workflows, onboarding becomes consistently faster- leaving your potential customers with a lasting first impression, while freeing up resources and time for other aspects of the client relationship.
High data accuracy
Human error is an inevitable part of manual processes. No client will be satisfied with poor results, thus failing to meet client expectations puts you at a significant risk of a higher customer churn.
Automation tools are a reliable way to streamline the onboarding process by ensuring data accuracy across the board.
How can I automate the client onboarding process?
There are countless ways marketing agencies can automate customer onboarding.
Let’s take a look at 6 time-consuming tasks automation tools can completely take care of for you:
1. Data collection
Gathering information from new customers is a necessary, yet laborious process.
Rather than collecting this data through emails, calls, and messy spreadsheets, you can opt for tools that will automate this part of the process and minimize unnecessary back-and-forth interactions.
Digital forms are an effective method of gathering client information, as they can be standardized to reduce human error and deliver a personalized client experience through targeted questions.
A client intake form is an easy (and important! 🙌) form to automate, as its aim is to gather data and help agencies better understand new customers’ goals and expectations.
Some key points included in this form are:
- Basic contact information
- Target audience
- Client goals
- Budget
- Concerns
Plus, this data can help you host a memorable kickoff meeting! 😀
The more information you have on your client, the better it is for building an effective strategy you can confidently present on your call.
Find out more: How to Structure a Kickoff Meeting
Form builder software like Content Snare, Google Forms, and Jotform can quickly create client intake forms or any other digital form you may need for efficient data collection.
BONUS: We have built downloadable client intake form templates you can use for free as part of your automated boarding process!
Make sure to check them out here!
2. Scheduling meetings
Every agency has been through the endless emails in the hopes of finding a suitable time to meet.
Meetings are an unavoidable part of customer onboarding, so why not let your clients do all the work for you?
Automated booking systems like Calendly are a great way to simplify onboarding for you and your clients.
Rather than trying to coordinate multiple meetings manually at the same time, a scheduling tool will enable clients to book a slot based on your availability.
The benefits of automating this aspect of communication include:
- Calendar sync: Most scheduling tools share free time slots based on your calendar, reducing scheduling errors and double bookings.
- Automated reminders: Upcoming reminders will be triggered when an appointment is approaching. This reduces no-shows and forgetful clients!
- Zoom/Teams integration: Booking systems with a Zoom or Teams integration will automatically create meetings for you.
- Better client accommodation: Booking systems can be accessed at any time, making it ideal for international clients that use different time zones. Thus, a scheduling tool shows that your agency provides tailored flexibility and accommodations to their clients.
- Simplified onboarding: By providing a straight-forward booking process, you can improve client experience.
BONUS: Take automation to the next level by using transcription tools to record and transcribe your meetings.
Not only will you save time by automatically having verbal information converted into text in minutes, but you will also minimize errors that may come with manual note-taking.
3. Document management
The customer onboarding process can easily be characterized by countless hours of generating and managing proposals, contracts, quotes…you name it! 😬
With the help of onboarding automation software, you can save time on several aspects of document management:
- Document creation: With ready-to-use templates, you can reduce errors associated with data entry, and automatically generate proposals or any document you need in no time.
- Document access: Documents are typically accessible by both clients and the team at all times. This is a great way to show your clients that you are willing to accommodate them throughout your partnership.
- Payment collection: Some proposal tools enable you to automatically request payment to accept a proposal. Whether this is a deposit or another fixed amount, you can cross out this onboarding task from your list!
- E-signatures: Say goodbye to hours of printing, scanning, and sending physical copies to clients, by simply collecting all signatures digitally in seconds. On top of this, digital signature tools allow you to send automated reminders to sign, and even notify you when all signatures have been collected.
To put it simply, automating these onboarding processes will get you quicker confirmation from clients and improve your overall organizational efficiency.
Just remember to use a great tool that offers the features we mentioned above, in addition to a user-friendly interface and integration capabilities.
DocuSign, PandaDoc and Zapier are all popular choices amongst agencies.
Not sure which one is best suited for your needs?
Find out more: 14 Best Tools for Onboarding Agency Clients
4. Task management
Incorporating an automated project management system to your workflow is an amazing way to centralize communication, documentation, and task information in just one platform.
Talk about efficiency!
With collaborative workspace tools like Notion and Asana, you can effortlessly improve your customers’ onboarding journey by:
- Automating task assignments: Tasks can be triggered based on milestones, roles, and priorities. This can help agencies manage projects for multiple clients at once, while maintaining structure and communication amongst team members.
- Fostering communication: Making use of an all-in-one workspace means that all project-related communications, updates, and progress can be found in a singular platform. This accessibility can foster collaboration and make managing tasks a breeze.
- Prioritizing tasks: With automated deadlines and task reminders, you can have a clear view of which tasks need to be prioritized; avoiding delays that may arise from miscommunication when assigning tasks manually.
A well-coordinated team is more likely to track milestones and meet customer deadlines.
So, why not automate these onboarding tasks for a more streamlined workflow that is guaranteed to impress your clients?
5. Communications
Communication is arguably the make-or-break when it comes to having an effective onboarding process in place.
Whether you are thinking about first contact or a follow-up email, consistently keeping up with multiple clients at the same time can be challenging- especially when it comes to the little things!
However, it is those little things that can take you from a decent agency to a great agency.
Automated communications will result in:
- Lead generation: Recent statistics show that AI chatbots have almost 90% satisfaction rates.
Rather than wasting valuable time on FAQs and common customer queries, automating initial contact can take this repetitive task off your plate and allow you to focus on other aspects of customer onboarding.
BONUS: Chatbots can generate leads from customer data, increasing your chances of acquiring more clients by sending follow-up emails.
- Multi-channel engagement: With extensive platform integrations, most automation tools can schedule messages on various channels.
Don’t know where to start? Simply automate communication triggers based on certain milestones and client actions. Once these are met, an automated response will be generated and sent to them
I.e. When a new client signs up, you can automate a ‘Thank you’ or ‘Welcome’ response, along with guides and tutorials on how your services work.
Whether that involves emails or in-app messages, automated communications can consistently prioritize the client experience on your behalf.
- Personal approach to customer onboarding: A common misconception about automated onboarding software is that it can take away the human touch that makes each agency’s approach unique.
This is just that…a misconception!❌
In fact, these tools can actually enhance the human process by allowing you to personalize your services to each customer.
Welcome messages and guided tours are both crucial in maintaining human touch in your approach. Simultaneously, they are the easiest onboarding tasks to automate!
Thus, all onboarding automation software does is simply make your human approach more efficient.
6. Access requests
Nobody talks about the inherent struggle that comes with access requests- perhaps because it is such a headache!
Just like most marketing agencies, Megaphone (Australia’s #1 Digital Agency) used a massive PDF to gather necessary information from clients.
As expected, this came with countless back-and-forth calls!
After using Leadsie, they saw a 25% reduction in the time it takes to onboard new clients.🤯
Here’s how it works:
Leadsie can get you access to your client’s assets, including marketing and social media accounts, with just a few clicks.
Simply send your unique link to your client and wait for them to open it and grant you permission to their accounts.
It’s that simple!
BONUS: Leadsie also lets you customize your connect requests by adding your logo and brand colors, so you don’t need to worry about losing your personal touch with client onboarding automation!
Say bye to the headache of onboarding
Incorporating an automated process in your client onboarding workflow is a smart investment that will improve user experience and help grow a profitable agency!
From streamlined communications to faster access to assets, embracing automation is the best way to cut out mundane tasks and focus on more valuable aspects of onboarding.
Here at Leadsie, our focus is on helping you make a great first impression at the delicate start of onboarding, and maintain a high customer retention rate with just a few clicks.
Don’t believe us? Try out Leadsie with a 14-day FREE trial and see for yourself!
Just enter your email below! 👇
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