Run This 15-Minute Onboarding Audit Before Your Next Client
Five questions that expose exactly where your client onboarding leaks time, trust, and momentum.
Most coaches don't have an onboarding problem. They have five small onboarding problems that compound into a terrible first week. Before you buy another tool or rebuild another dashboard, run this audit. It takes 15 minutes and a blank note.
Question one: what does a new client receive in the first hour after they pay? If the answer is 'a receipt,' you're starting cold. Question two: how many places do they have to click to find their kickoff details? If it's more than one, some of them won't. Question three: where do you personally re-type information a client already gave you? That's a form that should feed a doc, not your memory.
Question four: what happens if you're sick on kickoff day? If the answer is 'everything stops,' your onboarding isn't a system, it's a performance. Question five: how do you know the client actually read anything you sent? Open rates are a decent proxy; a checklist they mark complete is better.
Write down your answers without fixing anything yet. The pattern usually shows up fast: one or two steps carry all the friction. Those are the only ones worth automating. Everything else can stay human, and probably should.
Run the same audit after you change something. Fifteen minutes, every new client, until the answers stop embarrassing you.