Onboarding for the win!

Some of our clients are purchasing design services for the first time. So, it's incumbent upon us to educate and align them to our organization. This is where onboarding comes in.

We started onboarding a few years ago as a way to familiarize clients with our project management software. Since then, it’s evolved into one of the most valuable and transformative processes we lead them through. It's designed to earn their trust and build their confidence in our way of working by:

  • establishing clear goals and objectives for the project
  • walking them through how things work
  • communicating the value of our process
  • talking to people in their organization
  • addressing any questions or concerns that come up

Our onboarding process at a glance

Step one:

We begin by asking potential clients to fill out a questionnaire. This helps us understand their organization, business context, and challenge(s) they're hoping to overcome by working with us.

Step two:

We send an email outlining the details of our onboarding process.

Step three:

We schedule a discovery meeting to ask strategic questions and give potential clients the opportunity to evaluate our process first hand.

Step four:

We present our proposal in person. Typically, our proposals contain several options to choose from, based what potential clients have told us they need as well as our own research.

Step five:

Once we agree on a project option, we schedule a kick-off meeting to pop the champagne! In addition to celebrating our new relationship, we introduce our new client to their project team, align on timeline, and address any outstanding questions.

Beginning to end, onboarding usually takes 2–3 weeks. Experience tells us that slowing down the intake process increases the likelihood of success at every stage of the project—from kickoff to launch. Our approach doesn’t appeal to every client, but we’ve built some solid and long-lasting relationships with the ones who value our commitment and attention to detail.

If you're interested in learning more about our onboarding process, get in touch.