‘The first impression is the last impression’- this old saying is not just relevant for your personal life but also for your professional career. The onboarding process of new clients is always an exciting experience for you as a business owner. This triggers curiosity in the minds of the clients and they look forward to receiving great service.
In the modern era, business has become a lot more digital than physical. We make a lot of business deals over the phone or through email rather than meeting the client in person. No matter whether building offline or digital welcome packets, it not only turns you into a business superstar but also creates a dynamic impression.
This may seem to be a new term if you are a tenderfoot – but trust me!- it is worth your efforts and attention. Here we will discuss, what is a welcome packet and the significance of a welcome packet for new clients along with other details. Let’s explore!
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What is a client welcome packet?
Don’t get confused by the term- welcome packet. It is not something new that you have to introduce to your clients. Rather, it is a package of some of your vital business information that you place together to give your clients a better experience and idea about your brand. You cannot expect your clients to remember everything from a mail sent weeks ago or recall your business data received over the phone. To avoid confusion, you can offer a welcome packet to your clients that organize your business data in one place. It is a kind of business portfolio that helps to establish your brand in front of new clients.
Providing a digital welcome kit is a great way to establish a personality. Confused about how to give your clients a heads up about your business and project details? Here it is!
Should you consider creating a Welcome packet for new clients?
Whether freelancer or brick-and-mortar business owner, almost all client-based businesses benefit from welcome packets. This outlines all the vital information and makes it much easier for the client to stay informed. It is extremely useful for B2B services and especially for those who are repeat clients.
Here’s what comes under a welcome packet. Take a look!
1. Welcome message:
The purpose of the welcome packet is to introduce yourself and your brand to your clients. Though your clients already know about you, a welcome packet will give a better impression of your business. Add a welcome letter or a welcome message to your welcome packet. Include a hand-written note and results of other clients after recovering your service to highlight your service and work performance.
Expert Advice: Sharing your qualities like professionals, punctuality, work ethic, authenticities can assure prospective clients about your credibility.
2. Service overview:
Next comes, a short brief about your services. Provide the menu of your services along with the general rates so that they can have the entire list of offerings. This is the place where you should mention your add-on services. This is not just a way of advertising what you will offer them but also letting them know about your potential capabilities.
Expert Advice: Ensure that the contract and the welcome packet bear the same information. Otherwise, it might lead to a dispute.
3. Communication:
A client welcome packet contains a set of all that information, which you may have provided your client earlier. But, mentioning it separately will allow your clients to have a better understanding. Lack of communication may give rise to various business disputes. Therefore, outline how frequently you would communicate with your clients so that it saves both your and your clients time. Your welcome packet should also state clearly how you will respond to the emails, revisions, or comments. Such an excellent brief about business communication will help your clients reach out to you as per their needs without waiting cluelessly for your response.
Expert Advice: Do mention in the welcome packet which medium of communication you would use – online or offline.
4. Contact information:
Contact details are one of the most relevant pieces of information that you must include in your welcome packet. Though your clients contact you through emails, you must provide your business phone number, working hours, address in the welcome packet so that your clients can reach out to you whenever they need it.
Expert Advice: Specify your working hours and provide alternate contact numbers, so that your clients can reach out in case of any emergencies.
5. Policies:
Add your company policies that you want your clients to know. Knowing the policies will help your clients to have a better understanding of your business. These are the nitty-gritty parts of the welcome packet that should be stated in layman terms so that it becomes easier to understand.
Expert Advice: Keep this section simple yet informative and try adding pointers of distinctive paragraphs for better understanding. Also, make it clear why it is necessary to adhere to the policies.
6. Process overview:
Next comes the process overview that should be mentioned in the welcome packet, as that would help your clients to understand what they can expect from you. Moreover, the process overview must also include an important service calendar and key timings. Offer a step-by-step process layout along with your service deadlines or timeframes. This helps to present the schedule more systematically and in a more organized way.
Expert Advice: For better visual presentation use calendar layout or step-by-step layout for easy scheduling of the process.
7. Payment details:
Payment details are a vital part of your policies. You must add this either in your policies, or else you can add it separately so that your clients get to know about your payment terms and policies, specifically. Mention your due date, late fee policies, or special discounts for specific months or on particular transactions. Clearly state the payment modes as well, so that you can avoid unnecessary confusion later on.
Expert Advice: This is a vital segment and hence, be very specific about this. You can bold the font for emphasizing this point.
8. Resources and tools:
This part of your welcome packet is quite informative as it will train your new clients about your workflow. Supposedly, a client does not have any experience working with you, in that case, you can provide them with links or software that you want them to know. This way it will help both you and your clients to work together in a more organized way in the future.
Expert Advice: Let’s give an example for better understanding! For coaches, one would prefer a Zoom for coaching calls and a designer would prefer Asana for onboarding their clients. Whatever software you use, share it with your clients so that it becomes easier for them to navigate the project management system.
9. FAQs:
You must have a separate section as ‘Frequently asked questions’ in your welcome packet. To save both your and your client’s time sending mail back and forth regarding doubts and queries, introduce the FAQ section. This will help your clients to have all their questions answered in just no time without waiting for you to reply to their emails.
Expert Advice: Focus on probable areas that a prospective client may enquire about. Moreover, do not neglect even a minor possibility and hence, mention every point under this section, so that all the queries are sorted on the first shot.
10. Terms and conditions:
Lastly, it is recommendable that you introduce terms and conditions as well. Provide your service terms and conditions and specify a few selected ones to highlight to your clients. This is to emphasize some of the most important and vital service terms that you want to bring to your client’s attention.
Expert Advice: Do not miss out on this section. Let your clients understand what they must abide by besides expecting quality services. There is no harm in being upfront and mentioning your business terms and conditions, as you need to keep running a safe and smooth business besides satisfying your clients.
Final thought!
On-boarding new clients is a tedious process and you can avoid a lot of frustration by introducing a welcome packet. This proves to be beneficial for both you and your clients and gives a fruitful experience when you kick-start a new business relationship with a host of new clients. Introduce a welcome packet for your client on-boarding process and experience the benefits with better performance.
