How to fail at Onboarding

Hey there it's Terra Milo here and today we're going to talk about client onboarding and how to fail at client onboarding.

I have seen so many mistakes and simple things that people can do to make the onboarding experience so much better for the client and you can automate all of this! so let's dive in and talk about how to fail at onboarding.

Some things I've seen as I've been signing up for your stuff and trying to make appointments with people... a lot of fails.

This is part of the Fail Series where we're talking about what to do and what not to do to fail at business, how to communicate clearly and get even better clients.

How to fail at client onboarding.

This is a super important one I'm so glad you're here.

A little bit about me first. I'm Terra Milo. I do consider myself an epic failure these days but after running a business since 2013 and helping hundreds of other entrepreneurs with technology and marketing, I know what works and what doesn't and I want to help you avoid these mistakes so that you can really thrive and grow your business.

Here are some of my numbers. Ss you can see, it's a small business but it's got longevity. I've been around for a while because people keep coming back to me. I know what I'm talking about, I do a good job, and they get the results they're looking for. That's how I've been able to stay in business for over 9 years to help more than 500 entrepreneurs. We've launched more than 200 products and services. It’s just been amazing and people keep coming back for more so let's go.

Alright, so here are some onboarding fails that I have seen.

When you're sending an email newsletter and you don't put your emails into a sequence. You're just sending broadcasts and you haven't written for a while and then you send this one: "you haven't heard from me in a while I promise to write more often."

Nobody cares about that. Don't send an email like that. Just dive right into the good content.

They're not keeping track of how often they hear from you. They don't care. You don't have to say something like this. You don't have to apologize. Jump in and start giving them that good content.

That box with the instructor… it says “John Doe.”

I literally saw this on a course platform for a course that people pay thousands of dollars for.

They didn't bother to update the instructor information in their course platform! They're using Kajabi and it's super easy to update this stuff.

This is part of the client experience: having some good professionalism and that does not look professional when you don't even update the instructor information so you've got to do that.

Don't assume this stuff is already done.

Checking through your client onboarding, checking through your whole client experience is so important so you don't miss easy stuff like that.

I love doing a website review or a content review or something like that where we're looking through the whole client experience to make sure that all of these little details are done and they look super polished.

Another one that I've gotten is a confirmation email that says "book a meeting." I already booked a meeting. This was the confirmation email! So that was confusing. Snd then it says "meeting type: video call" but it doesn't say how we're going to connect. Are we using Zoom? Are we using Google meet? Are we using something else? What kind of video call is this?

I had to reply and say what video call? How are we meeting? And then I got the details but don't make your clients do this extra work to connect with you.

Make it easy for them.

Just pop that link right in there so they know exactly how they're going to connect with you.

This is the most overlooked thing in client onboarding is during that strategy call, that discovery call. People forget to say how you're actually going to connect.

Oh! I've got a freebie for you! it's a one-page cheat sheet it talks about what to do, what not to do around onboarding your clients. so you can get all the details, a quick summary of this whole video right here and you can grab that freebie: how to fail at client onboarding.

Back to it.

Missing the details.

Don't assume that they know how to connect. This is what I was just talking about. Make it easy for them. Tell them how you're going to connect. Confirm the date and time and how long it'll take.

I personalize mine so my email says something like "hey I'm looking forward to your [what type of call it is] and we're going to meet at this time on this date. We're going to connect via Zoom."

Don't give them a choice make the decisions for them; show that you're the leader and you're in charge of this business. You have figured out how you're best going to connect. Just tell them how to do that.

And you can personalize all of that.

Then I say something to really make it kind of warm and fuzzy, I say "make sure you're in a quiet space so that we can focus on you."

So that tells them two things: it tells them don't be in your car - that's not what we're here for. This is not a casual conversation: this is a real conversation about business (or whatever it is).

I want them to be in a good space to have that conversation, that call, and it also is like “so we can focus on you."

It kind of makes them feel warm and fuzzy.

So that's what my message says. I set it up years ago it's automated. I check in on it every once in a while to make sure it's working correctly but that's it!

You can automate that stuff and it feels really personal.

People feel like I just sat down and typed that message out to them so that's a real upgrade to your onboarding system.

Don't skimp on the reminders. I know sometimes it feels like you're being annoying but it's not annoying: it's super helpful and nobody misses a strategy session with me - my free discovery call - because I send them a confirmation email and they get two reminder emails.

It's not annoying. It's helpful because they get all the details in one place and it's on their calendar. They get the reminder. I send mine immediately and then one day before and one hour before our session so that my email's at the top of their emails and it's got the link for us to connect.

You can and you should automate all of this. You can easily do those connections now with Zoom and your scheduling system. I use Acuity and it automatically integrates Zoom with Acuity so it pops that link in there. It's just amazing - saves me so much time and it gives them that clarity they need to get on the call with me.

Now let's talk about onboarding into your email list. Your new subscribers. That's a type of onboarding into your business so don't give them a freebie only!

I am obsessed with an email sequence. They sign up for the freebie, they get that freebie immediately, and then they get a welcome sequence. They're excited about your business. They want to learn more so you can send them a series of emails that welcomes them, that gives them maybe a testimonial from a client, some other high value emails, and you can continue that with a nurture sequence.

I actually send ALL of my emails in a sequence. I don't do broadcasts because I want every person to get every email that I send. Sending it all as a sequence reminds them that I exist and I'm consistently launching, making sales, getting new clients because my list is taken care of.

First they get that welcome sequence and then they get a whole nurture sequence of emails that last for years actually. It's so cool. So don't forget to follow up, especially if you're running ads and you're giving a freebie from ads. Just dropping that freebie for them and not following up with a welcome sequence is leaving money on the table. It's just such a waste of money so don't do that. This is a huge tip for your business.

Let's work together! I love setting this stuff up. I'm obsessed with efficiency so automating all of that, personalizing those emails, and then creating an email sequence for you so your new subscribers are really taken care of.

I love doing that so you can work with me to get that all set up. You can contact me here: terra@terramilo.com is my email. Tell me you came from the Fail series I would love to know.

Or you can book a spot with me on my calendar and you'll see how my onboarding process works and if that's something that you would like to have in your business as well.

I'm telling you - no one misses a call with me. People feel really taken care of and I don't have to do that extra work of setting this stuff up and responding or sending emails all the time. It's just done. It feels so good. So contact me and we will get this rolling for your business.

And don't forget to grab that freebie the one-page cheat sheet with all this information, some do's and don'ts, some extra stuff in there as well.

I'll see you in the next video.