Client onboarding
The fixed sequence that turns a yes into a started project: contract, deposit, access, brief, kickoff.
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What it is
Client onboarding is the fixed sequence that turns a yes into a started project: signed agreement, deposit cleared, welcome pack, access and credentials collected, brief confirmed, kickoff call booked, communication rules set. The point of writing it down is that it stops being a decision each time. Same order, same emails, same forms, whether the client is a two-person startup or a bank.
Order matters more than content. Signature and deposit come before calendar time, and access requests go out the moment the deposit lands, because credentials, brand assets, and tool seats are the slowest thing in any project and they run through someone you have never met. A short welcome document covering who your single point of contact is, how many revision rounds are included, what your response time is, and what happens when feedback goes quiet, is worth more than any branded PDF.
Gotcha: onboarding is the only moment you can set the working rules without it feeling like a complaint. Ask for the ground rules in week six and you are renegotiating; ask in the welcome pack and it is just process. Second trap is starting design or build work while access is still outstanding, which converts a client-supplied dependency into your delay.
Ask AI for it
Build a client onboarding checklist for a freelance design and build studio, as an ordered sequence with an owner and a trigger for each step: proposal accepted, agreement sent and signed, 50 percent deposit invoiced and cleared, welcome pack delivered, access request form (hosting, domain, repo, analytics, brand assets, tool seats), project brief confirmed in writing, single point of contact named, kickoff call booked with an agenda, project channel and shared folder created, first status update scheduled. For each step give the trigger, the owner, and a one-line email or message template. Add a rule for what happens if access is not supplied within five business days.