Client Onboarding Guide
The first week after a yes should feel organized. A client onboarding guide tells them who to call, what happens next, and what you still need — without another sales pitch.
What's Included
- Welcome
- What happens next
- Key contacts
- Required information
- Communication expectations
- Files
- Meetings
- Billing basics
- Next steps
Best For
The week after a proposal is accepted, before delivery noise takes over.
Target Audience
Consultancies, agencies, and professional-service firms onboarding a newly signed client.
How to Customize
If you later connect this to ZuffSuite Forms or Tasks, do it as a separate project. This template stays a document.
When to Use
Send this after a proposal or sales package is accepted. It is not a substitute for a project plan or a scope of work.
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CLIENT & COMMERCIAL / WARM PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to Northfield Advisory
Prepared for: Harbor Lane Logistics — Maya Chen, VP Operations
Your principal: Jordan Hale · jordan.hale@northfield-advisory.example · (312) 555-0148
Onboarding week: September 22–26, 2026
You already approved the Dispatch Portal Modernization project. This guide is only about how we work together for the first 30 days — contacts, what we need from you, and how we communicate.
1. What happens next
When | What you will see | What we need from you |
|---|---|---|
Day 1 (Mon) | Kickoff agenda and access checklist | Confirm attendees; grant workspace guest access |
Day 2–3 | Discovery interviews with two dispatchers | 45 minutes each; sample Friday spreadsheet |
Day 5 | Written intake map draft | Comments within two business days |
Day 10 | First weekly status (Friday 3:00 p.m.) | Maya Chen as the single decision owner |
2. Key contacts
Role | Name | Reach for |
|---|---|---|
Principal / project lead | Jordan Hale | Scope, budget, timeline |
Operations designer | Priya Shah | Queue design and training |
Harbor Lane sponsor | Maya Chen | Decisions and dispatcher time |
Billing questions | Avery Cole, Northfield | Invoices — invoices@northfield-advisory.example |
3. Information we still need
List of 18 accounts that currently receive the Friday status email
Last four weeks of the customer-status spreadsheet (any format)
Names of the four Midwest dispatchers in the pilot
Preferred weekly status time if Friday 3:00 p.m. does not work
4. How we communicate
Decisions and change requests live in writing in the project workspace — not only in chat.
We reply to operational questions the same business day before 5:00 p.m. Central.
Emergencies (portal down during a live dispatch shift) go to Jordan Hale by phone.
We will not message individual dispatchers on weekends unless Maya Chen asks us to.
5. Files and documents
Northfield stores working drafts in Harbor Lane’s ZuffSuite workspace so you keep the files if the engagement ends. Please do not email spreadsheet attachments as the system of record; upload them to the “Intake samples” folder instead.
6. Meetings
Standing meeting: Fridays, 3:00–3:25 p.m. Central, 30 minutes, Jordan + Maya. Discovery interviews are scheduled separately. We send a Meeting Agenda the day before and Meeting Notes the same afternoon.
7. Billing basics
Invoices go to Avery Cole’s email on the 1st of each month for the prior phase. Net 15. This guide does not change the fees in the approved proposal. Questions about payment belong with Avery, not the project Slack channel.
8. Support after hypercare
The 30-day hypercare window is part of the approved scope. After that, additional help is a new request. We will not silently expand the engagement.
9. Your first-week checklist
Reply to Jordan with the four items in section 3.
Add Priya Shah to the dispatcher interview calendar.
Skim this guide with your office manager so they know how to reach us.
When to use it
Send this after a proposal or sales package is accepted. It is not a substitute for a project plan or a scope of work.
How to use this ZuffSuite template
Put one principal on the cover. Replace the Harbor Lane timeline with your actual first ten days. Keep billing facts short and accurate.
Best practices
- Name one client-side decision owner.
- Ask for files once, in a list the client can check off.
- Say how you will not communicate (weekends, personal chat).
Questions people actually ask
- Should this include legal terms?
- No. Keep terms in your agreement. This guide is operational: people, timing, and working agreements.
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