Ensuring a Smooth and Efficient Onboarding Process for Your Clients
Starting off client relationships with a bang.
- Welcoming your client, and getting them excited to work with you.
- Setting expectations and helping them understand the process.
- Gathering any critical info needed from your client to work with them.
Client Onboarding Processes: What's Yours?
- First Contact: How do they get in touch? Do they have to call in? Email? Is there a contact form or booking page on your site?
- Consultation and pricing: How easy is it for a potential client to talk to somebody and have their questions answered? Do you have clear pricing or FAQs you can provide them with? A consistent process you can walk them through?
- Engagement: Assuming the first part goes well, what do the steps look like for them to retain and start working with you? How and when do they sign and pay? Is there a simple intake and verification form, or is the whole thing disorganized and messy?
- Initial steps: After all this, what happens next? How do they find out with who and how they're working with and what they should expect?
1. Make it convenient for clients to schedule appointments and provide necessary documents.
2. Communicate clearly and consistently.
Clear and consistent communication is key to ensuring that your clients feel informed and supported throughout the onboarding process. Make sure to provide clients with a clear timeline of what to expect and how long the onboarding process will take.
It's also important to set expectations for communication channels - will you be communicating via email, phone, or in-person meetings? - and stick to them. This will help clients feel confident that they know what to expect and how to get in touch with you if they have any questions or concerns.
3. Streamline your intake process.
- A legal-specific platform such as LEAP, Clio Grow, Lawmatics, etc.
- A feature of your existing CRM (if you don't have one, you should!)
- A feature of your project management system (Asana, Clickup and Zoho all have form options)
- A separate form software like Jotforms, or even Google Forms, which is free.
4. Provide a welcoming and supportive onboarding experience.
Onboarding is not just about gathering information and documents - it's also about building a relationship with your new clients.
Make sure to provide a welcoming and supportive onboarding experience that helps clients feel comfortable and confident in your firm's ability to handle their legal needs. This might involve providing resources and guidance on what to expect throughout the legal process, or simply offering a friendly and helpful attitude.
5. Use technology to your advantage.
In today's digital age, there are many tools and technologies available to help streamline and automate your law firm's onboarding process.
For example, you might consider using document management software to store and organize client documents, or using a project management tool to track progress and deadlines. Even just meeting over Zoom instead of relying on a phone call can let your client see your face and build rapport.
Additionally, you might consider implementing electronic signature technology, which allows clients to sign documents electronically and reduces the need for physical copies and in-person meetings.