The 5 Step Client Intake Process

Have you documented your client intake process?

As an online business manager I know there are tons and tons of processes but I want to start you guys at the beginning - your client intake process.

The Client Intake Process Defined

My Client intake process includes the series of steps I take before the onboard process. The intake process consists of all of the steps taken to get in front of a client through having them sign your contract and pay that initial invoice. Those are the steps we will be covering in our client intake process.

Step one is to attract

Entrepreneurship is a verb, an action word.

The key here is to grab their attention and harness their interest by showing up and showing them who you are and what you do. This includes any and every avenue you utilize to get in front of a potential client. Attract your audience with your knowledge of them, the things they're interested in and your skillset. It's also important to provide good, relevant content and engage... often.  Most of all, you need to be proactive.

The Next Step is to Capture 

You should capture as much of the key information as you can. There are many ways to capture the information depending on your initial point of contact. Your business pitch is a great tool to help shape a conversation that will help you gather the needed information you need to move forward with the next step.

I am aware of the controversy around cold emailing and GDRP rules and if, how and when they impact your client intake process. Please read the rules for yourself as ultimately you are responsible.

Then, Nurture 

There are a few ways to go about this. If there is a client who is eager to move the conversation along, great, usually one email will do. Otherwise, you should initiate a followup campaign which should include a series of emails designed to initiate conversation and build a relationship with your prospective client. At any point that the potential client opts to schedule a discovery call, we move on to the next step...

You can also access the free Client Intake webinar here outlining these steps here.

Prospecting

In this step you should aim to gather the additional information you need to qualify this as a real, potential client. Because it’s not all about just landing a client. It’s about landing the right client for you and your business. The wrong client can do more harm than good.

Finally, the Proposal

Most of the information you need to draft a quality proposal is already at your disposal as you should have been taking notes in each phase of the process. Your proposal should include a clear and concise understanding of your potential client's need and outline your plan to meet them. It should also include the measurable outcomes your client can reasonably expect from your service.

Once you've settled on the terms, send a formal proposal that is to be initialed by him/her, the contract for signature and the deposit invoice.

Once the client has paid the invoice, we can move onto onboarding.

And yes, that has its own set of processes and workflows.

Hopefully, you guys have taken the first course: Start Where You Are: Get What You Need and  know the basics of what you need to get started. If not, the course is available now for only $10. You really should check that out.