Clients decide in the first 72 hours whether a program is real. Most programs spend those hours on a welcome email and a login.
An onboarding checklist fixes that by listing every step from payment to the first win. Half the list is what the client does. The other half is what the team does so the client can.
What is on a coaching onboarding checklist?
Six client steps, each with a team step behind it. Change the wording to fit your offer, but keep the count between five and seven.
| Step | The client | The team | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Access | Gets the login and joins the community | Access sent automatically at payment; row created on the board | Automation, checked by the client success manager |
| 2. Welcome video | Watches the welcome and what happens next | Video at the top of the onboarding track | Founder records it once |
| 3. Intake form | Answers the goal, the starting point and what they expect | Answers read and put on the row before the call | Client success manager |
| 4. Onboarding call | Joins a 15-minute one-to-one call | Confirms the goal, shows the path and where everything is | Client success manager |
| 5. The path | Watches the path video with every stage and its time | Stage times set on the board | Client success manager |
| 6. First task | Does a simple setup task: the account built, the brand ready | Up to three check-ins a week until it is done | Client success manager |
What does the team tick off for each new client?
Use this as the team's version, one line per item. The client success manager ticks each one on the client's row.
- Payment received, access sent, row created on the board.
- Welcome video sent, with the next step in one line.
- Intake form sent; answers on the row before the call.
- Onboarding call booked as soon as possible after payment.
- On the call: goal confirmed, path and stage times shown, where to get help shown.
- First task set, with a date inside one to two weeks.
- Check-ins up to three times a week until the first win.
- First win logged on the board; onboarding closed.
How many steps should onboarding have?
Five to seven, not fifteen. Every step is a place a new client can stop. Explain them in a video and in bullet points, and make each one easy.
Easy means a client could do it on a phone, tired, between other things. A step that needs a call with the team to understand is two steps.
The bigger the offer gets, the slower onboarding gets, which delays results and interest and raises the chance of refunds. So be fast, and as personal as volume allows. Ideal is a 15-minute one-to-one onboarding call with a lot of framing, information, help and positive energy. People leave knowing exactly what to do.
When is onboarding done?
When the first win is logged. A welcome email is not onboarding, and a finished intake form is not either. The first win is something simple the client set up themselves.
It lands inside one to two weeks, 30 days at the latest. Later than that, the client feels down and starts thinking the program is bad, even when it is not.
Log the date of the first win on the row. The days from payment to first win are the time to value, one of the seven back-end numbers.
What goes wrong with coaching onboarding?
It gets slow as the offer grows. Calls book further out, the first win moves later, and refund requests go up. Most early refund requests are fear, and fast onboarding shows the client that what they bought is real.
Or it changes while clients are in it. Any change that affects the client causes confusion, even a free upgrade. Change the checklist for new clients from a set date, and leave current clients on the version they started.
Or the steps live only in one person's head. When that client success manager leaves, onboarding leaves with them. Write the checklist down as an SOP, and tick it on the board.
Further reading: What happens on an onboarding call for a high-ticket coaching program · Coaching intake form questions: a template for high-ticket programs
Diego Miescher
