The onboarding call we aim for runs 15 minutes, one to one. The client leaves knowing exactly what to do and how to use everything.
That length is on purpose. A short call can happen fast, and fast is what counts. The bigger an offer gets, the slower onboarding gets, and every day of delay pushes results back and raises the chance of a refund request.
What is the onboarding call for?
Three jobs. Show the client that what they bought is real and valuable. Set the expectations the program will be judged against. And get them moving on the first win before the call ends.
Clients decide in the first 72 hours whether they made the right call. Most early refund requests are fear: people spent a lot and now realise they have to do the work. The onboarding call is the first answer to that fear, so it has to come before the doubt does.
What is the agenda for a 15-minute onboarding call?
| Minutes (example) | Part | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | Welcome | Congratulate them, say who you are and what you do for them |
| 2 to 5 | Their goal | Confirm the goal with a number, and where they are starting from |
| 5 to 8 | The path | Show the stages, the time each one takes, and the milestone that ends it |
| 8 to 11 | Where everything is | Skool, the video training, the community, chat support, how to book calls |
| 11 to 14 | The first win | Agree the setup task for this week, and the day it will be done |
| 14 to 15 | Next touch | Say when you will check in, and on which channel |
What does the client success manager say on the call?
Short lines, in a friendly voice. Write and talk like a friend, professional, and never read a speech at a client. The lines below are an example script; change the words to fit the offer.
- Welcome: "Congratulations on joining. I'm your client success manager, so anything you need, you come to me."
- Goal: "Your goal is this number by this date. Where are you today?" Write the answer on their row.
- Path: "Here is the whole path. Stage one takes this long, and it ends when you have done this."
- Tools: "Here is the training, here is the community, and here is where you message me." Share the screen.
- First win: "This week, set this up. Tell me in chat when it's done, and I'll check it."
- Close: "I'll check in on this day. If you get stuck before that, message me."
The goal line matters most. A client who says their number out loud, to a person, has made a small commitment. And the client success manager now has a starting point for the board.
What should the first win be?
Something very simple the client sets up: an account built, the brand ready, something prepped. It should land inside one to two weeks, 30 days at the latest. Later than that, the client already feels down and starts thinking the program is bad.
Laundry Profits, the offer we built with Cami, opens Level 01 with setup work. Create your brand, price your service, set up the laundry app and the workspace. In an offer like that, the first win set on the call is one of those tasks, named, with a day.
The bigger the offer gets, the slower onboarding gets. That delays results and interest, and it raises the chance of refunds. So be fast, and as personal as the volume allows. The 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 and how to use everything.
How many steps should onboarding have?
Five to seven, not fifteen. Explain them in a video and in bullet points, with more than one touch point. Make it easy, like you would for a five-year-old. Onboarding is a lot more than a welcome email.
The call is one of those steps. In Laundry Profits the onboarding videos cover the welcome, the program, the business model and the team. The last one shows the path from $0 to $10K a month. The call does not repeat the videos. It checks the client knows where they are and what to do next.
What goes wrong on onboarding calls?
Changing the offer on the call. Any change that affects the client causes chaos, even a free one. We once added chat support for free, and clients asked how it worked and whether it was part of their offer.
Promising more than the program does. The call is framing, and framing sets what the client measures you against. If expectations are wrong, you fulfil, but not against what the client believes.
And waiting. A call booked two weeks out is a refund request with a calendar invite.
Watch out. A group onboarding webinar does not replace the call. The client never says their goal out loud, nobody writes it on their row, and the first win stays vague.
Further reading: What changes in onboarding at 20, 100 and 300 new clients a month · Time to value: the first win in the first two weeks
Diego Miescher
