First impressions matter. And when it comes to client on-boarding, having a clear and efficient system in place can make all the difference.

What exactly do we mean by client on-boarding though? Well, let's take a look at some of the core goals or desired outcomes we're shooting for when it comes to kicking off a new client project:

• Set clear expectations for the project ahead (including key project outcomes, timelines and how you'll work together);
• Establish the main channels of communication--particularly if the project is being completed remotely (e.g. will you set up a Slack channel for the project? Is email the best way to be in touch? Where should you expect one another to be available during the agreed hours/days?);
• Share access to all relevant documentation, accounts, analytics, reports and project background; and
• As a bonus, create a shared environment that will serve as the 'home base' for all things related to this project, between you, the client and relevant stakeholders.

If we can achieve these 4 things, in a consistent and repeatable fashion, we're well on our way to setting up each new project for success.

And that's precisely the goal of this Client Project OS template. Let's take a look through it now.

Background & Company

This client onboarding and shared project template is broken down into 3 main 'sections', with multiple views within each. The first section is for sharing and housing all 'Background & Company' information. By default, there are 3 views within this section:

• Customers & Personas;
• Competitors; and
• Brand Story, Mission & Vision.

Of course, you can add new workspaces and pages to this section as best suits your project, but the main goals we have for this setup are to:

• Quickly establish who are target segments and personas are;
• Get up to speed on existing competitive research that the client provides, or begin doing and storing our own research;
• Understand the company's history, background and core offerings; and
• Understand the company's primary messaging, brand and positioning.

Customers & Personas

The customers and personas workspace pulls from our User Persona template (found here), and serves as a space to better explore and understand key traits about our client's target audience and customers.

Competitors

The competitors database includes properties for keeping track of:

• Competitor name
• Product offerings
• Key Features
• Pricing
• Market Share
• On-boarding flow
• Target segments
• Website
• Value proposition; and
• Design comments

Whether the client provides this information for you directly, and you simply add it to the database, or if you go out and do the research yourself--by consolidating this research into a single database, we can easily sort through the client's key competitors via a range of factors (see the list above).

Brand

The Brand Story, Vision & Mission workspace includes a 5-part framework exercise for helping to clarify the client's core brand offering. If the client's brand is already well developed, you can fill out this exercise yourself with information provided--or you can run the exercise with the client directly.

If useful, you can also create a gallery of brand assets at the bottom of the branding workspace.

Project

Next up is the project section. In it, we have:

• Calls
• Drafts & Feedback
• Project Assets & Research
• Accounts Access

Where the first section let us get up to speed with our client's background, this section is for keeping track of the project itself.

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