The onboarding that sets you up to fail
The contract is signed. The chaos is just beginning.
Client onboarding is where promises meet reality. And most MSP onboarding is a scramble - documentation gets built on the fly, access credentials trickle in, scope creep starts immediately. The first 30 days set the tone for the entire relationship. If they're messy, trust never fully recovers.
The scenario:
You want to build an onboarding process that's repeatable, thorough, and sets clients up for success.
The prompt:
You're creating a client onboarding playbook.
Build a process that includes:
- Pre-onboarding checklist (what happens before day one)
- Week 1 milestones (access, documentation, introductions)
- Week 2-4 milestones (monitoring, first reviews, quick wins)
- Handoff from sales to service delivery
- Client communication cadence during onboarding
- Definition of "onboarding complete"
- Common failure points and how to prevent them
Include templates for kickoff meeting agenda and weekly status updates.