A welcome page for a client who just signed: the first month, the people, and what you need from them.
The day a client signs, they have a dozen questions and nobody to ask yet. A welcome page answers them in one place. The example here is a made-up bookkeeping firm taking on a made-up bike shop, a pattern for your own first month. Its checklist is for reading: the client can't tick anything off, so you update the page as things arrive.
Who it's for
Agencies, studios, bookkeepers and consultants who need things from a new client before the work can start: access, files, a few decisions. Send it the day the contract is signed, ahead of the kickoff call, so the call can be about the work.
For a job that's over in a week, an email does the same thing. And the page isn't the contract: scope, fees and terms stay in the document both sides signed.
What a good one contains
- What they'll have at the end. The sample opens with three results by day 30, such as a payroll run for all seven staff. A new client is still wondering whether they chose well.
- The weeks, named. Handover, Clean-up, We take over, Close January. A name tells the client how much of that week lands on them.
- What stays the same. Keep paying bills and running payroll as usual until Monday, January 25, the sample says. Early mistakes come from a client who assumed you had already taken over.
- Asks with one owner and one date. Seven items, each given to Marcus or Jo, each with a day. A request addressed to "the team" gets done by nobody.
- How access works. The firm never needs the client's own logins, only invitations sent from inside each account. Say so before someone emails you a password.
- Who's who on both sides. Five people, what each one does, and who to call when something is wrong. Listing the client's people too settles who approves what.
- A rhythm for contact. One numbered list of questions on Fridays, bills to approve on Wednesdays, a reply within one working day. Then silence doesn't read as a problem.
- Dates for the calendar. Nine of them, with the three that need the client marked.
Keep it current
A welcome page goes stale in its second week. When a date moves or an item arrives, change the page and keep the "last updated" line honest. The link stays put, so their bookmark opens the newest version.
Write each ask so it can be done without a call. "Add Imogen as an accountant user" can be acted on at 9 p.m. "Sort out access" can't. Mark which asks block the work, as the sample does for items 1 to 5.
How to send it
To named people. It lists the accounts you'll be let into and who approves payments. Only the two or three people it's written to need to open it.
Every page you publish gets one link that opens in any browser. You choose who can open it: anyone with the link, anyone with the password, or only the people and company domains you name, who sign in with Google or Microsoft. Change the page later and the link stays the same.
