Knowledge Base / Production / Client Onboarding
Client Onboarding
The first 48 hours after a deposit decide the whole project's mood. This page is the complete checklist from "payment received" to "build started", so no project ever begins on a missing logo and a guess.
The 48-hour onboarding flow
Deposit received → build starts, with nothing missing
Two principles: the client does their homework once (one consolidated ask, not five dribbling emails), and nothing enters production half-fed (the PM confirms the checklist is green before a designer touches anything).
1. Intake checklist (what we must know)
- Business basics: legal/trading name, what they sell, service area, years in business, team size.
- Contact details for the site: phone, email, address (if shown), hours, socials to link.
- Goal in the client's words: "what should this website make happen?" (calls, bookings, orders, credibility). Write it verbatim; it becomes the build's north star.
- Their customers: who buys, what those buyers care about, the top 3 questions customers always ask.
- Competitors: 2 to 3 they lose business to, plus any site they admire (and what they like about it).
- Chosen vibe confirmed (from the sale), plus any strong likes/dislikes ("no blue", "love serif headlines").
- Page list agreed against the package (Starter 3 / Growth 7), with the one primary CTA per page.
- Services and prices to publish, or explicit sign-off to show "from" pricing / no pricing.
- Reviews/testimonials they already have (Google, Facebook) we can feature, with permission.
- What was promised at sale: package, price, delivery date, extras, in writing from the seller's handoff.
2. Access & assets checklist (what we must have)
- Domain: registrar name and access path: either delegate access, credentials via a secure channel, or a scheduled 10-minute call to update DNS together at launch. Never launch-day surprises.
- Logo in the best available form (vector preferred; if none exists, flag the logo conversation now, not at review).
- Photos: real business/job/team photos if they have them (phone photos of real work beat stock every time). Where thin, we fill with licensed imagery per the design rules.
- Brand colors/fonts if they exist; otherwise the vibe's system applies.
- Where form submissions should arrive: which email inbox (test it), and the phone number for click-to-call.
- Existing accounts if any: Google Business Profile, Analytics, Search Console, socials (or we create GBP/GA4/GSC at launch).
- Anything legal/regulated they must show (licenses, certifications, disclaimers).
- Hosting decision confirmed: ours ($19/mo) or theirs; and Care Plan status noted for the delivery-day conversation.
The one-email rule
All of the above goes to the client as ONE welcome email with a simple checklist (or a single form), with a due date 48 hours out. Chasing five separate items over two weeks is how projects rot. If items are missing at the deadline, the PM calls once; the delivery date moves only if the client is told in the same conversation.
3. Internal setup checklist (our side)
- Project folder created at F:\projects\[client] from the standard structure; sales handoff and intake saved into it.
- Fresh Starter Kit copy made (never build in the kit itself); package.json renamed; lib/site-config.ts filled from intake.
- Project added to the tracker with stage, owner, preview date, launch date.
- Form backend created (Formspree or equivalent) pointed at the client's confirmed inbox; test fire scheduled for QA.
- Competitor research doc started (the 3–5 sites, notes, keyword angles) per the pipeline.
- Calendar: preview date and launch date blocked; mid-build pulse reminder set.
4. Kickoff & expectation-setting
- Kickoff email sent (Management → Template 1): what we're building, preview date, launch target, their one homework list, and who their single contact is.
- Expectations stated plainly: one consolidated feedback round at preview; scope changes are quoted before being built; the quote is the price.
- Communication preference recorded (email/WhatsApp/call) and best hours.
- The delivery-day plan noted for the seller: care-plan offer + referral ask happen at launch.
Red flags to catch at onboarding (not at review)
| Signal | Why it matters | Move |
|---|---|---|
| "I'll get you the content later" | Later = never; the build stalls at 80% | Due date + "we draft it for you from the intake, you approve" as the default |
| Third parties appear ("my partner also wants...") | Hidden decision-makers reopen settled choices at review | Ask now: "who else approves? Let's include them at kickoff, once" |
| No domain access story | Launch-day hostage situation | Resolve the access path in week one, not launch week |
| Vibe regret ("actually maybe corporate instead?") | Mid-build vibe swaps are a rebuild | Settle it before build start; show both homepages on llamamakers.com and lock the choice in writing |
| Scope drift in the intake ("also a booking system?") | Unquoted features eat the margin silently | "Great idea: here's what that adds" quote before build, per policy |