Field notes · 8 min · Onboarding

Client onboarding in one sitting, not twelve emails

The job does not start when they say yes. It starts when you have access, assets, and one person who can decide. Everything before that is a polite stall that looks like work.

The four objects

1. Questionnaire — goals, audience, examples of “yes,” examples of “never,” deadline that is real versus deadline that is theatre.
2. Access list — domains, analytics, brand files, existing copy. You should not hunt Slack for a logo.
3. Kickoff agenda — 45 minutes. Confirm the outcome, name the out-of-scope list out loud, pick the decision-maker.
4. Pause rule — if assets are more than five business days late, the calendar moves. You do not eat the delay.

Full questionnaires and agendas live in the Client Close Kit. The principle is free: do not start production in a vacuum to look eager.

One decision-maker

If five people can add feedback, you priced a committee, not a project. Either the quote includes extra revision hours or one named person consolidates notes. Both are valid. Pretending the committee is “informal” is how 2 rounds become 7.