Purpose
Turn an accepted engagement into an organized start, with the client and delivery team agreeing what happens next.
Before you start
- An accepted scope and the agreement or payment status required by your existing business process.
- A named delivery owner and an approved location for the client checklist and project documents.
- A list of only the information, assets, and access needed for the first milestone, plus a secure collection method.
Who owns the work
- Sales owner
- Transfers approved scope, promises, open questions, and start conditions.
- Onboarding owner
- Coordinates the checklist, client communication, and first milestone.
- Client contact
- Confirms the point of contact, supplies required inputs, and approves decisions.
- Delivery lead
- Accepts readiness and resolves blockers before work starts.
The process, step by step
Step 1: Check the start conditions
Confirm approved scope, delivery commitments, and any agreement or payment prerequisites using authoritative business systems. Mark unknown conditions as pending.
Step 2: Name the working contacts
Introduce the onboarding owner and backup. Confirm who on the client side can answer questions and approve work.
Step 3: Send one prioritized request list
List the information and assets needed for the first milestone, who provides them, and by when. Explain the approved secure method for access; never ask for passwords in ordinary messages.
Step 4: Agree the kickoff and first milestone
Confirm the initial deliverable, scope boundaries, expected review date, and communication cadence. Record dependencies that can change the schedule.
Step 5: Review readiness and resolve gaps
Check each required item as received and usable, pending, or not applicable with a reason. Assign an owner and due time to each blocker rather than assuming a missing item is optional.
Step 6: Accept the start and close onboarding
The delivery lead explicitly accepts the handoff. Tell the client what happens next, link the agreed plan, and retain the checklist in the approved project system.
When the usual process does not fit
- Missing client input requires an agreed revised next step; do not silently promise the original date.
- New scope goes through change approval before delivery work begins.
- A change of client contact requires reconfirming approval authority and contact preferences.
- Unusable or excessive access should be corrected through the approved access process, not copied into the checklist.
Example messages
Adapt the placeholders and review each message for your situation. MagicAiFlow does not send these messages or change customer records.
Welcome, [first name]. I'm [name], your onboarding contact. Our first milestone is [deliverable]. Please review [approved checklist location] for the items needed by [date]. We will confirm the start once those items are ready.
We're waiting on [required item] before [next step]. Could you confirm who can provide it and a realistic date? I'll update the plan with you if that changes the milestone.
Measurement checklist
- Count onboardings with a named owner, agreed first milestone, and explicit delivery acceptance.
- Measure time from accepted engagement to ready-to-start, keeping client waiting time and internal waiting time separate where known.
- Review missing or unusable input, access delays, and repeated requests.
- Record first-milestone completion and client confirmation; a sent welcome email is not completed onboarding.