Claude Client Onboarding
The welcome doc, the what-to-expect timeline, and the kick-off email. Every new client starts the same way, and you don't write any of it from scratch again.
This skill is a multiplier, not a magic wand.
It only works as well as the boundaries and process you've already worked out. If your onboarding is fuzzy in your head, the doc will be fuzzy too.
Before you install, make sure you have:
- Your standard process documented communication channels, response times, meeting cadence
- Your payment terms and turnaround windows decided in plain words, not legalese
- 1-2 of your past welcome docs uploaded as voice and structure samples
- Your brand identity skill installed so the doc and email sound like you
Without these, the skill writes a generic onboarding pack. With them, it writes the one your clients actually feel held by.
Three deliverables. Same hour the deposit clears.
A welcome doc, a timeline, and a kick-off email. All in your voice, all matched to the offer they bought.
Writes the welcome doc
The short, warm document the client comes back to throughout the project. Process, boundaries, and where to find things.
Builds the timeline
A clean week-by-week breakdown so the client knows exactly what's happening when, and what you need from them at each stage.
Drafts the kick-off email
The email that lands the day they sign. One specific next action so they take it before the energy drops.
Holds the boundaries
Payment terms, turnaround times, and scope policies in plain words so misunderstandings don't start in week one.
Copy this into Claude
Install it once as a custom skill. Replace the placeholders before you save. Then any time you say "onboard [client name]" or "new client signed, write the welcome", Claude runs this automatically.
# Client Onboarding Generates the welcome doc, project timeline, and kick-off email for a new client. Use this skill any time I say "onboard [client name]", "new client signed", "write the welcome doc", "kick-off email for [name]", "build the onboarding for [client]", or any variation of needing to start a new client engagement. Always use this skill rather than writing onboarding content from scratch. --- ## Your Setup Update these once before saving the skill: | Token | Value | |---|---| | Business name | [YOUR BUSINESS NAME] | | Business description | [BRIEF BUSINESS DESCRIPTION] | | Standard communication channels | [HOW CLIENTS REACH YOU e.g. "email Mon-Fri 9-5, Slack for active project clients"] | | Standard payment terms | [YOUR TERMS e.g. "50% deposit, 50% on completion, invoices due within 7 days"] | --- ## Before onboarding, confirm: 1. Do I have the client's name and the offer they bought? 2. Do I have the start date and any project specifics from the proposal? 3. Are there any deviations from the standard process for this engagement? --- ## Step 1: Build the welcome doc A short, warm document the client comes back to throughout the project. Write it in this structure: 1. **Welcome [Name]** — two-sentence opener that references something specific about their project 2. **What you've signed up for** — restate what they bought in plain words, not the proposal jargon 3. **How we'll work together** — communication channels (where to message, how fast I reply, what happens out of hours), meeting cadence, how feedback works 4. **What I'll do** — the user's deliverables, by phase 5. **What I'll need from you** — bullet list of inputs needed, when, and how to send them 6. **The boundaries** — turnaround times, scope creep policy, payment terms in plain words, what's out of scope 7. **Where to find things** — links to the project folder, the brief, the kickoff form, the booking link for calls 8. **Who you can ask if you can't reach me** — backup contact if relevant Voice: warm, direct, professional but human. No corporate stiffness. --- ## Step 2: Build the timeline A simple week-by-week timeline of the project (or session-by-session if it's coaching). For each phase: - What happens - What the user is doing - What's needed from the client - When the deliverable lands - Roughly how long it takes Format as a clean table or numbered list, not a wall of text. --- ## Step 3: Write the kick-off email The email that goes out the day they sign. Maximum 200 words. Structure: - Subject line: "Welcome to [project name] — let's get started" - Warm 2-line opener - "Here's the welcome doc" (link) - "Here's the very next step" (one specific action they need to take this week, e.g. fill out the kickoff form, book the kickoff call, send me X) - "Here's how to reach me" (one line) - Sign off in the user's voice --- ## Output format Deliver in this order: 1. The full welcome doc (ready to paste into Notion or Google Docs) 2. The timeline (table or numbered list) 3. The kick-off email (ready to paste into Gmail) 4. A short note flagging anything in the proposal that needs clarifying before sending --- ## Copy rules - Never invent inclusions or commitments not in the proposal - Always include payment terms and turnaround time in the welcome doc (these are where misunderstandings start) - Always end the kick-off email with one and only one CTA - No em dashes — use commas or full stops instead - Never use these words: unlock, transform, elevate, level up, game-changer, leverage, hustle, scale, manifest, empower - Australian English (analyse, organise, colour, etc.) - Warm and direct. Never hype, never corporate - Match the tone of past onboarding docs if uploaded as references --- ## After running the skill Tell the user: 1. Drop the welcome doc into Notion or Google Docs and share the link with the client 2. Send the kick-off email through Gmail within an hour of the deposit clearing 3. Add the timeline to the client's project folder so they can refer back to it 4. If any of it needs adjusting before sending, tell me what so I match your style next time
Replace these before you save
Four placeholders. The standard channels and payment terms become Claude's defaults so they only need writing once.
Your business name.
One line. e.g. "a brand and web design studio for service businesses".
Your communication channels and response windows. e.g. "email Mon-Fri 9-5, Slack for active project clients, no weekend response".
Payment terms and turnaround windows. e.g. "50% deposit, 50% on completion, invoices due within 7 days, 5 business day turnaround on feedback".
Six steps, no tech required
Copy the skill above
Hit the Copy skill button. The whole thing is on your clipboard.
Open Claude.ai and go to Settings
Click your profile icon in the top right, then open Settings.
Find the Skills section
Look for Skills (or Custom Skills, depending on your plan).
Click "Add custom skill"
Paste the skill content into the editor.
Customise the placeholders, name it, save
Replace the four placeholders. Name it "Client Onboarding" and save.
Test it on the next signed client
Start a chat and say "Onboard [client name], they bought [offer], starting [date], specifics from the proposal: [paste them]". Claude should run the skill and return the full pack.
A Claude Pro subscription. The skill works in Chat and Cowork. Recommended: upload 1-2 past welcome docs as references so Claude matches your structure.
Why I built this one
The fastest way to lose a new client's trust is to take three days to send the welcome pack. I know because I did it for years. The deal would close, the energy would peak, and then the silence between "thanks for the deposit" and "here's how we work" would slowly drain it.
Now the welcome doc, timeline, and kick-off email all land within an hour of the deposit clearing. The client feels held. I get to stop dreading admin. Everyone wins.
xx Jacqui