What is a client welcome packet?
Welcome packets are really useful for freelancers. Whether you are a freelance copywriter like me, or you are freelance in another role, welcome packs provide information for your clients to help them understand the process of working with you – from start to finish.
Benefits of a client welcome packet for you
Producing a client welcome packet can seem overwhelming, but there are so many advantages in the long-term for your freelancer business.
Saves you time
When a client hires you, they are investing their hard-earned money in your services, so they are bound to have a few questions. By including the questions you get asked most about projects in your client welcome pack, you are potentially saving yourself hours of backward and forward emails, answering questions that come up.
Builds the like, know and trust factor in you
So picture this – your client has chosen you to write the copy for their first email funnel. It’s a big thing in their eyes. A client welcome packet is a great way to extend the excellent impression you have already made via your copywriter website, your about page, your discovery call.
Why not tell them some more about you, how you work and what to expect. It can only result in an excited client being even more sure that they want to work with you.
Makes them feel special
Receiving a fantastic-looking welcome packet tailored to their project will make them feel like you really care about their project and that your service makes them feel way more special than anyone else’s.
Adding personal touches will help them to see that you really have listened to them and understand how you can help their business.It can also help them focus on what they need to do
Some clients will need to understand exactly what you need from them. They may never have worked with say a copywriter before and need support through the process to understand the role they play in a successful project.
6 key things to include in your digital client welcome pack
So let’s dig into the parts you need to include in your client welcome packet. Ultimately you will refine this over time, so it works in the best way for your business. To start off, you need a welcome letter or section, ways to stay in touch, what to expect, the project process, and timeline, guidelines for giving feedback, and what’s next.
Your welcome letter
This should come first and really aim to get them excited about working with you. I tend to give them some fun information about me, to let them see that I am not just a copywriting machine but an approachable and sometimes silly human being.
Ways to get in touch and what to expect
Ways to Get in Touch
Outline the way that you want to communicate with your clients, that is manageable, as you are working on the project.
It’s really important to think about and set your boundaries before you begin. Here are some question to think about:
- Are you going to communicate during weekdays only?
- How often will you communicate? (Daily, weekly, every other day)
- How you structure your work weeks, so they understand when you will communicate and be available.
What to expect from you as a freelancer
This could be an ideal opportunity to set other ground rules for the project too. Things you could include:
- Number of revisions included
- Key project due dates
- Deliverables for the project
Project process overview
One crucial thing to include in your client welcome packet is a project process overview. I find it easier to understand a process if it’s laid out in a step-by-step process layout diagram. This will also help your clients to understand what to expect and when, but in a clear, highly visual way.
Client best practices or guidelines
Put yourself in the shoes of your client, and go through each part of your process, and share information to help your clients with certain parts of the process.
It’s really possible that your client has never outsourced this kind of work before and needs support to fulfill their role effectively.
For example, you know what type of feedback you need as a logo designer, to ensure your client communicates clearly what they like and don’t like about your design. This means you will revise the design and produce a second one that is more in line with what your client wants.
In my work as a copywriter, I need also clients to give me clear feedback on the messaging I have created for them. I have dedicated a whole section on how to do this for me, so clients feel less daunted about the process.
The guidelines are going to be different for every business and some of them will be personal to your business.
FAQs
This is the section where you will save hours on emailing back and forth, because your client is asking the same standard questions as clients that you have had in the past. I need to develop this part of my packet – it takes the longest, but I have now started collating these questions, so my time will be freed up.
If your client has most of their questions answered, without having to contact you, they will be impressed that you have tried to anticipate their every need.
What’s next
In this section, you’ll explain what you want their next action to be. For me, once the project is over, it’s to write a testimonial and describes when I will next be in touch with them.
This section again will vary depending on your business. Think about what you want them to do next. Here are some common examples I found:
Do you want them to:
- join a private Facebook group? Community?
- fill in a questionnaire?
- complete some client homework?
- schedule a kick-off call?
Want to grab my client welcome packet template?
Short on time and ideally need a template that you can change up to align with your brand?
I’ve created this client welcome packet template, that you can easily adjust for your business.
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