First-Week Client Onboarding Checklist

The first week sets how a client feels about your platform for months. A branded account helps, but only if the first login lands on something useful and someone from your team shows up at the right moments. This checklist runs from the day before the client logs in to the end of day 7. Shift the days to fit your own offer.

Day 0: before the invite goes out

• Create the sub-account from your standard snapshot or template, not from scratch.

• Confirm the account shows your branding: sign-in page, logo, colors and the menu you want this client to see.

• Add the client's own logo if you show one per account.

• Hide or rename menu items the client is not paying for, where your setup allows it.

• Connect what you can on your side: phone number, sending domain, calendars and pipelines.

• Create the client's users with the right permissions. Give each person only what they need.

• Log in as one of those users in a private window and click every menu item.

• Put a short welcome note or checklist on the first screen.

• Book the kickoff call before you send login details.

Day 1: the first login

• Send the welcome email from your company name, with the login address, the username, and one sentence on what to do first.

• Use one login link, the same address they will bookmark. Do not send a mix of links.

• Run the kickoff call with the account on screen. Cover three things only: where leads arrive, how to reply, and where to see appointments.

• Ask the client to log in during the call, so password problems come up while you are there to fix them.

• Agree on one success measure for the first 30 days.

Day 2: connect their tools

• Connect the integrations that need the client's own logins: email inbox, social pages, payment account and calendars.

• Import existing contacts. Clean the file first. A messy import is a fast way to lose trust.

• Send a test text and a test email to yourself to confirm sending works.

Day 3: the first workflow

• Turn on one automation that saves the client time this week, such as an instant reply to new leads or an appointment reminder.

• Show them where it lives and how to pause it.

• Send a short message: what is now running, and what it does for them.

Day 4: a quiet check

• Look at the account. Has the client logged in since the kickoff? Have they replied to a lead?

• If not, send a two-line message with a direct link to the one screen they need. Do not send a manual.

Day 5: pipeline and follow-up

• Review the pipeline stages with the client. Rename stages to match the words they use for their own sales steps.

• Make stalled opportunities easy to spot, and explain whatever signal you use for them. Related reading: timers on every pipeline stage.

Day 6: answer what came up

• Collect the questions from the week and answer them in one message or a short screen recording made in their branded account.

• Add any question you have heard before to your help docs.

Day 7: week-one review

• Hold a 15-minute call and review the success measure from day 1.

• Ask two questions: what was confusing, and what did you expect to find that was not there?

• Confirm the plan for weeks 2 to 4 and book the next check-in.

• Note anything that should change in your snapshot or onboarding for the next client.

Habits that make the week work

• One owner on your team for each client, for the whole first week.

• Every message names the next action and links straight to it.

• Screenshots and videos you send show the client's real, branded account, so what they see matches what they learned.

• Reply to first-week questions faster than you normally would. Early answers shape how the client sees your support.

An in-account checklist saves a lot of "where do I start?" messages. Theme Studio plans include an Onboarding Widget that puts a guided checklist inside every new sub-account, and Sub-Account Logos for showing each client's own logo.