git:20260705.acb5571 to git:20260705.a28c4ce

16 added, 16 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: client-onboarding-system

- description: Runs a first-14-days client onboarding procedure — kickoff agenda, asset and access collection checklist, a written communication contract, and the first-quick-win rule of shipping something visible in week one. Use when a freelancer or consultant says "new client just signed, now what", "how do I kick off this engagement", "set up my client onboarding", "the project stalled waiting on client assets", "client keeps Slacking me at 10pm", or "how do I start a retainer on the right foot". Do NOT use for onboarding a new employee into a role — use onboarding-plan-builder instead; for in-product user onboarding copy, use onboarding-copy.

+ description: Runs a first-14-days client onboarding procedure - kickoff agenda, asset and access collection checklist, a written communication contract, and the first-quick-win rule of shipping something visible in week one. Use when a freelancer or consultant says "new client just signed, now what", "how do I kick off this engagement", "set up my client onboarding", "the project stalled waiting on client assets", "client keeps Slacking me at 10pm", or "how do I start a retainer on the right foot". Do NOT use for onboarding a new employee into a role - use onboarding-plan-builder instead; for in-product user onboarding copy, use onboarding-copy.

---

# Client Onboarding System

- The first 14 days of an engagement set the operating norms for its entire life: who communicates where, how fast things move, and whether the client experiences the freelancer as a professional operation or an improvising individual. The costly mistake this skill prevents is the drift start — a signed contract followed by two weeks of scattered emails, missing assets, and no visible output, which trains the client to micromanage before any work has shipped.

+ The first 14 days of an engagement set the operating norms for its entire life: who communicates where, how fast things move, and whether the client experiences the freelancer as a professional operation or an improvising individual. The costly mistake this skill prevents is the drift start - a signed contract followed by two weeks of scattered emails, missing assets, and no visible output, which trains the client to micromanage before any work has shipped.

- Run this immediately after the SOW from statement-of-work-writer is signed and the deposit or first retainer invoice has cleared. The cadence established here is what client-status-reporting runs on from week 2 onward. Worked example: Maya, a freelance brand designer, onboarding her first Brand System Retainer client ($4,900/month, up to 36 hours) — a DTC hot-sauce brand.

+ Run this immediately after the SOW from statement-of-work-writer is signed and the deposit or first retainer invoice has cleared. The cadence established here is what client-status-reporting runs on from week 2 onward. Worked example: Maya, a freelance brand designer, onboarding her first Brand System Retainer client ($4,900/month, up to 36 hours) - a DTC hot-sauce brand.

## Operating procedure

### Step 1: Collect the inputs

1. The signed SOW: deliverables, cadence, and the designated approver.

- 2. Payment confirmation. No onboarding before the first invoice clears — starting work on promise-to-pay undoes the payment discipline set in statement-of-work-writer.

+ 2. Payment confirmation. No onboarding before the first invoice clears - starting work on promise-to-pay undoes the payment discipline set in statement-of-work-writer.

3. The client-side cast: approver, day-to-day contact, and anyone whose assets or access are needed.

- 4. A candidate first quick win (see Step 5) — pick it before kickoff so the first week has a target. Label it a guess until the client confirms priorities.

+ 4. A candidate first quick win (see Step 5) - pick it before kickoff so the first week has a target. Label it a guess until the client confirms priorities.

### Step 2: Send the pre-kickoff package (day 1)

Within one business day of payment, send one email containing: the kickoff call invite (within 5 business days of signing), the asset/access checklist (Step 3) so collection starts before the call, and a one-paragraph "how we'll work together" preview of the communication contract. This email is the first proof the operation is systematic.

### Step 3: Run the asset and access collection checklist

Missing assets are the number-one cause of week-one stalls, and every stall in week one reads as the freelancer being slow. Send as a single checklist with one named client-side owner and a due date before or at the kickoff call:

```

- ASSETS & ACCESS — [FILL: client name] Owner: [FILL] Due: [FILL: date]

+ ASSETS & ACCESS - [FILL: client name] Owner: [FILL] Due: [FILL: date]

BRAND MATERIALS

[ ] Logo source files (AI/EPS) and any existing brand guide

[ ] Fonts and licenses; brand color values if defined

[ ] Product photography (highest resolution available)

[ ] Past design work worth keeping or explicitly retiring

ACCESS

[ ] Shared drive or DAM folder (edit access)

- [ ] [FILL: platforms per SOW — e.g. social accounts, web CMS, print vendor contacts]

+ [ ] [FILL: platforms per SOW - e.g. social accounts, web CMS, print vendor contacts]

[ ] Billing/PO contact if invoicing needs a purchase order

CONTEXT

[ ] One-page brief: business goals this quarter, launch dates, competitors

[ ] The designated approver confirmed by name

```

Chase at 48 hours before due; at kickoff, any unchecked item gets a named owner and date on the call. Track blockers in the "blocked" section of client-status-reporting thereafter.

### Step 4: Run the kickoff call (within 5 business days, 45-60 minutes)

Fixed agenda, sent in advance:

- 1. **Introductions and roles** (5 min): confirm approver and day-to-day contact — one approver, per the SOW.

+ 1. **Introductions and roles** (5 min): confirm approver and day-to-day contact - one approver, per the SOW.

2. **Outcome replay** (10 min): restate the engagement outcome in the client's words and what "great" looks like at 90 days. Misalignment surfaces here, when it is cheap.

- 3. **Scope boundaries** (10 min): walk the SOW inclusions AND exclusions aloud. Reading exclusions out loud feels awkward and prevents the "I assumed that was included" conversation later — scope-creep-defense works far better when this moment happened.

+ 3. **Scope boundaries** (10 min): walk the SOW inclusions AND exclusions aloud. Reading exclusions out loud feels awkward and prevents the "I assumed that was included" conversation later - scope-creep-defense works far better when this moment happened.

4. **Communication contract** (10 min): agree the terms in Step 6 explicitly.

5. **First quick win and 30-day plan** (15 min): confirm the week-1 deliverable and the first month's priorities.

6. **Asset checklist review** (5 min): assign owners and dates to anything missing.

Send a recap the same day: decisions, owners, dates. The recap is the first artifact of the reporting habit.

### Step 5: Apply the first-quick-win rule

- **Ship something visible in week 1.** Not a plan, not a questionnaire — a piece of real work the client can see and ideally use. It must be inside SOW scope, achievable without the slowest missing assets, and small enough to survive the 2 standard revision rounds within the week. Maya's pick: a brand consistency audit of the hot-sauce brand's Instagram plus 2 corrected social templates — real Tier 2 scope, needs only public material and the logo files, and shows taste immediately. The quick win converts the client's post-signing anxiety ("did I just commit $4,900/month to the right person?") into confirmation, and it buys patience for the slower structural work behind it.

+ **Ship something visible in week 1.** Not a plan, not a questionnaire - a piece of real work the client can see and ideally use. It must be inside SOW scope, achievable without the slowest missing assets, and small enough to survive the 2 standard revision rounds within the week. Maya's pick: a brand consistency audit of the hot-sauce brand's Instagram plus 2 corrected social templates - real Tier 2 scope, needs only public material and the logo files, and shows taste immediately. The quick win converts the client's post-signing anxiety ("did I just commit $4,900/month to the right person?") into confirmation, and it buys patience for the slower structural work behind it.

### Step 6: Set the communication contract

- Agree these in writing at kickoff — defaults below, adjustable, but never left implicit:

+ Agree these in writing at kickoff - defaults below, adjustable, but never left implicit:

- **Channels**: one async channel (email or the client's Slack) for requests and approvals; requests made in passing on calls get restated in the channel to count. No SMS/WhatsApp for work requests.

- **Response times**: freelancer responds within 1 business day; this is a professional-services norm, not an emergency line. Anything needing same-hour response is outside standard scope.

- **Working hours**: stated explicitly (e.g. Mon-Fri 9-6 client's timezone). Messages outside hours are fine to send, answered next business day.

- **Meeting cadence**: per the SOW tier (Maya: one 60-minute monthly creative direction call) plus the weekly written status report from client-status-reporting. Extra standing meetings are a scope change.

- **Feedback**: consolidated comments from the single approver, within 5 business days, matching the SOW's revision and deemed-acceptance terms.

### Step 7: Close out day 14

- By day 14: assets collected or every gap has an owner and date; quick win shipped and reacted to; first status report sent; communication contract holding (and gently enforced once if tested — the first off-channel 10pm request gets a friendly redirect, which is when the norm becomes real).

+ By day 14: assets collected or every gap has an owner and date; quick win shipped and reacted to; first status report sent; communication contract holding (and gently enforced once if tested - the first off-channel 10pm request gets a friendly redirect, which is when the norm becomes real).

## Concrete thresholds

- Kickoff within 5 business days of signing; pre-kickoff package within 1 business day of payment.

- - Quick win shipped by end of week 1 — visible work, not planning artifacts.

+ - Quick win shipped by end of week 1 - visible work, not planning artifacts.

- Asset checklist due at or before kickoff; chase at 48 hours; unresolved items become named blockers.

- Response-time norm: 1 business day; feedback window: 5 business days (matching statement-of-work-writer).

- One designated approver. Two approvers means doubled revision rounds in practice.

## Deliverable

- A completed onboarding record: sent pre-kickoff package, filled asset checklist, kickoff recap with decisions and owners, the written communication contract, and the shipped week-1 quick win — plus the first weekly status report, handing the engagement to client-status-reporting as its ongoing operating system.

+ A completed onboarding record: sent pre-kickoff package, filled asset checklist, kickoff recap with decisions and owners, the written communication contract, and the shipped week-1 quick win - plus the first weekly status report, handing the engagement to client-status-reporting as its ongoing operating system.

## Do NOT

- Do not start onboarding before payment clears; it silently renegotiates the SOW's payment terms on day one.

- - Do not let week 1 produce only plans and questionnaires — invisible work reads as no work.

+ - Do not let week 1 produce only plans and questionnaires - invisible work reads as no work.

- Do not skip reading the exclusions aloud at kickoff to avoid awkwardness; that discomfort is the cheapest scope defense available.

- Do not accept "whoever's around" as the approval process; extract one named approver.

- Do not answer the first late-night off-channel message at speed; every exception in week 1 becomes policy by week 4.

## Quality bar

Onboarding passes when: kickoff happened on time with the recap sent same-day; the communication contract exists in writing with all five elements; the quick win shipped inside week 1 within SOW scope; and every missing asset has an owner and a date.

## Neighbors

- statement-of-work-writer comes before this skill (nothing here should contradict the signed SOW). client-status-reporting takes over from day 14. When the first out-of-scope request arrives mid-onboarding — it often does — use scope-creep-defense.

+ statement-of-work-writer comes before this skill (nothing here should contradict the signed SOW). client-status-reporting takes over from day 14. When the first out-of-scope request arrives mid-onboarding - it often does - use scope-creep-defense.