While I had sent a welcome email of sorts with clients for a while, I wanted to step up my game + send a care pack instead.
This care package can be super simple + only require a single forever stamp to get to your latest client, or it can be more elaborate + require a visit to the local UPS store, but either way, stepping up your welcome kit game {or creating one to start} is a surefire way to stand out from the crowd.
Note: while I am not an accountant, it seems pretty standard that client gifts cannot exceed $25 per tax year. Take that note for what you will + either keep the costs under $25 or know that you might not get as many tax perks from this process. Regardless, building it into your project/operating costs is smart business practice.}
Details + what to expect
This is how my welcome kits started — with an email + PDF of general things to expect. Sometimes this information is discussed prior to starting, but I found that repeating the essentials + providing my clients with a document that has everything they need was smart for both of us.
What should you include in your details doc? That’s totally up to you! I personally love covering common questions {which means this doc gets updated after every couple of projects} + repeating the project flow.
Some sections of your email or printed PDF might be —
- General welcome
- Contact info – email, phone, best way to get in touch, scheduling link, urgent request process, etc
- Payment info – payment schedule breakdown + how to pay invoices
- Client responsibilities {great place to cover what “good feedback” is}
- The project process – steps, milestones + how delays are handled
- Project end process – deliverables, maintenance details + login handoff
If you currently aren’t doing a welcome kit of sorts, I’d recommend starting with something like this in email form, whether as the content or as an attachment. Just remember to save it as a template too so you aren’t re-inventing the wheel each time you start a new project.
Ready to send something tangible to your clients? Printing this information out on pretty + branded paper is a nice touch. Then your clients can make notes on their physical copy + hang it up by their desks to refer to during the project.
Thank you card
I’ve talked about expressing gratitude for your leads + clients before, because I think it is mission critical to be a successful business. Sending a note to your clients after they pay a deposit + are waiting to work with you makes a ton of sense to me.
Worried sending a thank you at the end of the project will feel redundant? Depending on the length of your project, maybe you pick one to send + not both.
For website design + development, projects may have 8 months between the wait time + project schedule. Sending two cards almost a year apart doesn’t seem repetitive to me. Plus, the content of the cards is very different — the first will likely cover how excited you are to work together + you appreciate the chance to help with the project where the second card is more of a congratulations + thanks for working together note.
Business card(s)
As a website creator, my business is entirely online. but that doesn’t mean I don’t use business cards, In fact, quite the contrary. I’m always carrying them with me + each new client gets a business card with their welcome kit.
They might use it as design inspiration, keep it for contact details or share it with someone who could benefit from talking to me. Which is why it might make sense to send them a couple. If you do, it can be helpful to include a note explaining that you appreciate them sharing these with awesome folks like them who need your help.
Small gift(s)
To me, this is the most fun part of the welcome kit. Gift giving can be tricky, but you do not have to reinvent the wheel with each new client!
In tiny blue orange headquarters, I keep a box of welcome kit gifts so that I can put these together quickly + easily as needed. That box contains my branded cards, business cards, stickers + packaging supplies as the essentials. But it also has multiple copies of my favorite books, website design sketchpads {for my web designer clients}, blue to do notepads + orange sticky notes.
Project cost vs gift cost
Aside from my note above, I think it’s important to keep the price of your welcome kit comparable to the price of the project. For example, I have clients that spend less than $1,000 working with me + some that spend over $10,000. The clients that spend less still get kits, but their kits typically include a thank you note, branded stickers + business cards. The clients that spend more get a book, notepad, sticky notes, custom pencils + the kit basics too.
It’s just something you have to decide on + can always refine as you gain experience sending these out. If you want to pull a mega #nerdalert move like I do, create a spreadsheet to track the costs of these items so that you know how much each kit actually costs you — including shipping.