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How To Streamline Your Client Onboarding Process with Microsoft 365  

Onboarding a new client is exciting, but if you don’t get it right, further problems may occur with your project later down the line. Plus, with more and more of us working remotely, it can be easy to miss important details that could have been discussed in a face-to-face meeting.

Written by Adam Bovan

September 2021

How To Streamline Your Client Onboarding Process with Microsoft 365  

Onboarding a new client is exciting, but if you don’t get it right, further problems may occur with your project later down the line. Plus, with more and more of us working remotely, it can be easy to miss important details that could have been discussed in a face-to-face meeting.

Below are some ways that Microsoft 365 can help you streamline your onboarding process.

Use Forms to fact-find and onboard.

Microsoft Forms can be used at any stage of the onboarding process to gather important information about your new client. 

One idea is to have an initial enquiry form at the very beginning of your relationship so you can both get a quick idea of whether your company is a good fit. For example, the form could ask them about their challenges, goals and expectations. If you know that your team can help, great news! But if not, it saves you both a lot of time as you can just quickly read the form and signpost them elsewhere if they’re looking for something you don’t offer. 

You could also use forms to collect information for admin purposes, like names, addresses, points of contact and other details that may get lost in email threads. 

Forms are also a great way to gather feedback – after your client has been onboarded – or once a project is complete – send them a survey to see if you could have done anything better. 

Singularitee Microsoft 365 Forms Onboarding

Use Bookings to find the perfect time.

Avoid the constant back and forth of finding the right time that suits everyone by using Microsoft Bookings. 

It links up with your calendar so your clients can book a time that suits them. What’s more, it keeps everyone in the loop with reminders and the ability to cancel or reschedule. Bookings is a great tool if you have lots of one-to-ones with clients. 

Singularitee Microsoft 365 Bookings App

Use Teams for discovery meetings and creative collaboration.

If your clients aren’t local, Teams meetings are a great way to still talk face-to-face without the hassle and expense of travel. 

Did you know you can invite external members of your company to Teams meetings without creating an account for them?

With Teams, you can share your screen, present an idea or pitch, bring up an interactive whiteboard and even break out into smaller breakout rooms if there are lots of people on the call. 

What’s more, you can also record your calls in Teams, which is brilliant for discovery sessions as it means you can hit record and no longer worry about missing an important point in your notes. 

Singularitee Microsoft 365 Forms Onboarding

Share documents securely with clients. 

Do your clients need to access files and documents? 

You can share them securely by setting up client shared areas in SharePoint.  

It’s easy to manage who can access what and only share it with members of your team and theirs on a need-to-know basis.  

Onboarding guidelines and structure in a centralised shared area.

Designing an effective and structured onboarding process can be tricky, no matter how many people are in your company.  

Make sure you don’t miss a thing by outlining the process clearly in a Word Document or OneNote and storing it in a centralised area where everyone in your company who is involved in onboarding can access it.   

Alternatively, use the Microsoft project management tool Planner to outline your process and see exactly which parts of the process are left to complete.   

Singularitee Microsoft 365 Planner App

Use Power Automate to automate tedious admin tasks.

Power Automate makes it easy for you to set up automatic workflows on your most time-consuming admin tasks.  

You can set it up to do almost anything – from sending a push notification when specific emails land in your inbox to larger workflows that span across your entire company.  

It also gives you suggestions on what you can automate next to improve efficiency.  

All of our clients get access to all the Microsoft 365 apps we’ve mentioned in this guide. Once you’re enrolled into the ITEE way – our IT ecosystem – you have access to Microsoft 365, antivirus and backups, DocuLari and CyberLari to keep your company organised and secure. 

Get in touch today to find out more. 

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