Intake and expectations
The deposit just landed. What you do in the next 48 hours sets the tone for everything: a crisp start makes every later conversation easier, and a mushy start makes even good work feel disorganized. Onboarding is three artifacts, all reusable.
1. The intake form (same day)
One form that collects everything delivery needs, sent within hours of payment. Asking piecemeal over three weeks is how projects stall and how you look like an amateur. Collect:
- The business basics: exact business name, phone, hours, service area, licenses worth showing.
- Services: what they do, what they refuse to do, what they most want to sell more of.
- Brand assets: logo files, photos of real jobs and real people (push hard for these; stock photos are a conversion tax), anything with their colors.
- Access: domain registrar login or delegation, Google Business Profile access, existing analytics if any.
- Proof: reviews they are proud of, awards, associations, big-name customers.
- Taste: two or three sites they like, competitors they respect or despise.
2. The expectations email (same day)
Subject: [Business] website: what happens next
Mike, deposit received, you are officially on the calendar. Here is the whole plan:
1. You fill out the intake form (20 minutes, link below) by Thursday.
2. Kickoff call Friday, 15 minutes, we lock the plan.
3. First look at your new site in about a week.
4. You send all feedback in one batch. We revise. Usually twice is plenty.
5. Live in two to three weeks from today.
One thing that keeps us on schedule: the timeline pauses while we wait on content or feedback, and resumes when it arrives. I will always tell you exactly what I am waiting on.
Intake form: [link]
3. The portal invite
Set the client up in the platform and invite them to their portal, branded as your agency. From day one they have a place to see status, leave requests, and later, read their reports. The portal quietly communicates the most valuable thing a new client can believe: this person has a system, and I am inside it.
The course is free. So is the platform.
Everything in these lessons runs on the Agency Label platform: clients, requests, the portal, reporting, invoicing, all on the free tier. Create the account when you're ready, or book a call if you want to talk through your setup or white-label delivery.