Securing a new client is always an exciting time, but it also marks the start of the onboarding process and plays a vital role in establishing your future relationship. When it comes to creating the very best first impressions possible, a client onboarding questionnaire is a great way to ensure you get all of the information you need while also creating a fantastic first impression.
However, trying to create the most comprehensive and compelling marketing client onboarding questionnaire can be tough. Many businesses struggle to know the right questions to ask or what information they need. That is why to help you, we have taken a closer look at the most important questions you should be asking when creating a client onboarding questionnaire.
What is a marketing client onboarding questionnaire?
A client onboarding questionnaire is exactly as the name suggests and is a document that you send to new clients to understand more about them, their expectations, and what it is that they are looking for. This comprehensive questionnaire is a great way to gain a full insight into your new clients and create a strong impression on them. These questions can cover a wide array of areas, including core factors such as:
- Who the company is and what they do.
- The products or services that they offer.
- Who their target audience is.
- Who their competitors are.
- What their expectations are.
The more in-depth you are with your client onboarding questionnaire, the better the overall results will be and the smoother the entire process will be. However, while you want to gain as much insight as you can from your clients, it is important that you do not create a document that is too lengthy, as this can result in your new clients becoming bored.
Why is it important to create one for your projects?
Having a thorough client onboarding questionnaire is a great way to transform the relationship you have with new customers and the impression that they have of your business. A professional and thorough content marketing questionnaire is also able to provide you with a wide array of benefits.
One of the biggest benefits for both your agency and the client is that it helps to reduce the continuous back and forth over email. If you have ever experienced this before, you will know just how time-consuming the process can be, so having a questionnaire helps to ensure you can quickly get all of the information you need.
This not only helps you to save time, but it also creates a greater experience for your clients and helps to establish you as a professional and efficient agency. A thorough questionnaire will also ensure that you are both working from the same page and have a clear and defined set of expectations that will guarantee you do not miss the mark.
The best ten questions you should add to your client onboarding survey
There are many benefits to implementing a client onboarding questionnaire, but in order to get the best results possible, it is vital that you are asking the right questions. Knowing what the best questions to be asking new clients can be tough, though, which is why to help you create the best document possible, we have put together our top ten to include:
- What is the background of your business?
One of the most important questions to ask on any marketing client onboarding questionnaire is who the client is and what their background is. This is essential in ensuring that your entire team understands who the business is, how it began and what the services and products they offer are. With this information, you can then begin to plan an effective campaign that is tailored around the client.
- What sets you apart from your competitors?
Alongside finding out who the client is and what it is that they do, this question will help you to understand their unique selling points. This is an essential part of any marketing campaign and gives your team the knowledge needed to create a compelling project that will yield the very best results possible.
- What areas can you improve on?
Another very important question to ask clients is the areas of their business where they believe they are not as strong as their competitors and are in need of improvement. This question helps to get them thinking about their business and will allow your agency to understand the core areas to be focusing on.
- Who are your closest competitors?
Having your client list who their competitors are will help you to gain an insight into their industry and what is currently working and not working. It will also help your agency understand what the target audience is responding positively to.
- Who is your target audience?
Of course, while understanding what is happening in the industry will give you an idea of the target audience, it is no substitute for having the client outline the profile themselves. That is why this is an important addition to any client onboarding questionnaire, as it will ensure that you are correctly targeting your campaigns.
- Do you have any existing brand guidelines?
Some clients might already have clear brand guidelines or tone of voice documents that will need to be kept to on any campaign. Including this question on your content marketing questionnaire will ensure that you are able to match your approach to meet their guidelines, avoiding the need for any revisions. If they do not have any brand guidelines already, then this gives you the opportunity to upsell your services further.
- What are your goals for the future?
The success of any campaign comes from an alignment between client goals and project results. This question will give you an insight into the company’s plans for the future and will allow you to align your project accordingly. In order to get the best results, you should ask them to outline their short-term and long-term goals.
- What is your timeline?
Miscommunication is one of the most common reasons that projects break down. Having this question in your client onboarding questionnaire will ensure that both parties understand the expected timeline and deliverables.
- What is your budget?
Alongside the timeline, you should also ask the client for their budget. This will ensure that you are able to keep your project in line with that as well as set clear expectations from the start.
- Who is the point of contact?
Finally, you should also have the client clarify who the main point of contact is going to be. Having a single person will ensure that you can always get answers to any questions that you might have.
Use and design this marketing client onboarding questionnaire template
If you are looking to create a client onboarding marketing questionnaire but are not sure where to begin, then HolaBrief is here to help you. We know how confusing it can be, which is why we have created a comprehensive template designed to help save you time and money. Try it out for free now!
This fully editable platform will allow you to tailor the questionnaire to ensure that it covers the exact questions that you need. Our experienced team has put together the most important questions to ensure that you can get all of the information you need for a smooth and successful partnership.
Ready to start welcoming new clients? Use our comprehensive template today with HolaBrief for free!
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