Last year, I hired someone to help me create my first 5-day email course. (He sent me a KILLER outreach email, which I’ll share in another email)

Within hours of saying yes, I got a link to a Notion page.

On it was a video of him welcoming me to the project. He walked through exactly what we were going to do, the timeline, how it would all work. Below the video were sections for each deliverable - empty for now, but clearly organized. Everything we'd create together would live there.

At the bottom, one simple instruction: "Bookmark this page. It's the home for everything we do together."

I remember the feeling in my chest. Relief. This person had it handled. I could exhale.

We ended up working together on multiple projects after that. And every single time, I knew exactly where to go to find our work. No digging through emails. No "where did that document go?" No wondering if I'd missed something.

That experience taught me something I now teach every client I work with:

The first 10-14 days of working together define the entire relationship. And most entrepreneurs are completely winging it.

Your business isn't actually unique.

I know. Ouch. But stay with me.

Depending on what you do, there are at least hundreds - probably thousands - of people who do basically the same thing and can deliver basically the same results you can.

So what actually makes your business different?

The experience you create. How you make your clients feel throughout the entire process.

Yes, stellar results are part of it. But they're not the whole thing.

Think about it: If you deliver great results but make your clients feel confused, frustrated, or lost along the way - you're probably not going to get fired. But you also probably are not going to be able to retain them, upsell them or get referrals from them.

And retention, upsells and referrals? Those are the highest-margin revenue you'll ever get. No marketing costs. No sales calls. Just people who felt so taken care of that they can't help but stick around and tell others about the experience.

If you want to see EXACTLY how this math breaks down, check out the Revenue Multiplier Calculator. You get to tinker with the numbers of every major revenue driver in your business to see how it shifts your overall income. It’s nerdy as hell and, if I do say so myself, fucking mind blowing.

Your client experience IS your differentiation. Not just your positioning statement. Not just your marketing. The actual experience of working with you.

Which means the way you onboard someone isn't just operational housekeeping. It's your positioning in action. It's proof that the things you SAY about how you work are actually TRUE.

All that work you did on getting clear on your differentiation, your point of view, your style? That needs to bleed into the entire client experience. Not just how you GET clients, but how you KEEP them. How you make them feel from the moment they say yes until the moment the project ends.

And it starts in those first 10-14 days.

Here's what nobody tells you about the moment someone says yes to working with you:

They're simultaneously at peak excitement AND peak vulnerability to doubt.

They just made a significant investment.

But they're also watching, closely, for any sign that they made a mistake.

Every moment of confusion. Every unclear expectation. Every "I'm not sure what happens next." Every day of silence after they paid you.

It all whispers: Did I just waste my money?

Most entrepreneurs think onboarding is just... getting started on the work. Scheduling the kickoff call. Maybe sending a welcome email.

But premium clients aren't just buying your deliverables. They're buying the feeling that they're in expert hands. And that feeling is either reinforced or destroyed in those first days.

Here's what actually needs to happen between "yes" and "we're in a rhythm":

Your client isn't going to have availability for a kickoff call tomorrow. That's fine. But they need to see movement immediately.

This is where strategic intake forms come in.

Not a boring questionnaire asking for their logo and brand colors. Questions that make them think: "Wow, I wouldn't have even thought to consider that."

→ Questions that underscore your expertise.
→ That signal you've done this before.
→ That set YOU up to absolutely wow them on the kickoff call because you're not spending the first 30 minutes gathering basic information.

The intake form isn't just data collection. It's your first demonstration of authority.

And this is where your point of view starts showing up. The questions you ask reveal what you think matters. Make sure they reflect your methodology and approach - not generic intake questions anyone could ask.

Here's a pro tip that will make you look like the smartest person in the room:

If you're working with a company that has multiple stakeholders, have each of them fill out the intake form separately.

Ask everyone the same questions. Some of those questions should have answers that are identical across the team - their goals, their definition of success, their timeline expectations.

And often? They won't match.

But here's the key: don't call out individuals. You don't want to say "Sarah said X while Marcus said Y" and accidentally embarrass someone in front of their team.

Instead, you say: "I asked everyone about [specific question] - and it's one where we'd expect alignment. But I got answers like X, Y, and Z. This is actually a perfect example of why we're embarking on this work together. This kind of misalignment is costing you opportunity, and getting everyone on the same page is part of what we're here to do."

Now you've demonstrated your expertise, revealed a problem they didn't fully see, AND reinforced why they need you - all from asking obvious questions and paying attention to the answers.

And here's the part almost everyone skips:

Your intake process should also capture baseline metrics. Where are they RIGHT NOW on the things you're going to help them improve?

This isn't just nice-to-have. It's essential.

Because here's what happens without it: You do great work. You deliver real value. The client is happy. But when it's time to write a case study or ask for a testimonial, neither of you can actually quantify what changed.

"It was great working together" doesn't close your next client. "We improved X by 40% in 90 days" does.

The data you gather before you start is what lets you prove your results - both to the client and in your marketing. Without it, you're just hoping they remember how much you helped them.

Ask yourself: What are the 2-3 metrics that matter most for the transformation I deliver? Those questions belong in your intake form.

Give them ONE place where everything lives.

A Notion page. A client portal. A shared drive with clear organization. Whatever fits your business.

But here's what it needs:

This eliminates the "where do I find that?" problem forever. And it signals: I've got this handled. You can relax.

The welcome video isn't just logistics, by the way. It's the first time they experience your energy, your style, your way of communicating post-purchase. Make it feel like YOU. If your brand is warm and personal, be warm and personal. If you're direct and no-BS, be that. This is your positioning in action.

This is the part most entrepreneurs skip because it feels "too rigid" or "not flexible enough."

But premium clients don't want flexibility. They want clarity.

Tell them:

You're not being controlling. You're being professional. And you're training them for a successful engagement rather than hoping they figure it out.

How you communicate these expectations should match your brand, too. If your positioning is direct and no-BS, your expectation-setting should be too. If you're warm and high-touch, that should come through here. Consistency builds trust.

Get them into whatever systems you'll use to communicate and collaborate. Slack channel. Project management tool. Shared drive access.

Do this BEFORE the kickoff so you can hit the ground running.

Nothing says "amateur hour" like spending the first 20 minutes of a kickoff call troubleshooting login issues.

Creating a standout client experience goes beyond the structure and systems. Ultimately, we want to create delight. And the means finding those small moments to make your clients feel seen.

These don't need to be expensive or complicated. They just need to be thoughtful. Personal. Something that makes them think, "Wow, they actually paid attention."

Here's an example from one of the first group coaching programs I ran:

In the intake form, I asked two questions: What about this work scares you? And what color do you associate with strength and leadership?

I'm a total book nerd - I read an obscene amount of books. So based on their answer to the first question, I'd pick out a book I'd read and loved that I thought would be perfect for them. Then I'd buy them that book along with a bullet journal in their "strength and leadership" color and send it to them.

A week or two later, I'd inevitably get a message: "Did you send everyone the same book? Because that one was PERFECT for me."

I didn't. Every book was different. But because I'd asked the right questions and actually paid attention to their answers, it felt like magic.

That's the kind of moment people remember for years. And it was completely representative of me - my love of books, my style of deep personalization, the way I show my clients I understand them.

Your version of this will look different. Maybe it's a voice memo instead of an email. A handwritten note. A small gift that connects to something they mentioned. A playlist. A resource you curated just for them.

The point isn't the specific gesture. It's that you're creating moments that reinforce who you are and make them feel like more than just another client.

Here's what most entrepreneurs miss:

You build this system once. ONCE.

Create it once and then use it with every single client. Obviously, you refine it as you learn what questions matter most, what expectations need clarifying, what trips people up.

Each client helps you make the system better. But you're not starting from scratch every time. You're not "customizing" the onboarding experience in a way that actually just means you're winging it differently each time.

This is what separates entrepreneurs who are building a business from entrepreneurs who are just doing freelance work with extra steps.

Retention is the highest-leverage revenue you have.

A client who stays, who buys more, who refers others - that's revenue you didn't have to go find. No marketing. No sales calls. No convincing.

But retention starts in those first 10-14 days. The clients who ghost, who become difficult, who don't get results - most of the time, the seeds were planted in a chaotic onboarding that made them feel uncertain from the start.

Premium onboarding isn't a nice-to-have. It's how you stop starting over with every new client.

Stop thinking of onboarding as "getting started on the work."

Start thinking of it as the experience that determines whether this client trusts you, gets results, comes back, and refers others.

Because that's what it actually is.

Your onboarding is your methodology in action. It's your differentiation made tangible. It's proof that you know what you're doing.

And right now? If you're winging it? You're undermining your premium positioning before you even deliver anything.

Map out what currently happens between someone saying "yes" and your kickoff call.

If the answer to any of those is "not really" or "it depends" - that's your project for December.

Build the system once. Use it forever. Watch retention transform.

This is exactly the kind of system we build inside The Essentialist CEO Collective. Element 3 - Systematize for Scale - is all about creating repeatable, premium client experiences that compound over time.

I'm hosting my last live workshop of 2025 on Wednesday, December 17th at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern. We'll dig into the 5 Elements that separate entrepreneurs who've built predictable $30-50K+ months from those still stuck in feast-or-famine cycles.

If you've been thinking about joining the Collective, now's the time. Pricing goes up in 2026, and this workshop will give you the clarity to know if it's right for you.

REGISTER FOR THE FREE WORKSHOP →

In love and growth,
Kasey