The 4 phases of a great MSP onboarding experience (most MSPs only do one of them)

Winning a new client is bloody brilliant, isn't it? Genuinely exciting.

And if you're like most MSPs you consider that the end of the marketing and sales process. Whereas, I don't.

Because when you win a new client you don't just want them to stay for a year, you want them for TEN years, right?

But did you know that the time they stay with you will be directly affected by what happens to them in their first 100 days?

Think of onboarding as an emotional journey, not a task. And because it happens in four predictable phases, this can be fully systemised. Yay!

Phase 1: Before day one (the most overlooked phase)

This is the time after the contract's been signed but before anything has actually started. From your side, everything is probably fine. You’re getting organised, planning the migration, sorting out some technical details.

From the client’s side? They’ve committed. But nothing has changed yet. And that gap between the decision and the start is where buyer’s remorse is most likely to creep in.

• "Did I make the right decision?"
• "What if the switchover is chaotic?"
• "What if these people aren’t as good as they seemed in the sales meeting?"

Can you see why it would be so dangerous to stay silent during this time?

Your job here is to keep selling the decision they’ve already made. Clear communication about what’s going to happen next, who they’ll hear from, and when things start.

That could mean a welcome pack. Or a personal call from you. Or a video to intro the team. Something that says: "Hey! You’ve made a great choice... here’s what's going to happen and when".

Most MSPs skip this phase entirely because technically, they haven’t started yet. But it's important to stay connected with the client at an emotional level.

Phase 2: On day one (more reassurance)

So now they are nicely warmed up and ready for the start, day one is about doing something visible.

This might be a bigger version of the things I listed above; perhaps a welcome call between all of your team and theirs. Deliver a ton of support stickers for hardware to tell them the new way to get help.

Day one is really about more reassurance. Clients need to feel on day one that they’re in better hands than before. They want to go to bed that night feeling that the people who are now looking after their technology are calm, organised, and genuinely pleased to have them.

Even as simple a gesture as a group call can achieve this.

Phase 3: Days 2 to 21 (quick wins and bonding)

This is where your new client is watching you like a hawk!

They’re observing how your team communicates, how issues are handled and whether things feel calmer or more chaotic than they were before. Every interaction in these first three weeks either builds confidence or damages it.

Small wins here matter disproportionately. If you fix something that has annoyed them for years (perhaps a recurring problem their old MSP never got around to sorting), the impact on how they feel about you will be enormous. In fact, it could be completely out of proportion to the technical effort it required.

This is also where real relationships form between your team and their team. The dispatcher who always picks up quickly and the technician who explains things in plain English become worth their weight in gold.

Deliberately look for the quick wins. Ask in your first week what’s been annoying people. Don't be afraid to be the heroes.

Phase 4: Build strategy and confidence (turning relief into loyalty)

By this point, your client should be feeling warm and fuzzy. The anxiety of the switch has melted away like a Magnum in direct sunlight. Everything is working and people are happy.

<< HIGH FIVE >>

Now you can put in place ten year loyalty.

Start talking about what "good" looks like in the long-term. Why you want to conduct annual strategic reviews and build a 3 year technology roadmap.

This phase shifts the relationship from reactive to strategic. Instead of seeing you as the people who fix things when they break, they start seeing you as the people who help them plan where the business is going. That’s a very different (and much more profitable) relationship.

Phase four turns relief into confidence. And confidence into loyalty.

The point a lot of MSPs miss

Each of these phases is doing emotional work more than it is technical work.

• The technical work gets your client set up
• The emotional work makes them feel safe, supported, and certain they made the right choice

When you systemise onboarding this way your clients become advocates. They tell people, stay longer and spend more.

Does your MSP have a structured onboarding process right now? Or is it more of a “we get them set up and hope for the best” situation? Let me know. I read and reply to every email😃