Hey, it’s Tailor - Happy Friday!!

Here’s newsletter #2 this week with some good insights on changing the vibes you give your clients.

Table of Contents

• Your Onboarding Probably Sucks

• A Better SOP App:

• Question for you:

• Funny situation I had this week:

Your Onboarding Probably Sucks

Have you ever been impressed by a barista remembering your name?

What about at a restaurant or hotel when they anticipate your needs?

It’s memorable, right? How did it make you feel?

It’s not about the actual action or whether it’s flashy. It’s about how it made you feel. It stands out because it’s intentional. You notice the effort & it’s flattering.

So why aren’t we more intentional with our clients like this? Why is the experience just a bunch of checklists and organizers?

I think most accounting firms could be doing a lot better, especially when it comes to onboarding, where this matters the most.

We went 3.5 years without any churn and I attribute that mainly to our client experience, especially the onboarding.

So why do most firms treat onboarding like a chore? In my experience it’s…

• A pile of documents to request

• Zoom calls watching someone log in and pull reports (boring for everyone)

• Endless email follow-ups just to collect what you need

Not very fun, right?

What changed for me:

When I was in Japan last year, I read a book called Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. It opened my eyes to how powerful it is to create a feeling - by doing a little extra and being intentional about every client touchpoint.

Japan is famous for its hospitality & we got to experience this first-hand during our trip many times. From tea time at hotel check in to the restaurant owner’s (husband and wife) walking us all the way down the street after a sushi dinner. Small gestures, but they made the trip unforgettable.

We were already doing an “okay” job with onboarding. But I realized we still weren’t delivering the vibe/feeling that I wanted clients to walk away with.

For example: I hired a coach last year, and they sent me a welcome box with confetti and a freaking piñata! How memorable is that? More importantly, it set an optimistic tone for the entire engagement.

I’m not saying you need to send your clients confetti and a cocktail kit. But you should absolutely think about adding some small gestures that they’ll remember.

Even something as small as remembering a client’s birthday or their kid’s names could really make a difference in how the work feels for them.

Most firms hand over a checklist and jump on a bland Zoom call then wonder why the client ghosts them three months later.

Here are a few changes we’ve made to our onboarding process:

After getting back from Japan, I implemented a few changes to our onboarding process with our newest clients to help foster a better vibe when working with us.

Here are a few we currently use:

• We run a fun kickoff call focused on alignment and expectations, not just task lists

• We send videos instead of writing long onboarding emails so they don’t fall asleep

• We build and share a 30/60/90 day plan so clients know exactly what’s coming (expectations are everything)

• We set up a Slack channel or Missive email team with one clear point of contact

• We notice details from what they say or from their socials (like a kid’s or dog’s name) “Wow, you remembered my dog’s name? That’s so cool.”

They are Simple. Clear. Repeatable. And still include Human Touch.

A few other ideas I like (but haven’t tried) are:

• Sending something physical. Something thoughtful and fun.

• Building an onboarding tracker on a static webpage. Visually appealing. Maybe on Notion or vibe coded.

• Starting the second we start the sales process. I think there’s potential to even win work because of this mindset.

What not to do:

Okay, so here's a few mistakes I see other firms (and previously me) making pretty regularly with onboarding…

• They lead with tasks rather than with the client’s experience

• They blame the last accountant and start the relationship on a negative note

• They dwell on “the mess” instead of talking about future potential

• They bury communication in portals and automated reminders

Look, I know we’re here to do the accounting work.

But why does it have to be so bland?

I have way more fun working with clients who are excited to get good financial data and pumped to be working with us.

I think you might too.

Q → Would you enjoy being onboarded by your own firm?

👉 Part 2 drops in 2 weeks. It’s all about how we maintain great client experience and upselling to existing clients.

A Better SOP App:

So we’ve been focusing on SOP’s lately at Celerity and I recently switched from using Loom + Scribe to something called Guidde and so far I love it.

Here’s what it does:

• Records your screen (Chrome extension or desktop app) similar to Loom

• Uses AI to auto-generate screenshots with overlays + captions

• Builds a step-by-step guide and a matching video with captions/overlays

• Lets you add an intro, custom overlays, or voiceover after the fact

• Even supports text-to-voice if you don’t want to record audio yourself

Anyways, it’s what I’m using now for SOP’s so I thought I would share! I find it works for those who prefer static visuals as well as for those who prefer video.

Question for you:

What’s a decision you made last year that you’d absolutely do differently today?

Funny situation I had this week:

Thanks for reading & have a great weekend!

Tailor

P.S. We’re going to give away dad hats for those who refer 3+ people who subscribe to the newsletter. Still designing them but something like this(but better) - Use the share link below: