Appendix H establishes the standard LKNConnect process for converting an approved client enrollment into an organized, documented, and operationally ready Visibility Client relationship.
Appendix F determined:
Where is the business today?
Appendix G determined:
What should the business do next?
Appendix H answers:
The purpose of Appendix H is to ensure that every client entering the LKNConnect Visibility System™ has:
The guiding principle is:
Onboarding begins after the client has:
The client’s verbal agreement is the beginning of onboarding.
It is not the completion of onboarding.
Before LKNConnect begins full production or fulfillment, the relationship must be properly documented.
Onboarding protects both the client and LKNConnect.
The process should answer:
A clear onboarding process reduces:
The LKNConnect Client Order & Onboarding Form is the controlling fulfillment record.
Where practical, this one document should function as:
The objective is to avoid maintaining several disconnected documents containing different versions of the same client commitment.
One signed record should clearly show what was sold and what must be delivered.
The onboarding record should include complete and verified business information.
This may include:
Information should be verified rather than copied blindly from an outdated source.
Operations should receive enough information to understand the business.
The onboarding record should identify:
What does the company do?
What does it sell or provide?
What makes this business different?
Who is the business trying to reach?
Where does the business want visibility?
This information helps editorial, production, website, sales, and social personnel present the client accurately.
The onboarding record should document the client’s primary goals.
These may include:
The client’s goals should remain connected to the fulfillment plan.
A client seeking stronger executive visibility may require a different implementation than a client primarily seeking directory presence.
The client record should preserve the relevant findings that led to the enrollment decision.
This may include:
This creates a permanent record of the strategic starting point.
The onboarding form must clearly identify the final approved program selected by the client.
The current Growth Spiral™ options may include:
Publisher’s Recommended Listing™
Enhanced Business Profile™
Category Sponsorship™
Media Network Sponsorship™
Featured Business™
Featured Business Plus™
Top-of-Mind Authority™ Partnership
The client-selected level must match the approved pricing and fulfillment requirements in effect at the time of enrollment.
Any optional services must be documented individually.
These may include:
Operations should not be expected to infer optional services from a conversation.
If it is being delivered, it should appear in the written order.
When approved Strategic Partner services are part of the client engagement, the onboarding record should identify them.
Potential services may include:
The onboarding record should identify:
Before fulfillment begins, LKNConnect should identify the assets required from the client.
These may include:
The client should know which materials are required and when they are due.
Each required asset should be classified as:
The asset has been provided and is usable.
The client has been asked to provide it.
LKNConnect or an approved partner must create it.
The asset is not needed for the selected program.
This prevents production from stopping because nobody realized a critical asset was missing.
The onboarding record should tell Operations exactly how the client will be implemented.
This may include:
Operations should not have to recreate the sale from texts, emails, or verbal conversations.
Any non-standard commitment made during the sales process must be written into the onboarding record and approved.
Examples may include:
If a commitment is not documented and approved, it should not automatically become an Operations obligation.
The client order should clearly identify the financial commitment.
This should include:
The client should be able to look at the document and understand exactly what is being charged.
Unless otherwise approved in writing, LKNConnect should not begin full client fulfillment until the required initial payment has been received.
Exceptions should require appropriate authorization.
The objective is to prevent LKNConnect from investing production resources into a client relationship that has not been financially activated.
The Client Order & Onboarding Form requires signatures from:
and
The client’s signature confirms that:
The LKNConnect signature confirms acceptance of the engagement.
Verbal agreements may begin the process.
They should not control fulfillment.
A client should not be fully activated based only upon:
The final commitment should be documented.
This protects:
The Client
The Visibility Strategist
Operations
LKNConnect
A client should not become active without an appropriate CRM or approved client-management record.
The record should include:
The CRM should increasingly become the central operational reference for the client relationship.
Every client relationship should have a clearly identified primary relationship owner.
This may be:
The relationship owner is responsible for ensuring that the client does not become disconnected after the sale.
The individual performing fulfillment may be different from the person responsible for the client relationship.
Each required deliverable should have a responsible owner.
Potential functions may include:
Editorial and publishing coordination.
Profile creation, placement, technical implementation.
Recording and production.
Post-production.
Lead images, banners, promotional materials.
Social scheduling and distribution.
Client relationship and ongoing sales communication.
Specialized services.
A task without an owner is a task at risk.
For larger or more complex client engagements, a brief Operations Handoff Meeting may be appropriate.
The purpose is to review:
The meeting should be short and operational.
The objective is clarity.
The originating Visibility Strategist remains responsible for ensuring that the client is handed off correctly.
The Strategist should not consider the sale complete simply because the agreement has been signed.
The Strategist should confirm:
A poorly handed-off sale can quickly become a dissatisfied client.
Once Operations accepts the handoff, Operations becomes responsible for executing the documented commitments.
Operations should:
Operations should not silently accept unclear instructions.
Questions should be resolved before production moves too far forward.
When the client’s program includes editorial or Media Network content, the Managing Editor should coordinate:
The Managing Editor ensures that client-related content enters the normal LKNConnect content workflow.
Every new client should have a clear launch plan appropriate to the selected program.
The plan may include:
Not every client requires every launch element.
The launch plan should match the selected program.
Once onboarding is complete, the client should receive a clear welcome communication.
The message should confirm:
The purpose is reassurance and clarity.
The client should not wonder what happens after signing.
The following checklist should be completed before onboarding is considered finished:
A client should be considered fully onboarded only when the essential business, financial, contractual, and fulfillment information has been completed.
At that point:
Only then is onboarding truly complete.
For larger recurring clients, LKNConnect should consider a first 30-day operational review.
The purpose is to determine:
Early correction is easier than repairing a relationship several months later.
Recurring Visibility Clients should have appropriate review points.
Depending upon the program, reviews may occur:
The review should consider:
The client relationship should continue to evolve rather than becoming a static listing.
A client’s initial Growth Spiral™ level is a starting point.
As visibility improves and business goals change, the client may be ready to move to another level.
Movement should be based on:
The objective is not to constantly upsell.
The objective is to help the client continue progressing when a higher level becomes appropriate.
When an active client adds, removes, or materially changes services, the change should be documented.
A change record should identify:
Operations should not implement significant client changes based only upon informal verbal instructions.
When a client ends a program, the relationship should be closed professionally.
The offboarding process should determine:
Client offboarding should eventually be governed by a separate detailed operating policy if the process becomes sufficiently complex.
Appendix H should be supported by downloadable working documents.
These should include:
The primary controlling fulfillment record.
Used to collect and track client assets.
Used to confirm that all responsibilities have been assigned.
Used to confirm that required program components are active.
Used when services or financial commitments change.
LKNConnect may add operating forms as the system evolves.
The working form should contain at minimum:
The form may evolve, but these core information areas should remain represented.
The Client Order & Onboarding Form should include clear authorization language substantially similar to:
By signing the Client Order & Onboarding Form, the client confirms that the services and deliverables selected accurately represent the LKNConnect Visibility Program™ being ordered.
The client authorizes LKNConnect to begin onboarding and fulfillment upon receipt of the required initial payment and agrees to provide the information, approvals, access, and materials reasonably necessary to complete the selected services.
The controlling signed agreement and any separately executed contractual terms govern the relationship.
Signed client agreements, order forms, financial records, important approvals, and fulfillment records should be retained according to established LKNConnect recordkeeping practices.
Important client information should not exist solely in:
As systems develop, critical records should increasingly be stored within approved shared business systems.
Client information obtained during onboarding should be handled professionally.
Information not intended for public distribution may include:
Access should be limited to individuals who reasonably require the information to perform LKNConnect services.
The COO and technology partners should continue identifying opportunities to automate appropriate parts of onboarding.
Potential automation may include:
Automation should improve consistency.
It should not eliminate appropriate human review where judgment is required.
Qualifies, recommends, enrolls, documents, and completes the initial client handoff.
Provides accurate information, required materials, approvals, signatures, and payment.
Ensures the onboarding system is documented, operationally sound, and accountable.
Coordinates editorial and Media Network fulfillment.
Produces and delivers the documented services.
Tracks billing, payment, and financial records.
Supports CRM, automation, website, and operational systems.
Retains strategic authority and becomes involved in major exceptions, major client relationships, significant commitments, or matters requiring executive judgment.
Complete the Client Order & Onboarding Form.
Document all selected programs and options.
Obtain required payment.
Obtain signatures.
Receive or schedule production.
Establish the client operating record.
Confirm individual responsibility.
Prepare activation.
Begin fulfillment.
An effective Client Onboarding & Fulfillment Handoff System should result in:
The ultimate objective is:
The three appendices operate as a continuous client-development system.
Answers:
Answers:
Answers:
Together they form the complete path:
Winning a client is not the end of the sales process.
It is the beginning of the delivery responsibility.
A successful client relationship requires more than a signed sale.
It requires:
Clarity.
Documentation.
Payment.
Assets.
Ownership.
Accountability.
Communication.
Fulfillment.
The purpose of onboarding is to ensure that what was discussed becomes what is delivered.
And ultimately:
The following downloadable tools should accompany this Appendix:
1. LKNConnect Client Order & Onboarding Form
2. Required Client Materials Checklist
3. Operations Handoff Checklist
4. Client Launch Checklist
5. Client Change Order Form
6. Current Growth Spiral™ Pricing & Deliverables Reference
These tools may be updated as LKNConnect’s programs, pricing, technology, and operational requirements evolve.
LKNConnect Operating System — Appendix H
Client Onboarding, Fulfillment Handoff & Operating Forms
Power Communities, LLC / LKNConnect.com
Experience Living Lake Norman.
