If you’ve ever been to Disney, you know all about Wait Times.

You know the drill. There’s a little (totally on-brand) screen above every line that tells you the approximate time you’ll have to wait in stand-by to get to the awesome ride.

By establishing expectations, Disney makes your experience that much better because you know what to expect. Plus, that standby wait time is never ACTUALLY as long as it says it’ll be. That means, they’ve mastered establishing expectations, while simultaneously under-promising and over delivering.

Leave it to Disney, right?

I like to take this approach as I map out the next two sections of the client welcome packet.

Defining services and deliverables, and giving an overview of the process and timeline may seem TOO SIMPLE. Like, DUH. But, if you skip these pieces of the welcome packet, you’ll be left with…

• Clients holding up the process, because they don’t understand the urgency of the timeline.

• Clients who are not impressed because they have no concept of how long something should take, so they think it’s taking too long!

• Clients who continuously ask for things outside of the scope of your project, making for awkward conversations and frustrating amounts of unnecessary communication.

Plus, if we ever hope to surprise and delight our clients, we need to make sure they’re well aware of what “normal” looks like for this project, so they can recognize when you’re going above and beyond.

In Part 2 of our Ultimate Guide to Crafting a Client Welcome Packet, my business manager Jenna and I will walk you through the exact pieces you need for this section, plus a resource to help you write the whole thing!

Did you miss Part One?

What we covered in Week One:

1| Welcome Note + Thank You

2| Establishing Expectations + Boundaries

Catch the first installment here!

3| Services Overview + Deliverables

This is your chance to remind your new client of the scope of your project. You can also include any information regarding scope creep. This is a brand new term I just learned, but basically it’s a fancy way of describing when a project goes over – whether it’s over the timeline, over the original amount of deliverables, etc. This section will save you from the dreaded never ending projects that you feel you can’t get out of.

BUT, if you’re smart, you won’t stop there. You can also take this chance to remind them what these deliverables will help them do (or maybe what pain it will help them avoid!). Remind your clients of the transformation you’re facilitating along the way – don’t expect them to notice it themselves.

This doesn’t have to be long. You could choose to bullet out the deliverables, offer a quick couple sentences about scope creep, and then remind them of the impending transformation in a tiny section that follows.

OR, you could choose to infuse transformation into each of your deliverable bullet points. Kinda like this:

“A Customized Wedding Day Timeline – so you don’t have to wonder when Grandma will have to take pictures, or how long she’ll be standing in the sun.”

This helps to create a crazy awesome experience, because they’re reminded how CRAZY-GLAD they are they chose you.

4| Process + Project Timeline

The goal of this section of your welcome packet is to minimize surprises (ya know, the bad kind) and suspend fear as much as possible. It’s scary to outsource! It’s scary to make a decision and hire someone!

In fact (#nerdalert), the word “decide” comes from the Latin root “cide.” That little, seemingly harmless root word literally means “to kill” or “cut.” So, when one of your sweet clients decides to work with you, they’re literally killing off all other possibilities and choosing to place their trust in you.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t take that lightly.

So, here, outline the process for them, so they can clearly see the cadence of things. Help them understand when you need something from them, and how long they have to complete it.

You don’t necessarily need to include a timeline tied to dates here, unless you want to customize that for them at this stage. Anything from the general process cadence, a sample timeline, or their specific project timeline will be amazing in this piece of your welcome packet.

---

Remember, you can take a crack at these sections yourself, or you can follow our comprehensive resource to crank your way through the whole thing in no time.

So, which of these are going to be the MOST revolutionary for your Client Welcome Packet?

Let me know in the comments, or tag me on Instagram (@jessjordana) so I can see your progress!

---

I’m Jess,

iced-coffee-obsessed, saved-by-grace, allergic-to-small talk, and one of the biggest dreamers you’ll ever meet.

---

COPY TIPS

BUSINESS TIPS

FIND YOUR VOICE

FAITH

LIFE

---