First impressions matter, especially in business. When a new client signs up for your product or service, it's important to make them feel welcome and set the tone for a successful relationship. That's where client onboarding emails come in. A well-crafted welcome message can not only make your new customers feel appreciated but can also help you establish trust and loyalty from the very beginning—a cornerstone for building long-term customer loyalty.
In this article, we'll explore what client onboarding emails are and why they're important. We'll also share practical examples and tips to help you create effective welcome messages for your own business. So, whether you're a coach, small business owner, or solopreneur, read on to learn how to make the most out of your customer onboarding process—complete with step-by-step writing guides and welcome email templates for specific businesses.
How to welcome a new client by email (and why onboarding emails are so important)
Customer onboarding emails—which is really just a fancy label for talking about how to follow up with new clients through a welcome message—serves as an opportunity to set the tone for the client’s entire experience with your business.
So, yeah, kind of a big deal.
Being the savvy and hip small business owner or solopreneur that you are, you’re probably familiar with all the lingo. But just in case, let’s take a minute to cover exactly what client onboarding welcome emails are and share some examples of why this strategy is well worth your time.
At its core, a client onboarding email is a message you send to new customers that sets expectations for their upcoming experience with your business. The purpose of a customer onboarding email is to provide valuable information about your product/service and gather important information you need to get started—while establishing trust and credibility.
For some companies, this is part of a broader email marketing strategy to not only welcome new customers into the fold, but to also potentially upsell other products or services they offer. Using this strategy, a company may create a marketing automation process where subscribers to their product or service receive a pre-written email sequence with special offers, tutorials, and more, focused on everything from customer retention to sales.
However, for the sake of this article, we’re focusing on a single, stand alone welcome message for entrepreneurs or solopreneurs in the service industry, exploring how they can use an onboarding email to build a strong relationship with new customers from the very beginning.
For example, a coach who specializes in helping people achieve their fitness goals might use a customer onboarding welcome email to introduce themselves, explain their coaching philosophy, share discount codes or coupons for fitness products their clients might need, or proactively address frequently asked questions (“FAQs). By doing so, they can help their clients feel more comfortable and confident by providing important information, and establish a level of professionalism that says “I know what I’m doing here and I take this seriously.”
Now that we’re clear on what client onboarding emails are, and why they’re an important part of your business strategy, let’s roll up our sleeves and get into the good stuff. Next up, we’re going to focus on how to write a killer welcome message that makes your new customers swoon.
How to write a welcome email to a new client (a step-by-step framework that works—even if you’re not a “natural-born writer”)
Think of a welcome email to a new client as your business's version of a first date. It's one of your first official interactions with your new customer, and you want to make sure it's memorable for all the right reasons. But unlike a first date, you don't have the luxury of meeting in person, relying on body language, or reading cues from your client.
So just like sending reminders to your clients requires some tact and strategy to avoid coming off as pushy or assuming, communicating clearly and effectively during your welcome message with a new client is a crucial component of cultivating trust and respect. Here’s what to include from a “best practice” standpoint—along with tips and tricks to help you personalize your welcome email to make a lasting impression on your clients.
- Start with a brief salutation: Kick off your welcome email with a friendly and personalized greeting that addresses your new customer by their name. Hi, Hey, or Welcome followed by their name are all safe bets. “Dear” is another option, if you’d like to be more formal. Ultimately, choosing the best salutation really comes down to your brand’s personality, style, and the overall vibe you want to define your business (more on this below).
- Express gratitude for the client’s business: Think “retention” starts long after you’ve established a working relationship with a client? Think again. By taking a moment to express genuine appreciation for the client's business, you’re already cultivating the kind of connection that entices clients to stick around long term. Thank them for choosing your company and convey your excitement to work with them.
- Outline what they can expect next: Recap what you’ve discussed so far and give the client a brief overview of how things will go from here. Share information about your products or services, your process, how to offer feedback, and any other relevant details that will help the client understand how your business works.
- Request any information or documents you need from the client: If there is any additional information or documentation that you need from the client to move forward with their request or order, kindly request what is needed in a friendly and approachable manner. This will help avoid any confusion or delays in the process.
- Provide contact information and set expectations for communication (if applicable): Make sure to provide the client with applicable contact information, including your email address, phone number, and social media handles. Additionally, outline the expected communication channels and frequency, so the client knows when and how they can expect to hear from your business.
- Sign off: Close the email with a friendly and professional sign-off that leaves a positive and memorable impression. Consider adding a personal touch, such as a personalized signature. to encourage further engagement with your business.
Bonus tips to take your welcome email—and your business—to the next level
You could run with the outline above and do just fine. But if you want to spice things up a bit and personalize the experience new customers have with your brand, here are some tips and tricks to consider that will really make your business shine.
- Add a personalized, attention grabbing email subject line: Recent studies have shown that emails that are personalized generate 50% higher open rates. It can be as simple as “Welcome, [Firstname]! Here’s what’s next.” (See more personalization ideas for specific businesses in the templates below.)
- Have some fun with it: One of the biggest perks of running your own business is that you get to do things your way—which means adding your personality to make things special. Heads up: Just make sure you take into account how this might be perceived by the person/company you’re sending the email to.
- Leverage the power of the postscript (aka P.S.): Professor Siegfried Vögele, author of Handbook of Direct Mail, found that 90% of readers actually read the P.S. first—making it prime real estate you don’t want to waste. This is a great place to add important information such as a call to action (cta) that includes reminders about what you need the customer to do next, reinforce your gratitude and appreciation for their business, or share a social proof from a previous client so that your new customer feels confident they made a good choice in hiring you.
- Keep it simple and personable: If you’re using an email marketing platform to send emails, it can be tempting to jazz-up the appearance of your email with a fancy template full of pictures and other fancy visuals. And while sprucing up your email design certainly has a time and place, a welcome email should be like a personal note from another human. Some basic formatting for structure/readability and a picture or two as needed is fine, but overall, your welcome email should appear more like a letter to a friend than a highly-formatted marketing template.
By following the step-by-step framework provided above, you can craft a well-written welcome email that establishes a positive relationship with your new clients from the very beginning. But, we understand that not all businesses are the same, and each industry has its unique requirements and expectations. That's why in the next section, we will provide specific templates for new client onboarding emails, tailored to the needs of coaches, small business owners, and solopreneurs.
4 new client welcome email examples (templates for coaches, dog trainers, consultants, freelancers, and tutors, and more)
These templates will help you get a head start on creating a personalized and effective welcome email that sets the tone for a successful relationship with your clients.
Three important notes to keep in mind:
- Be on the lookout for brackets indicating areas of the template that you’ll need to insert applicable information. For example: [Client’s Name]
- You may need to adjust the tone to match your business’s voice and adjust some of the details to match what you’re offering.
- Speaking of tone, you’ll notice some of the templates below lean informal and fun, while others keep it more formal. This is to give you different examples of how tone and personality can be applied to your customer welcome emails. Feel free to mix and match as you see fit—while always taking what you know about the person (or company) you’re sending it to into account.
Don’t see your business here? Not to worry: Our goal is to provide some examples that are very specific, and others that are more general. So rest assured the templates below can be easily adapted to fit just about anything in the coaching/small business/solopreneur genre.
On to the templates!
For Dog Trainers
Subject line: [Dog Name]’s Training: A few important details
Hey [Customer’s Name]!
It was great connecting with you today. :)
I appreciate the opportunity to help you and your furry friend build a strong and lasting bond. My top priority is making sure you and your dog get the most out of our training sessions and feel supported every step of the way.
To get ready for your first session, I’m dropping a recap of what we covered earlier today.
Tools to buy and bring to the session:
- Tool 1 (link to tool if applicable)
- Tool 2 (link to tool if applicable)
Logistics:
- [Insert Scheduler Link]—use this to book sessions whenever you’re available.
- Customer Agreement Form (embed link).
- Your private client portal (embed link): This will act as a hub for everything related to training. There are also chat/voice memos like WhatsApp, so we can keep all the communication streamlined. And of course, you can reach me there if you ever have any training-related questions, even outside of sessions.
Okay, that should cover it for now.
Thanks again for choosing me/[company name] as your dog training partner. I look forward to seeing you and [Dog Name] soon!
Talk soon,
- [Your name]
P.S. Have questions about something I didn’t cover above? Hit “reply” to this email and ask away. I’ll get back to you asap!
For Consultants
Subject line: Welcome aboard! Let’s get started on your project.
Hi [Client Name],
Thank you for trusting me to help you achieve your goals. I’m excited to work with you and become a valuable partner in your success.
To get things rolling, here’s a recap of what we discussed earlier:
Project details:
We'll be working on [brief summary of project] with the goal of [brief summary of project goal]. Our team will consist of myself as the lead consultant, as well as [name and roles of other team members involved if applicable].
Timeline:
To ensure that we stay on track with the project timelines, I’ve set the following deadlines:
- [Insert relevant deadlines here]
Of course, these are flexible and can be adjusted as needed. I’ll also provide regular progress reports and updates to keep you informed throughout the project.
Logistics:
- [Explain your role and responsibilities, as well as what you expect from the client in terms of their role and responsibilities.]
- [Provide your preferred communication method and outline the basic structure of how, and when, you will communicate (provide an update each day, once per week, etc.)]
- [Link to the consultant agreement here, if applicable].
Next step—deep-dive into the project:
Let’s schedule a kickoff call or meeting to discuss the project further and answer any questions you may have. Please use this calendar to select a date and time that works best for you: [Insert scheduler link]
Alright, that should cover everything for now.
I’m confident this is the start of something great—and I’m looking forward to working with you and achieving great results together.
Talk soon,
- [Your Name]
P.S. Have questions about something I didn’t cover above? Hit “reply” to this email and ask away. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
For Freelancers
Subject line: It’s go time! (Important details for our project)
Hey [Client Name],
I hope this email finds you well! I'm thrilled to be working with you and excited to help bring your vision to life.
To kick off the project, I wanted to recap what we’ve talked about so far, and go over some important information I’ll need as we get started.
Gathering brand information:
This is a crucial step in ensuring that the content I create is tailored to your brand, target audience, and preferences. To that effectively, I’ll need a few things from you:
- Customer research (this could include formal research—such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups, as well as informal information that I could gather from places/communities where your customers interact with the brand, such as social media pages and testimonials).
- Brand voice, tone, and style guides: Any formal or informal documents you can provide so that I can ensure my work aligns with the brand’s expectations and quality control efforts will help me work more efficiently and produce the highest quality work possible.
- Contact information for any of your team members that I’ll be interacting with throughout the project, Slack channels, or temporary credentials for any other platforms I’ll need access to.
- Anything I’ve missed? If there are other assets or information that you feel would be helpful as I dive into this project, please include those with a brief explanation.
Content briefing process:
To keep the work flowing efficiently, it’s important that we’re both on the same page in terms of when and how the work will be completed. I will need access to all of the material necessary to complete my work in a timely manner (this includes content briefs, specific content topics, research/reference material, focus keywords, and any other pertinent information.
After we nail down the nitty-gritty details of the project and explore timelines in our first call, we can discuss this further and decide on a specific timeframe for supplying these assets (i.e. Monday for that week’s work; the start of the month for that month’s work, etc.).
Logistics:
- [Provide your preferred communication method and outline the basic structure of how, and when, you will communicate (provide an update each day, once per week, etc.)]
- [Link to the consultant agreement here, if applicable].
Next steps:
Let’s schedule a kickoff call or meeting to discuss the project further and answer any questions you may have. Please use this calendar to select a date and time that works best for you: [Insert scheduler link]
Alright, that should cover everything for now.
I'm looking forward to working together and creating great content for your brand!
Talk soon,
- [Your Name]
P.S. During our previous conversation, one of the concerns you mentioned was lack of communication. I completely understand this concern—and agree—open, clear communication is crucial. But don’t just take my word for it, see what one my recent clients had to say here:
[Insert quote from past client talking about how you communicate effectively]
For Tutors
Subject line: [Student's Name]’s Tutoring: Here’s what’s next
Hello [Student's Name (and parent/caregiver name, if applicable)],
It was great connecting with you and your family today. I appreciate the opportunity to help you achieve your academic goals and succeed in your studies. My top priority is to ensure that you receive the best possible support and guidance from me.
To get ready for our first session, I’d like to share a quick recap of how everything will work from here.
Materials to prepare for the session:
- Material 1 (if applicable)
- Material 2 (if applicable)
- Material 3 (if applicable)
Logistics:
- [Insert Scheduler Link]—use this to book sessions whenever you’re available.
- You might have questions in between sessions—that’s okay! The best way to reach me is [insert preferred form of communication], but feel free to connect through any of the following forms of communication as well:
- [Insert email]
- [Insert cell phone number]
- [Insert social media handles (if applicable)]
Quick note on time:
To ensure that our tutoring sessions are productive, I want to let you know that I value your time and will always come prepared for each session with a detailed lesson plan that addresses your unique needs. In return, I kindly ask that you arrive on time for each session and notify me 24 hours in advance if you need to cancel or reschedule a session. Sound fair?
Okay, that should cover it for now.
Thank you for choosing me/[company name] as your tutor. I look forward to working with you soon!
Best regards,
- [Your name]
P.S. If you have any questions or concerns that I didn't cover above, please don't hesitate to reply to this email and let me know. I'll get back to you as soon as possible!
Go forth and dazzle new clients with your welcome message skills!
That’s a wrap, folks. Effective client onboarding is crucial for building a strong foundation with your clients, establishing trust, and setting expectations from the get-go. By taking the time to create a personalized welcome experience, you're showing your clients that you value their business and are committed to their success.
But remember, the key to successful welcome emails for new customers is customization. These templates are a great starting point, but don't be afraid to tweak them to fit your unique brand voice and client needs.
Just starting out in your business? Practice has everything you need to thrive and grow—with confidence. Designed for coaches, small business owners, and freelancers, our platform allows you to send emails (like welcome messages!), connect with clients through a personal portal, send messages and documents, schedule sessions and meetings, receive payment, and more. Start your free trial today.
