MAPPED OUT
Ever feel like your marketing strategy and business plan is a maze of endless to-dos? MAPPED OUT is your GPS to breakthrough growth, minus the headaches. Think of us as your savvy road trip companions who've not only survived the marketing wilderness—we've mastered it.
Lauren and Aurrie here, battle-tested marketers who've built businesses from the ground up. We're ditching the fluff and corporate-speak to give you the real deal: strategies that actually work, stories from the trenches, and those "why didn't I think of that?" moments that'll transform your approach.
Every episode is like having coffee (or a stiff and needed drink) with that marketing friend who tells it straight, shares their secret weapons, and genuinely wants you to win. Whether you're dreaming up your next campaign or feeling stuck in the daily grind, consider this your official permission slip to simplify, amplify, and enjoy the ride. Buckle up—your marketing journey just got a whole lot more interesting.
MAPPED OUT
Stop #15: The Safety Net Your Client Onboarding is Missing with Sarah Still
Welcome back to Mapped Out! Lauren and Aurrie are diving into the unsexy but absolutely critical world of client onboarding. If you've ever wondered why some businesses are sales machines but can't figure out their churn rate, this episode breaks down exactly how to nail the handoff from "yes" to delivery—and why this phase is actually your most important marketing.
→ Visit mappedoutpod.com/newsletter to join our email list and get our weekly Flight Deck newsletter every Friday with deeper insights on each episode's topic.
Episode Highlights
- [00:01:17] Why client onboarding IS marketing and the most important marketing you'll ever do
- [00:03:39] How mature businesses handle the gap between "yes" and delivery
- [00:05:23] The hidden costs: It's 5-25x more expensive to acquire new customers than retain existing ones
- [00:07:45] The three critical layers: Trust transfer, experience design, and team empowerment
- [00:13:05] Meet Sarah from Vivid Impact Partners with expert insights from scaling an agency to almost $10M
- [00:29:26] The trust transfer breakdown and why signing contracts is the starting line, not finish line
- [00:32:27] The "we vs. I" language trap that keeps founders stuck in every client relationship
- [00:39:00] Metrics that matter: From trust transfer to team empowerment KPIs
Meet Your Hosts
Lauren Loreto
- Founder of Brand Good Time
- Expert in content marketing and web design
- Website: brandgoodtime.com
- Instagram: @brandgoodtime
Aurrie Hicks
- Founder of Hopson Rae
- Expert in digital content and brand strategy
- Website: hopsonrae.com
- Instagram: @hopsonrae
Meet The Guest
Sarah – Vivid Impact Partners
- Founder of Vivid Impact Partners
- Strategic partner to agencies ready to scale without chaos
- Mission: Helping agencies grow with clarity, confidence, and zero founder bottlenecks
- Website: vividimpactpartners.com
- LinkedIn: Sarah at Vivid Impact Partners
Brands & Examples Mentioned
- Handwrytten – Used as part of a high-touch onboarding experience to send automated, branded handwritten notes and birthday cards to new clients.
- Monday.com – A project management tool leveraged to streamline due dates and internal workflows across onboarding and offboarding stages.
- Slack – Employed with custom SOPs and pinned templates for seamless sales-to-delivery handoffs, internal team communication, and proactive client updates.
- ChatGPT – Used to analyze client sentiment from onboarding surveys and improve internal processes with clearer feedback patterns.
- HoneyBook – Utilized to automate offboarding workflows and schedule client satisfaction surveys post-project.
- AI Note Takers (like Fireflies or Fathom) – Suggested to summarize client calls and reduce knowledge gaps in the trust transfer process.
- Google Drive – Central hub for branded onboarding documents, client resources, and experience design touchpoints.
Connect With Us
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to leave a review if this episode helped you tighten up your client process—we’d love to hear from you!
#MappedOutPodcast #ClientOnboarding #RetentionStrategy #MarketingOps #ClientExperience #BusinessGrowth #AgencyLife #FounderLife #ServiceBusiness #CustomerSuccess #MarketingPodcast
