Sales & Customer Growth
The sale is not the end of selling. It is the start of keeping.
A customer who has just said yes is hopeful and a little nervous. What happens in the next few weeks decides whether they stay, buy again and recommend you, or quietly drift away. This session looks at the stretch between yes and the first real result, and how to make it deliberate rather than accidental.
Explore this page6 sections
Many customers are lost before they have properly started.
The customer was promised something by the person who sold, and delivered something by a different person who may not know what was promised. Details are missing, the first delivery is late or the customer does not know how to use what they bought. None of it is dramatic, but it shapes how the customer feels about everything that follows.
Onboarding is simply the planned first stretch of the relationship. It applies whether you sell a product, a service, a subscription or a contract to another business. This session helps owners plan it, instead of leaving it to whoever is free.
What the session covers
30 topics across 6 areas. Six parts, from the moment of yes to the first review.
The HandoverFrom the person who sold to the person who delivers.5
- What was promised, in the customer's own words
- Price, dates, scope and anything agreed verbally
- Who the key contacts are on both sides
- What the customer is worried about
- A short written note that travels with every new customer
If the owner is both seller and deliverer, the note is still worth writing. It exposes what is only in your head.
Setting ExpectationsSay what happens next, and when.5
- Timelines for the first delivery or first result
- What you need from the customer, and by when
- How and when you will communicate
- What is outside the agreement
- Putting it in writing without making it a legal wall
Getting What You NeedDelays often start on the customer's side.5
For businesses that sell to other businesses, this includes the details their accounts team will need to pay you on time.
- Documents, access, samples or approvals required
- A single, simple request instead of many scattered ones
- Reminding without nagging
- What to do when the customer is slow
- Collecting details accurately the first time
The First WinShow value early.5
- What the customer wants to see happen first
- A small, quick result before the large one
- Teaching the customer how to use what they bought
- Making it easy to ask a question in the first week
- Confirming that the first result matches what they expected
Check-InsPlanned, not reactive.5
- A message after the first delivery
- A short call or visit after two to four weeks
- Two or three questions worth asking every new customer
- What to do with the answers
- When a problem needs the owner, not an assistant
Spotting Trouble EarlyCustomers rarely complain first.5
- Silence after a good start
- Repeated questions about the same thing
- Delays in paying the first invoice
- Cancelling meetings or not using what was delivered
- A conversation to have before a small problem becomes a lost customer
These signs are prompts to ask, not proof of a problem.
What participants work on
- An onboarding path, with dates, for their own customers
- A one-page handover note
- A welcome message they will actually send
- Three check-in questions
- A named person responsible for each new customer's first month
Questions that reveal the current state
- What happens in the first week after a customer says yes?
- Does the person delivering know everything the seller promised?
- When does a new customer first hear from you after delivery?
- What is a customer's first real result, and how long does it take?
- Which recent customer disappeared, and what do you now think happened?
How the session runs
Two to three hours, in a small group. A practitioner who has managed new customers walks through their own onboarding steps, including the ones that went wrong. Participants then map what currently happens after a sale, mark the gaps and draft their handover note, welcome message and check-in questions. Bring a recent customer story, including one you lost.
What your students leave with
- A written onboarding path for their own kind of customer
- A clean handover from whoever sells to whoever delivers
- A welcome message and first-week checklist
- A clear idea of what the customer's first win should be
- Check-in points at set times after the sale
- Early warning signs they can watch for
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Plan the first month, and the second sale gets easier.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.