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5 Tips to Speed Up the Onboarding of New Fulfillment Clients

By Grace Barton Updated

Closing a new deal and starting a new partnership is exciting for both the client and your 3PL business. You may have spent weeks or months nurturing your leads, but now it’s time to turn them into happy long-term clients. Get off on the right foot by getting your new clients up and running smoothly and quickly. By expediting the client on-boarding process, you can deliver value to your clients quickly and start getting paid faster.  

Let’s dive into 5 tips to speed-up the on-boarding of new fulfillment clients
  1. Use standardized templates  

Gathering key information from a new client is critical to kicking off the on-boarding process in any operation*.* Start by looking for ways where you can standardize your current methods of getting information. Your goal is to make it easy for your team to get the information your business needs from new clients.  

Spend some time with your team and dive into the specifics you need to get your clients onboarded efficiently and quickly. After some brainstorming, you can create templates in excel or word, clearly listing the must-have details.  

On-boarding templates you should start with:  

  • SKUs Template – quickly import product catalogs into your OMS/WMS. 
  • Order Import Template – easily add orders so you can get them processed faster.  

For example, you may have an e-commerce seller who is using a custom website to sell their products, rather than a traditional e-commerce platform. By having templates ready to go, you can quickly provide your client with a “guide” to follow. This will help them give you the information you need, in a format that allows your team to import it quickly. You can save time by not having to format or massage data, and reduce errors that can come from inconsistent or on-the-fly methods.  

  1. Create an On-boarding Questionnaire to quickly get key information your team needs

Craft a 360° view of what your operation needs from the front office to your warehouse managers. Determine pertinent information different departments need to onboard a new client. Once you’ve formed questions, you can build a questionnaire in the format that works best for your operation. This might be an interactive form built on your website or a simple word doc.  

We recommend focusing on the following areas in your operation:

A more standardized process with key documents is just one of the ways you can expedite and optimize your on-boarding process.  

  1. Request MISSION CRITICAL DATA! (aka order volume & detailed history)

We mentioned it in the above questionnaire, but we can’t stress enough how critical order volume and detailed history information is from a new client*.* This data is gold for helping you determine processes, staffing, pricing, profitability, forecasting, and more. Having a deep understanding (backed by data) of your new client will help you make the right choices as your business grows.  

  1. Create a “Check List” for your team

Look back at the consultations you’ve had with your new clients during the sales cycle. You can draft a list of their needs by reviewing key topics they mentioned during conversations with your team. You may have forgotten a client’s troubles and pain points during the sales cycle. A check list will ensure these important details don’t get lost in the mix. 

  1. Implement a “welcome” journey

Nothing says welcome like a “welcome” journey. Draft a few emails that inform your clients on what they can expect during your 3PL’s on-boarding. This will help clue them into the process and reduce phone calls and questions to your support team. 

This was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting your clients on-boarded more easily. Regardless of how you optimize your on-boarding process, focus on how you can provide new clients with the best fulfillment experience possible while making your life easier! 

If you need more tips, our fulfillment experts are happy to share some on-boarding best practices and other tips we’ve learned over the years.  Speak to a fulfillment expert today!

Grace Barton

Marketing Specialist

About the Author Latest Posts

Grace Barton is a digital marketing and competitive intelligence professional who crafts strategic narratives by bridging marketing insights with analytical expertise. At Advantive, she creates engaging, data-driven content tailored to the distribution, manufacturing, packaging, and quality industries. Her goal is to deliver impactful messaging that drives engagement and growth based on specific gap closure needs, whether responding to sales organization requirements, pinpointing gaps in content, or meeting immediate market trends.
She thrives on transforming competitive intelligence into actionable insights for the sales organization. Grace manages Advantive’s competitive intelligence platform, Klue, to equip the sales team with the battlecards and market data they need to stay ahead of competitors. Since launch, she’s built 28+ battlecards across four lines of business, ensuring the GTM strategy stays sharp.
Grace has a passion for leveraging market insights with storytelling to guide strategic decision-making, empower sales organizations, and nurture organizational growth.

Areas of Expertise: Digital Marketing, Competitive Intelligence, Strategic Narratives, Marketing Insights, Analytical Expertise

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