Onboarding Step 3

Client call expectations:

• You are in a quiet place – no dogs barking, avoid public places like coffee shops with loud background noise/music, and no children playing in the background.

• You have a tidy background with your camera on – avoid sitting on or in front of your bed or your couch. If your only guaranteed quiet spot is somewhere like your closet, you can utilize the “blur background” feature on Zoom.

• You are professionally dressed and appropriate to meet with clients – how you carry yourself on the client calls will directly impact the confidence your client has in our team. While you may be wearing leggings sitting at your desk (yay for remote work!), we want to give the client our best impression with what they can see. This means we avoid low, wide, or loose neckline tops. We do not have wet or unbrushed hair. We look the part and instill confidence in our clients that we will get the job done!

When meeting briefly with other Accordus team members, it is okay to join the call from wherever you are (yay for flexibility!) while bouncing a fussy baby on your knee if needed. We can relax some of the points above for internal meetings, however, we always prioritize dressing appropriately.

Watch this 12-minute video explaining how we prepare for, run, and follow-up client meetings

Watch these client calls. Take notes and be ready to give a few key points to your mentor when you talk with them. We don’t need copious notes, we just want to hear some key thoughts from reviewing these calls. Reference the meetings checklist on this form as a guide.

• Restoration ATL – This one shows us reviewing graphics with the client
• Orphan Justice Center – This one provides good context for the accounting side of what Accordus does
• Black United Fund of Michigan

Week 1 & Week 2: Test Drive 

Welcome to Accordus and welcome to your test drive! 

During the next 2-3 weeks, you will be working with our test client, Camp Wildflower. You will use Team Work to review this client’s documents and assignments to help you get to know who this client is and what we do for them. 

Your role during these next 2 weeks is to embody the Team Lead role 100%. And as you may remember from your onboarding, you are the project manager, (the driver, rather) and you are driving the client where they need to go but also letting the team know where we are heading. Communication is the name of the Team Lead game. Jumping feet first into the driver’s seat may feel overwhelming, but that’s normal so just remember to take it one step at a time, one day at a time. You are responsible for pushing the gas and the brakes. One of our core values is OWN IT, so as you are jumping in, take on that mindset of owning it. Not sure how to do something? Look in AccordusU or Google it! Unsure about what the client meant on the call? Ask them in the moment! We aren’t looking for perfection – we are looking for team leads who live into our core values & don’t ask for permission to move but will take ownership and pride over their client load. 

Starting today, you have 1.5 hours to get up to speed on the client and then each week following, you are allotted 3 hours to get your work completed. We have also allotted 30 minutes extra each week if you are needing time to learn something so you have 3.5 hours allotted for week 1 and 3.5-hours allotted for week 2 to get everything completed. Ideally, you would stick under 3 hours, but we also understand this is your first time doing everything so that extra 30 minutes should be helpful. If you are needing to assign out a new batch of social media and it’s your first time, we want you to use AccordusU to learn how to do that – this test drive is where you are practicing how you will play. If you find yourself going over in hours significantly, please reach out to us ASAP. All that to say, don’t cut corners but truly take the time to learn how to do the process because we can almost guarantee you will be doing this with a real client in just a few week’s time.

This process is designed so that you go straight from your test drive into working with a real-life client. You will follow a template in TW for this transition and you should have a good leg up as you get involved with your new clients. As you go through this test drive, please use the following folks as a resource – we want you to succeed! 

Amber | [email protected]
Becklin | [email protected]
Ellen | [email protected]
Sarah | [email protected]

We are so excited to see you grow into this role!

Best,

Amber + Becklin

Week 3: Debrief with Department Coordinators & Amber & Becklin

Week 4: Client Assignment & Begin Client work

Action Items – Do this now

1. Click HERE to hear some helpful tips from our Senior Team Leads.
2. Watch this intro video to get started with your test client, Camp Wildflower, in Team Work.
3. Email Becklin (CC Alex) the following:
   -Confirmation that you have completed step 3 of onboarding
   -Include a public link to your Onboarding Google Doc
   -Include the availability chart that you completed during the interview process
4. You are officially in the test-drive phase! Starting now, you will clock ALL TIME over the next 2 weeks under the customer “Camp Wildflower” in QuickBooks Time.