A keen client, and a pile of setup
A new client wants to start sending samples next week. Sales sends an account application form. Finance runs a credit check. Someone sets up the price list. Customer services asks who should receive reports and invoices, in what format, and whether they have specification limits. The LIMS administrator creates the client account. Each step is an email, often from a different person, and the client's first samples arrive before everything is ready.
Why onboarding is slow
- Each department asks for its own information separately.
- The client fills in several forms with overlapping questions.
- LIMS and accounts setup are done by hand.
- Nobody sees the overall status of onboarding.
- Samples arrive before setup is complete.
The information also lands in the wrong places. The report contact is written in an email to sales, the invoice address is on the credit application, and the specification limits are in an attachment sent to customer services. When the LIMS account is created, the administrator has to gather all of it from several inboxes.
What it costs
New clients get a poor first impression. Samples arriving before setup are delayed or registered against the wrong account. Reports go to the wrong people. Staff repeat the same data entry in several systems.
| Step | Separate emails | Onboarding flow |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Form by email | Online, once |
| Credit check | Finance runs separately | Triggered from the application |
| Price list | Set up by hand | Chosen from standard or quoted lists |
| Contacts and reports | Asked by email | Collected in the flow |
| LIMS and accounts | Typed twice | Created from the flow |
Errors made at setup last. A report contact entered wrongly, a missing specification limit or the wrong price list will affect every job until someone notices, and the client often notices first. Fixing it then means amended reports, credit notes or both.
How we build it
- The client completes one online form: company details, contacts for results and invoices, report formats, specification limits and any sampling plans.
- Your credit check runs, through a credit reference service or your finance team's process.
- Sales choose the client's price list or link an accepted quote.
- Once approved, the client account is created in the LIMS and in Xero, QuickBooks or Sage.
- The client receives their account details, portal access, ordering instructions and kit ordering link.
- A status view shows each onboarding in progress and what it is waiting for.
Where a client has several sites or projects, the flow collects them as sub-accounts with their own contacts and report settings, so results for one site do not go to another site's manager.
What changes
Clients start sending samples sooner, with everything set up. Staff enter data once. Reports and invoices go to the right people from day one. Sales can see when a new client is ready.
Finance approves credit with the application already complete, and customer services start the relationship with the client's preferences recorded instead of learning them from complaints about the first report.
Is onboarding clumsy in your lab?
- New clients fill in several forms.
- LIMS and accounts setup are typed by hand.
- Samples arrive before accounts are ready.
- Reports have gone to the wrong contact.
- Nobody sees overall onboarding status.