Installation kit · v1.0 · reviewed 2026-10-01
For: "Every new client gets a slightly different welcome and I forget steps."
Overview
What you're building
A standard onboarding kit (welcome email, intake questionnaire, 'how we work' guide, internal checklist) built once in a workspace, then personalized per client in minutes from their intake details.
Why this setup
Onboarding inconsistency comes from rebuilding it each time. Standard documents give clients a professional experience; the workspace personalizes them without changing your terms or process.
The workflow architecture
AI workspace
Holds your instructions and reference files so you never re-explain.
Document template
Welcome email, intake, how-we-work guide.
Repeat-use checklist
Internal onboarding checklist.
Reusable instructions
Personalize without changing terms.
You haven't picked a tool yet, so this kit is platform-neutral. Both Claude and ChatGPT support this setup.
| Claude | ChatGPT |
|---|---|
| Claude Projects: instructions + project knowledge files | ChatGPT Projects: instructions + uploaded files |
| Optional Claude Skills for reusing a format across chats (plan-dependent) | Personalization settings can hold short preferences |
| Paid plan needed for Projects | Plan determines Project and file limits |
What to prepare
- □Your current welcome email and any intake questions.
- □Your process steps from signed to started.
- □Key policies: payment, scheduling, communication hours.
Build it once
Copy-ready materials
Edit anything in [BRACKETS]. Changes are kept when you save the kit.
Onboarding Pack Build Prompt
Run once.
Help me create a client onboarding pack for my [TYPE OF BUSINESS]. My process: [STEPS FROM SIGNED TO STARTED]. Policies: [PAYMENT, SCHEDULING, RESPONSE TIMES]. Draft: 1. Welcome email (under 200 words): what happens next, what I need from them, when they'll hear from me. 2. Intake questionnaire: 8–12 questions I need answered to start well. 3. "How we work together" one-pager. 4. Internal checklist from signed contract to first session/delivery. Use [PLACEHOLDERS] for client-specific details. Do not invent policies.
Personalization Instructions
Paste into workspace instructions.
You personalize my approved onboarding documents (reference files) for each new client. When I paste a client's details: fill placeholders, adjust greetings and examples to their situation. NEVER change prices, terms, policies, or timelines from the approved documents. If their situation seems to need an exception, flag it for me.
Internal Onboarding Checklist
Edit to your process.
□ Contract signed and filed □ Invoice / payment set up □ Welcome email sent (day 0) □ Intake questionnaire sent; reminder at day 3 □ Folder created for client □ Kickoff scheduled □ Intake reviewed before kickoff
How Claude can help execute this
Why use this instead of a regular chat?
A task can produce the full personalized onboarding pack as finished documents from your approved templates and a client's intake details.
- Task execution needs a paid Claude plan. Add your plan in My AI Setup for a more specific recommendation.
- This involves sensitive information. Keep Claude asking before it acts (the default), and approve each step.
Availability depends on your Claude plan and device. Add them in My AI Setup for a more specific recommendation.
1. Set up once
- · Keep approved onboarding documents in a Project.
2. Claude capabilities used
- · Multi-step task execution (Cowork-style)
- · Files saved to your Claude account
- · Claude Docs & Slides (beta, paid plans)
3. Access, files & permissions
- · The client's intake details
- · A paid Claude plan
4. What Claude can do
- · Create personalized documents from your approved templates
5. What you review or approve
- · That no prices, terms, or policies changed
- · Everything before you send it
6. What changes each run
- · The client's details
7. Test it safely
- · Personalize for a past client and compare with your approved versions
8. If it doesn't work
- It edits your terms.
- Reinforce: 'Never change prices, terms, or timelines.'
Run the task
If your Claude has one unified message box (no Chat/Cowork choice)
- Open the Project, then describe the task in any conversation. Claude decides whether it's a quick answer or a task.
If you see separate “Chat” and “Cowork” options
- In the message box, select “Cowork” in the bottom-left corner, then describe the task.
- Projects work the same way in Cowork and in chat.
Task request
Create the onboarding pack for [CLIENT] from the approved documents in this project, using these details: [DETAILS]. Don't change any terms.
Fallback: Paste client details into the Project and copy each personalized document.
By default, Claude asks before taking an action. Keep that on for anything involving money, personal records, or files you can't replace.
How to test it
Success looks like
- ✓ No terms changed; reads naturally for that client.
How to use it next time
- Paste the new client's details.
- Review personalized documents and send from your own email.
- Tick the internal checklist.
Set up once — reuse
Approved documents · Checklist · Personalization rules
Changes each time
Client name, goals, dates
Troubleshooting
- It changes your terms.
- Search drafts for prices/dates; reinforce the NEVER rule.
- Too long.
- Set word limits per document.
- Intake questions too generic.
- Add 'What I most often wish I'd known at the start' to the build prompt.
Limitations, privacy & safety
- · Not legal review of your contract.
- · It doesn't send email or manage your CRM in this setup.
Privacy & safety
- · Share only the client details needed; avoid health or financial specifics unless your tool and agreements allow it.