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Warning: That client onboarding checklist I trusted for 2 years nearly sank my agency last month
I had been using the same onboarding checklist since I started my shop 3 years ago in Austin. Last month a new client came in for a rebrand and website overhaul. I followed every step like clockwork, sent the welcome packet, set up the Slack channel, the whole deal. But halfway through the project I realized I never checked if they had trademarked their logo. The client found out and called me furious saying we wasted 2 weeks on a name they were about to change. I almost lost the whole $12,000 contract over a missing step. Has anyone else had a gap in their onboarding process that nearly cost them a client?
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jackson.wesley2d ago
Wasted 2 weeks on a name they were about to change" - that's exactly the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. But here's what I'm wondering: did your checklist have a spot for IP checks like trademarks or copyrights before you started any creative work? Because I've got one client who came to me with a logo they'd been using for six months, turns out it was almost identical to a brand in Canada, and we had to scrap EVERYTHING. I had to add a whole new step where I check the USPTO database and do a basic Google image search for similar marks. Did you end up adding that kind of thing to your template after this mess?
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green.mason1d ago
Bro that's actually painful to even read lol. Yeah I had to add a whole "trademark paranoia" step after I spent a weekend designing something just to find out some dude in Ohio already had it locked down. Lesson learned the hard way I guess.
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