Retention and proof
Plan the path to first value.
Starts from a deal that just closed and drafts the route from kickoff to the moment the customer first sees the outcome they were promised, then on to the first sign of renewal or expansion. Each milestone has an owner, a target date and a success metric. The checklist flags every item that waits on the customer, and the first-value metric goes into your ledger as a target.
- Every step has an owner
- One target in the ledger
- Messages stay drafts
At a glance
- Group
- Retention and proof
- Command
- /customer-onboarding
- Uses
- What they bought, who they are
- Writes
- A dated plan and checklist
- Sends
- Nothing. Drafts only.
01When to use it
Reach for it when a deal closes.
- A deal just closed, and the new customer or client needs a set path from kickoff to first value.
- An engagement is starting, and you would rather run a kickoff plan you can repeat than write another one-off email.
- An onboarding has stalled, and its milestones, owners and first-value moment need setting again.
Not for
- Opening a new agency client's folder, profile and goals log. Use /client
- A written procedure for a process you repeat, not tied to one customer. Use /sop-create
- Spotting existing accounts that may leave. Use /churn-watch
02What it needs
What they bought, and who they are.
- Your offers file, for what was bought: the deliverables, the scope and the outcome promised. On an agency setup, the active client's offers file, where there is one.
- Your buyer profile and any account or deal record for this customer. On an agency setup, the active client's context files, and no other client's.
- Your voice files, for any message the customer will read. On an agency setup, the client's voice takes the place of yours.
- The customer's name and a start date. Without a date, it uses today.
- Optional: the outcome or service level in the contract, the named contacts and roles on both sides, and any kickoff procedure already on file.
03What it writes
One plan, and one target row.
- Operations/sops/onboarding-{slug}.md
- The plan on a solo or team setup, marked draft: the start date, the first-value moment and its target date, a milestone table (owner, target date, success metric, and which milestone delivers first value), the checklist, and any customer-facing drafts.
- Clients/{slug}/onboarding.md
- The same plan on an agency setup, filed with that client's own records (in its operations/ folder where one exists), marked confidential and naming no other client.
- Ledger row
- One target row for the first-value metric, in your numbers log or the client goals log, with the plan as its source. A starting value nobody has measured reads unknown, and the row is marked inferred.
04Limits
What it never does.
- Send, email, post or schedule anything, or contact the customer. Every message waits for a person.
- Leave a milestone without an owner, a target date and a success metric.
- Make up a metric, a date or a contact, or write an unknown baseline as zero or a guess.
- Read a sibling client, or mention another client, on an agency setup.
- Change an earlier ledger row. It adds exactly one.
What stays with you.
- Running the onboarding, and sending each message it drafted.
- Clearing the items it flags as waiting on the customer, such as data, access or a sign-off.
05Sample output
Milestones toward first value.
From a plan a made-up payroll service wrote for a new restaurant customer. In a real plan, every metric is real, or marked inferred or stale, and each item that depends on the customer carries a flag.
| Milestone | Owner | Target date | Success metric | First value? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kickoff call | Account lead | 2026-10-06 | Contacts named, agenda agreed | No |
| Staff list and pay rates received | Office manager, customer side | 2026-10-09 | Every employee on file | No |
| First payroll run approved | Payroll specialist | 2026-10-16 | Run approved with no corrections | Yes |
- Kickoff call No
- OwnerAccount lead
- Target date2026-10-06
- Success metricContacts named, agenda agreed
- Staff list and pay rates received No
- OwnerOffice manager, customer side
- Target date2026-10-09
- Success metricEvery employee on file
- First payroll run approved Yes
- OwnerPayroll specialist
- Target date2026-10-16
- Success metricRun approved with no corrections
From the checklist and the ledger
- Kickoff agenda, due 2026-10-05, owner: account lead. Its draft is in the plan's customer-facing drafts section, marked SEND BY A HUMAN.
- Staff list, due 2026-10-09, owner: office manager. Flagged: waits on the customer.
- Ledger target: onboarding-first-value:example-bistro, baseline unknown, confidence inferred.
06Related skills
Often run beside it.
-
/clientKeep each client in its own folder Core modules /pipeline-updateUpdate deals from call notes or CRM exports Daily operations-
/churn-watchSpot accounts at risk of leaving Retention and proof /sop-createTurn a process into a written procedure Daily operations
07Questions
Before you run it.
What counts as first value?
The one concrete moment the customer first gets the outcome they were promised, such as a first measurable result. The plan states it in a single line, and each milestone builds toward it.
Does it send the welcome email?
No. It can draft a welcome or kickoff note, or an agenda, in your voice, or in the client's voice on an agency setup, saved as a draft and marked for a person to send. It never emails, schedules or contacts the customer.
What lands in the ledger?
One row for the first-value metric. The target is the threshold the plan sets, and the source is the plan itself. A starting value nobody has measured reads unknown, never zero or a guess, so the row is marked inferred.
Have us build it
We can build it for you.
Start with the free plan. A person names the first fix.