The first call decides the first ninety days. Run it on a plan.
Eight sections — what to gather before the call, an agenda that fills every minute with something concrete, and the milestones that turn "kicked off" into "actually working." Free to download, copy or adapt. No sign-up.
A kickoff that ends in "great chat, we'll follow up" has already lost a week. This one ends with dates, owners and access confirmed live.
Download the Full Agenda →1 · Before the Kickoff Call
What the client sends over first, and what you need ready to show them.
What the client needs to send over before the call, named specifically — not "relevant materials": What you need to have ready to show them, so the first call produces something rather than just introductions:
2 · Kickoff Call Agenda
A sixty-minute run of order, timed, so nothing important gets rushed at the end.
Time allocated: Total call length: Opening — who's in the room and what each person owns (5 min) Objective — restated in the client's own words, checked for agreement (10 min) Current state — what's working, what isn't, in their account today (15 min) Plan for the first 30 days — specific, not directional (15 min) Access & logistics — confirmed live on the call, not left for email (10 min) Questions & what happens next (5 min)
3 · Roles & Points of Contact
Who owns what, on both sides, named by person rather than by department.
Client side — name, role, decision authority: Agency side — name, role, what they own: Who is the single point of contact for day-to-day questions on each side:
4 · Access & Logistics
Accounts, tools and billing, confirmed rather than assumed.
Accounts and logins needed, and who's granting access: Tools and platforms both sides need to be in (Slack, shared drive, project tracker): Billing and invoicing contact, if different from the main point of contact:
5 · First 30/60/90 Day Milestones
What each thirty-day mark should show, so progress is checkable rather than assumed.
Day 30 — what's live and what's been learned: Day 60 — what's been adjusted based on early data: Day 90 — the number that answers "is this working":
6 · Communication Cadence & Reporting
The standing call, the reporting format, and how fast questions get answered.
Standing call — day, time, who attends: Reporting — format, frequency, who sends it: Response-time expectation for non-urgent questions:
7 · Escalation Path
What counts as urgent, and exactly who gets contacted when it is.
What counts as urgent enough to skip the standing call: Who gets contacted first, and how, if something needs to move fast:
8 · What Success Looks Like at 90 Days
Agreed before day one, so it can't be redefined after the fact.
In one sentence, agreed by both sides before day one: What would make this relationship worth continuing past the initial term:
Free to use, adapt and share. No attribution required.
30 Minutes. A Fresh Perspective on Your Account.
Bring us a live account and we will take a closer look at what you are actually running. We will identify where your biggest opportunities and inefficiencies may be hiding, what could be costing you more than it should and where we would focus first. You keep the findings. No sales pitch. No obligation. No strings attached.
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