OnboardOnboarding

Kickoff Call Agenda

Build a 30-minute kickoff agenda that ends with a shared definition of first value, not a tool tour.

A kickoff call is a working session, not a tour. If it ends without a written definition of first value and a named owner, it was a meeting, not a start.

The template

Copy it, swap the {{marked}} variables for your account, and run it.

prompt.txt

Design a 30-minute onboarding kickoff call agenda. The single goal of this
call is to leave with a shared, written definition of "first value" and who
owns getting there. Not a product demo, not a relationship tour.

Customer: {{customer}}
What they bought and why: {{why}}
Who will be on the call (their side): {{their_attendees}}
What I already know from the handoff: {{known}}
What I still need to learn: {{unknowns}}

Rules:
- Timebox each item. 30 minutes total, and leave 5 minutes for next steps.
- The call must produce a written "first value" definition and an owner. That is the deliverable.
- Minimize demo time; they can watch a recording. Use live time for alignment.
- Include the two or three questions that would most change the plan if answered.

Variables

{{customer}}: Customere.g. Northwind Freight
{{why}}: What they bought and whye.g. dispatch analytics to cut empty-mile rates across their fleet
{{their_attendees}}: Their attendeese.g. ops director (champion), a dispatch supervisor, an IT contact
{{known}}: What you know from handoffe.g. they want a result before their Q3 board update; migrating from spreadsheets
{{unknowns}}: What you still need to learne.g. what "cut empty miles" means numerically to them; who actually uses the dashboards daily

Worked example

A CSM has a kickoff call booked with a new logistics customer. The handoff says they want to cut empty miles before a board update, but nobody has defined what "cut" means or who will use the dashboards. She wants the call to end with those pinned down, not with a 25-minute feature demo.

filled-prompt.txt

Customer: Northwind Freight
What they bought and why: dispatch analytics to cut empty-mile rates across their fleet
Who will be on the call: ops director (champion), a dispatch supervisor, an IT contact
What I already know from the handoff: they want a result before their Q3 board update; migrating from spreadsheets
What I still need to learn: what "cut empty miles" means numerically to them; who actually uses the dashboards daily

Good output vs bad output

GOODSpends most of the 30 minutes on defining first value and ownership, keeps demo time near zero, and surfaces the three questions that would actually reshape the plan.

KICKOFF AGENDA (30 min)

0-5  Frame the call. "By the end, we'll agree on what your first win looks
     like and who owns it." Confirm the board-update timing.
5-15 Define first value. Ask directly: what empty-mile number, by when, would
     make this a win? Write it down live and get a nod. This is the
     deliverable, do not skip it for demo time.
15-22 Map the users. Who touches the dashboard daily (the dispatch
     supervisor?), and what would make them actually open it. IT: what's
     needed to migrate off the spreadsheets.
22-27 The plan + owner. Name the single owner on their side for hitting first
     value, and the first two milestones.
27-30 Next steps + recap. Confirm the written first-value definition; I send it
     within the hour.

THREE QUESTIONS THAT CHANGE THE PLAN:
- What empty-mile percentage would count as a win, and by when?
- Is the dispatch supervisor the daily user, or someone else?
- What has to be true for IT to green-light the data migration?

BADLooks fine at a glance. Here is why it fails.

Kickoff Call Agenda for Northwind Freight:

1. Introductions and team overview (10 min)
2. Company background and our mission (5 min)
3. Product demo, full platform walkthrough (10 min)
4. Q&A (5 min)

Looking forward to a great kickoff! We'll walk them through everything the
platform can do and get them excited about the possibilities. This sets the
foundation for a strong partnership.

No next stepThe call never produces a defined "first value" or an owner, which was the entire point. Everyone leaves aligned on nothing.
Wrong registerSpends 15 of 30 minutes on introductions, company mission, and a full demo, activity the customer does not need live and can watch on a recording.
Buried ledeThe three questions that would actually shape the rollout (the empty-mile target, the daily user, the migration blocker) are absent.
Generic filler"Get them excited about the possibilities" and "foundation for a strong partnership" are the fillers that signal a call with no real objective.

Guardrails

When NOT to use this

Do not use a 30-minute template for a complex enterprise implementation kickoff; those need a real project plan and multiple sessions.
Skip if you have no handoff context at all; the agenda's value comes from the specific unknowns you feed it.

Responsible use

The agenda is a starting frame. Read the room live; if the champion wants to spend ten minutes on a concern, let them.
Do not send the internal "what I still need to learn" list to the customer as-is; it is your prep, not their doc.

Model + settings

Model: Claude Sonnet, agenda structuring is quick, routine work.
Temperature: 0.4 (moderate, some phrasing help, but keep the timeboxing tight)
Settings: The "must produce a written first-value definition and an owner" rule is what turns a tour into a working session. Keep it.
Reuse the same skeleton across kickoffs; only the specific questions change per account.

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