What does Five Blocks’ onboarding process look like?

Five Blocks keeps onboarding short, because most clients arrive with an active situation rather than a long planning window. From first call to active work, a standard engagement takes one to two weeks; a crisis engagement moves in twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

1. Step 1, discovery call

   A senior advisor, usually Sam Michelson directly or a senior account lead, goes over the client’s current situation, objectives, and any constraints. No preparation is required, though it helps to arrive with a sense of priority keywords, any concerns about Wikipedia or AI representation, and any timeline pressures.

2. Step 2, diagnostic assessment

   Five Blocks runs an independent assessment of the client’s current digital footprint: SERPs for priority keywords via IMPACT™, Wikipedia state, AI representation across engines via AIQ™, and entity signals. The assessment is sized to the engagement scope and always built on the client’s actual data.

3. Step 3, formal proposal and Letter of Engagement

   The proposal covers engagement scope, named workstreams, deliverables, timeline, team composition, pricing, and success criteria. A Letter of Engagement accompanies it. It runs long because the work is detailed, and settling the specifics up front prevents misalignment later.

4. Step 4, signature and kickoff

   Work begins on signature. For non-urgent engagements the full sequence from first call to active work runs one to two weeks. For crisis engagements the diagnostic and proposal compress to twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

Standard vs crisis timeline