# Client Onboarding Automation Checklist

Use this checklist before automating client onboarding for an agency, consultant, productized service, or B2B operator. The goal is not to automate every touchpoint. The goal is to remove repetitive handoffs while keeping the client experience clear.

## 1. Onboarding Goal

- Service or product:
- Client owner:
- Internal owner:
- Start trigger:
- Desired client outcome:
- Desired internal outcome:
- Target setup time:

## 2. Trigger

Choose one primary trigger:

- Payment received
- Contract signed
- Intake form submitted
- CRM deal moved to closed-won
- Manual kickoff approved

Avoid running the onboarding workflow from multiple triggers until duplicate handling is defined.

## 3. Client Data To Collect

| Data | Required | Source | Validation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Client name | Yes | Checkout, CRM, or form | Not blank |
| Primary email | Yes | Checkout, CRM, or form | Valid email |
| Company website | No | Intake form | Valid URL if provided |
| Project goal | Yes | Intake form | At least one sentence |
| Access needed | Yes | Checklist | Confirm owner |
| Preferred kickoff time | No | Scheduler | Time zone included |

## 4. Internal Setup Tasks

| Task | Owner | Automation target |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Create client folder | Ops | Google Drive / Dropbox |
| Create project board | PM | Notion / ClickUp / Trello |
| Create CRM or client record | Sales Ops | HubSpot / Airtable / Sheets |
| Send welcome email | Account owner | Gmail / ESP |
| Send intake form | Account owner | Tally / Typeform / native form |
| Notify team | Ops | Slack / email |

## 5. Client-Facing Messages

Write or approve these before automating:

- Welcome email
- Intake form intro
- Access request instructions
- Kickoff scheduling message
- Missing information reminder
- "You are all set" confirmation

## 6. Failure Paths

| Failure | Expected behavior |
| --- | --- |
| Payment webhook missing client email | Create internal alert, do not send client email |
| Intake form incomplete | Send one reminder or create manual review task |
| Folder creation fails | Notify internal owner with client details |
| Scheduler unavailable | Send fallback manual scheduling link |
| Duplicate client detected | Stop automation and ask owner to merge or continue |

## 7. Test Cases

| Test | Input | Expected result |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Happy path | Complete client data | Folder, board, CRM record, welcome email, and team alert are created |
| Missing project goal | Intake form missing goal | Client is asked to complete missing field |
| Duplicate client | Same email submitted twice | Duplicate handling is triggered |
| Internal task failure | Project board API fails | Owner receives an alert |
| Time zone missing | Kickoff request without time zone | Client is asked to clarify |

## 8. Handoff Standard

The workflow is ready when a new team member can answer:

- What starts the workflow?
- What systems does it touch?
- What client message gets sent first?
- What happens if required information is missing?
- Who owns manual review?
- How do we safely disable it?