How do I automate client onboarding?

What it is

Onboarding is a high-value automation because it repeats with every client and shapes first impressions. The sequence below is adapted from a flow one practitioner says he uses across most of his companies (view: Martell); he says he runs it in almost 90% of his companies.

How it works

1. Payment succeeds → a webhook creates or updates the CRM record. Stripe retries failed deliveries for up to three days in live mode, so make each step safe to run twice (checked 2026-10-17).
2. Send a welcome email personalized from data you already hold.
3. Send an intake form covering what you would otherwise ask on the call.
4. Invite the client to your support channel or community.
5. Follow up automatically only on incomplete steps, then hold the kickoff with the facts in hand.

Benefits

• Consistent, fast first experience.
• Kickoff calls focus on decisions, not data collection.
• Less manual admin per client.

Limits and risks

• Broken automations fail silently; add alerts.
• Duplicate events happen; check for an existing record before creating one.
• Over-automation feels impersonal; keep a human touch.
• The practitioner’s flow is an example, not a measured benchmark (view: Martell).