← Fernwood Design Co.'s blueprint

Build firstHigh impactReliable with review

Customer Onboarding

Everything that happens after someone says yes runs the same way, every time.

Why this made the list

The problem

Once someone buys, there's a real sequence—contract, payment, account setup, a welcome message, maybe an intake form—and it currently depends on you remembering all of it, in order, for every new customer, on top of everything else you're doing that day.

Onboarding is a sequence with real dependencies, it happens on every single sale, and a missed step here is the kind of thing that quietly damages a new relationship.

Before and after

Current process — from your answers

  1. 1

    I get a Stripe notification that the deposit was paid

    Human

    Currently done by: software (Stripe)

  2. 2

    I create a Notion project page by duplicating a template

    Human

    Currently done by: Me

  3. 3

    I create a Slack channel and invite the client

    Human

    Currently done by: Me

  4. 4

    I write and send a welcome email

    HumanFriction

    Currently done by: Me

  5. 5

    I try to remember to send the onboarding questionnaire

    HumanFriction

    Currently done by: Me

Proposed process

  1. 1

    Deal marked closed

    Human
  2. 2

    Contract and invoice send automatically

    Automation
  3. 3

    Payment confirmation triggers setup

    Automation
  4. 4

    AI drafts the welcome email and intake form

    AI
  5. 5

    You do a final human touch before it lands

    Human
  6. 6

    Internal handoff fires automatically

    Automation

What changes

  • Contract and invoice go out the moment a deal is marked closed—no manual send
  • Account or folder setup happens on payment confirmation, not when you get to it
  • The welcome email drafts itself, personalized to what they bought
  • Nothing depends on you remembering the next step

Who owns what

AI

  • Draft the welcome email personalized to the customer and what they purchased
  • Pre-fill an intake form based on information already collected during the sale

Automation

  • Send the contract and invoice on deal-close
  • Create the customer's folder, workspace, or account on payment confirmation
  • Notify the right internal person or process once onboarding is complete

Human

  • A quick read-over of the welcome email before it sends, especially early on
  • Any judgment call on custom terms or exceptions to the standard package

Tools & data

Recommended tools (mostly what you already use)

  • Your e-signature and payment tools
  • Google Workspace or Notion
  • Claude

New tools needed

  • A lightweight automation layer if contract/payment/setup live in separate tools today

Inputs

  • Closed-deal record
  • Package or service type
  • Customer contact details

Outputs

  • Sent contract and invoice
  • Created account/folder
  • Sent welcome email
  • Internal handoff notification

At a glance

ImpactHigh
Frequency2-3 times a month
Time involved30-45 minutes per new client
ReliabilityReliable with review
ComplexityModerate
Human judgment neededLow

You told us this happens 2-3 times a month and takes about 30-45 minutes per new client each time—that's real, recurring time this system gets back.

Implementation plan

01

Map the exact sequence

Write down every step that currently happens after a deal closes, in order, including the ones you skip when busy.

02

Automate the mechanical steps

Contract send, invoice, folder creation—wire these to fire off the 'deal closed' trigger.

03

Add the AI draft step

Welcome email and intake form pre-fill, personalized per customer.

04

Keep a human check for the first month

Review outgoing welcome emails before fully automating the send.

Reliability considerations

  • Payment confirmation should be the real trigger for account setup, not deal-close, so nothing gets provisioned before it's paid for
  • Custom or negotiated deals should route to you rather than following the standard sequence blindly

Security considerations

  • Customer payment details should stay inside your existing payment processor—never pass card data through the automation layer
  • New account credentials should be created through your existing tools' own invite flow, not generated and stored elsewhere

Two paths

Build it, or hand it to us.

Both are real options. Neither is the wrong answer.

Build it yourself

Take the instructions and build it.

A real implementation package—architecture, prompts, workflow logic, and testing steps. If you or your developer can follow it, you don't need us.

Generate Build Instructions

Have Workflowr build it

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