Client onboarding used to eat 2-3 hours of my week. New client signs up, I'd manually create their project folder, send a welcome email, set up their Notion workspace, add them to our billing system, and schedule the kickoff call. Every. Single. Time. Then I built a Make (formerly Integromat) automation that handles the entire sequence in under 60 seconds. Here's exactly how.
I chose Make over Zapier for this because Make's visual scenario builder handles branching logic better, and the pricing is more generous for complex multi-step automations. This entire workflow runs on Make's free plan (1,000 operations/month), which handles about 15-20 new clients per month comfortably.
The Before: My Manual Onboarding Checklist
Here's what I was doing manually for every new client:
1. Create a Google Drive folder with subfolders (Contracts, Assets, Deliverables, Communications). 2. Send a branded welcome email with their project timeline. 3. Create a Notion project page from a template. 4. Add the client to our Stripe billing with the correct plan. 5. Send a Calendly link for the kickoff meeting. 6. Add a row to our master client spreadsheet. 7. Notify the team in Slack.
Seven steps, spread across six different tools. Miss one step and things fall through cracks. It happened more than I'd like to admit.
The Automation: How It Works
Trigger: New Row in Google Sheets
When I (or my sales process) adds a new client to our intake spreadsheet with their name, email, plan type, and project start date — Make picks it up within 5 minutes and kicks off the entire sequence.
Step 1: Create Google Drive Folder Structure
Make's Google Drive module creates the main client folder, then creates four subfolders inside it. The folder naming convention is automatic: "[ClientName] — [ProjectType] — [Date]". This alone eliminated the inconsistent folder naming that plagued us.
Step 2: Send Welcome Email via Gmail
Using Make's Gmail module, the automation sends a pre-written welcome email with the client's name, project timeline, and links to their shared Drive folder. I wrote three email templates (one per service tier), and Make picks the right one based on the plan type from the spreadsheet.
Step 3: Create Notion Project Page
Make's Notion integration duplicates a template page and fills in the client details — name, contact info, project timeline, deliverables list based on their plan. The Notion page becomes the single source of truth for that project.
Step 4: Conditional Billing Setup
Here's where Make's branching logic shines. Based on the plan type: if it's a monthly retainer, Make creates a Stripe subscription. If it's a one-time project, it creates a Stripe invoice with the correct amount. If it's a custom quote, it skips billing and sends me a Slack reminder to handle it manually.
Step 5: Send Scheduling Link
A second email goes out (timed 10 minutes after the welcome email so it doesn't feel robotic) with a Calendly link for the kickoff call. The Calendly link is pre-configured based on their timezone from the spreadsheet.
Step 6: Update Master Tracker + Notify Team
Make adds a comprehensive row to our master client tracker spreadsheet and sends a formatted Slack message to our #new-clients channel with all the details. The team knows about the new client before I even have to mention it.
Building It: Time Investment
| Phase | Time Spent | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Planning the workflow on paper | 30 minutes | Easy |
| Setting up Make account + connections | 20 minutes | Easy |
| Building the basic linear flow | 2 hours | Medium |
| Adding conditional logic (billing tiers) | 1.5 hours | Medium-Hard |
| Writing email templates | 45 minutes | Easy |
| Testing with dummy data | 1 hour | Medium |
| Fixing edge cases after live testing | 1 hour | Medium |
| Total | ~7 hours |
Seven hours of setup to save 2-3 hours every week. The automation paid for itself in under a month.
Mistakes I Made (So You Don't Have To)
Not testing with real email addresses first. My Gmail module had a formatting issue that put HTML tags in the plain text version. Three clients got ugly emails before I caught it. Test with your own email first.
Forgetting timezone handling. The Calendly link initially defaulted to my timezone. Clients in different time zones saw wrong availability. Added a timezone lookup step based on client location.
Over-automating. I originally tried to auto-generate a contract and send it for signature. The contract content varied too much between clients. I pulled that step out and kept it manual. Not everything needs to be automated.
The Results After 4 Months
Clients onboarded: 52. Manual time spent on onboarding: roughly 15 minutes per client (just reviewing the automation's work and handling edge cases). Before automation: 2.5 hours per client. Time saved: approximately 110 hours over 4 months.
More importantly: zero missed steps. No forgotten welcome emails. No missing Drive folders. No "wait, are they in the billing system?" moments. Consistency is the real win here.
Should You Build This?
If you onboard more than 3-4 clients per month and your process involves 4+ tools, yes. The time investment is modest and the payoff is immediate. Start with Make's free plan, build the basic flow, and add complexity only after the simple version works.
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