# Make.com Client Onboarding Automation for Agencies > A Make.com onboarding automation can run everything that should happen the moment a client signs. From one trigger it creates a Slack channel, invites your team, posts and pins a welcome message, builds Google Drive folders, updates your CRM, creates a project with tasks and sends two personalised emails. Source: https://fluxomate.com/blog/make-com-onboarding-automation.html Published by Fluxomate (https://fluxomate.com/), 2024-09-07. Section: Automation templates. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Bzwl_dCM0 ## Key takeaways - Start with a trigger that matches how you sign clients, such as a CRM update, contract, payment or Slack message. - Slack channel names must be lowercase with no spaces, so format the company name first. - Use Slack blocks rather than plain text for a better formatted welcome message, and pin it. - Create a shared Drive folder and copy resources into it for the client. - Write emails as HTML and delay the second one so you do not overwhelm the client. ## What does a Make.com onboarding automation do? This automation is a small part of a larger onboarding process: the things that should happen immediately after a client signs. Once it runs, the client already has a Slack channel, two emails, a shared folder with resources, and a project and task waiting for the assigned team member. Your CRM and project management system are updated too. It is beginner friendly. The example uses Slack, Google Drive, Gmail style email, an app built on Noloco for the CRM and project management, and Make.com. You can swap in whatever tools you use, since Make.com integrates with thousands of apps. ## What trigger should start the automation? The first step of any automation is the trigger. The right one depends on your onboarding process. It could be an update in your CRM, a message in a Slack channel, a signed contract or a payment received. In the video we used a basic trigger in Make.com with preloaded example data: the lead's name, company name, email, phone number and retainer value. In your own build you would configure the trigger for your own contract or payment tool. ## How do you create the Slack channel and welcome message? Slack is just the example here. The idea is to give the client a space to talk to your team, so use whatever you communicate in. Slack is strict about channel names: they must be lowercase and cannot contain spaces. Use Make.com's formatting functions to lowercase the company name and replace spaces with hyphens. You can keep the channel public or private. 1. Slack, create a channel, using the formatted company name. 2. Slack, invite users: map the channel ID from the previous step and choose the relevant team member, such as your customer success manager. Add several if needed. 3. Optional router: use a router from flow control with filters, such as a services field containing a value, so that different services invite different team members. 4. Slack, create a message: use blocks instead of text. Build your message in Slack's Block Kit Builder, copy the payload, and paste it into the blocks field, swapping in the lead's name. Turn on advanced settings to set an emoji and a bot username. If the code is invalid, check for a missing bracket. 5. Slack, pin the message: use the channel ID and the message timestamp from the previous step. ## Can you invite the client to Slack automatically? Only in some cases. With an Enterprise Slack account you can use the API to invite the client as a guest. Without that access, the best option is to create a task in your project management system for someone to invite them. The welcome message still works either way, because it will be the first thing they see when they join. ## How do you set up Google Drive folders with resources? Make.com connects most easily to a branded Google Workspace domain rather than a personal Gmail account. A Gmail account can be used, but it is more complicated. Three Drive modules do the work. 1. Create a folder: choose your client folders location and name it with the company name followed by client folder. Leave it unshared. 2. Create a second folder inside it: map the folder ID from the first step as the location and name it with the company name followed by shared folder. Share it so anyone with the link can read it, or share with specific emails instead. 3. Copy a file: take the original file ID from the URL of a template, such as a Google Sheet, put it in the shared folder and add the company name to the copy name. Repeat for every resource clients should receive. ## How do you update the CRM and create a project? If your CRM is your trigger, skip the CRM step. Otherwise, search for the lead by email to get its record ID, then update the record. In our build we moved the stage to closed, changed the status to active client and set qualified to yes. A router can handle the case where no record exists, by creating a new one instead. Next, create a project record. Map the project name from the company name, the start date from the current date, the retainer from the trigger, the status as onboarding, the lead's email and the Slack channel ID from the earlier step. Add linked records for the assigned employee and the client. You can assign employees automatically based on the service, but our example used a fixed employee. Then create a task record for that employee, such as starting a channel audit. Set the due date a day ahead with an add days function, add task notes and links, set the status to backlog, set a task type such as customer success, and link the project and employee. Clone the module for as many tasks as you need. ## How do you send two onboarding emails? You do not have to send two, but they show what is possible. Use the email module, or Gmail or Outlook, and send directly rather than as a draft if you want to avoid delays. Write emails as HTML, because plain text looks unformatted. Type your email as normal, ask ChatGPT to convert it to HTML, and paste the code into the content field. Add the client's name as a variable. The first email is generic: welcome to the team, a Slack invite is coming and here are some actions. Then add a sleep module for a couple of minutes, so the client has time to read it. The second email is personalised, telling the client who will look after them. Pull the employee's name and email from the project step you created. ## How do you test the whole automation? Test each module on its own first, then run the full scenario once with a real test record. Check each place in turn: Slack for the channel, pinned message and invited team member, Drive for the folders and copied resource, the CRM for the updated stage, and the project tool for the new project and task. The video above walks through the full build. ## Questions people ask ### What can trigger a client onboarding automation? It can be a CRM update, a message in a Slack channel, a contract being signed or a payment being received. Pick the one that matches how you close clients, then connect the other steps to it. ### Why does the Slack channel name need formatting? Slack channel names must be lowercase and cannot contain spaces. In Make.com you can use a lower function and a replace function to convert the company name into a valid name with hyphens. ### Why send emails as HTML from an automation? Plain text arrives with very little formatting and looks unappealing to the client. Ask ChatGPT to convert your email to HTML, then paste it into the content field of the email module. ### Can the automation assign different team members by service? Yes. Add a router with filters on a services field, such as contains SEO or contains Facebook ads, and route each service to the relevant team members. Tools used: Make.com, Slack, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Noloco, ChatGPT, Gmail Free templates for this guide: https://fluxomate.com/resources.html?r=make-com-onboarding-automation