From signed deal to running project
Client launch is client onboarding automation I built for the day a client signs. Someone fills in one form with the client's details and the signed proposal. It sets up the Drive folder, ClickUp list, tasks drafted from the proposal, Slack channel and welcome email. So far it has run only on test workspaces I own.
The day after a client signs
After a client signs, someone on the team sets them up by hand. They make the Drive folder, the ClickUp board and the Slack channel, then retype the proposal into tasks. It lands on the day the client is most eager to see progress, and steps get skipped.
What is proven and what is not yet
| What it does | Status | How I know |
|---|---|---|
| Makes the real folder, list, tasks, channel and email | Proven | I ran it end to end on test workspaces I own. Everything it made in Drive, ClickUp, Slack and Gmail was real. The signed proposal was filed in the folder, and the folder was shared with the client. |
| Turns a signed proposal into tasks | Proven | One run turned one signed proposal into 21 tasks, on a test workspace I own. |
| Creates every task it plans | Proven | A later run on a test workspace I own planned 30 tasks and created 30 of 30. |
| Skips a client and proposal it has already set up | Proven | I sent the same client with the same proposal again, several times in a row. Each one was skipped before anything was made, and the team got a note in Slack saying so. |
| Tells apart two clients whose long names start the same | Not yet proven | It matches clients on the start of the name, so two long names that start the same can be read as one client. |
| Stops a form with missing or wrong details | Proven | A form with a bad email address and no company name was stopped before anything was made. The team got a Slack message listing what was wrong. |
| Tells the client only about access they were given | Proven | The welcome email named the Drive folder it had shared and said nothing about ClickUp or Slack, which the client wasn't given. |
| Sets due dates the team can work to | Proven | In a full run the dates spread across the whole project, and none landed on a weekend. |
| Runs for a client | Not yet proven | Every run so far was on test workspaces I own. No client has used it yet. |
| The final version I'd hand over, tested in full | Not yet proven | I changed it after the full round of tests. A fresh test client has gone through the final version since. A repeat send and a revised proposal haven't, so I still list it as built. |
| Tags each task with the proposal it came from | Not yet proven | A revised proposal adds its tasks next to the old plan, and the tags show which proposal each task came from. In the last run a task came back without its tags, so a filter by proposal can miss one. |
| Tells someone when a broken file stops a run | Not yet proven | A corrupt file, or a file in another format, stops the run before my checks see it. A failure alert is set up for that, but I haven't seen it send yet. |
| Handles two forms for one client sent at once | Not yet proven | If two people send the same client at the same moment, both runs can make a folder and a channel. Nothing stops that yet, so one person should send each form. |
| Reads every page of a long proposal | Not yet proven | Past a set length, the rest of the proposal is cut before the plan is drafted, and no one is told. |
What you get at handover
- It runs in your own n8n account and your own Drive, ClickUp, Slack and Gmail accounts, signed in with your logins.
- Everything it makes stays in your accounts. To draft the plan, the proposal goes to an AI account in your name.
- A setup guide, so it can be set up again in your accounts without me.
- A step-by-step guide that explains each part of the flow in plain words, for whoever runs it.
- A form with missing or wrong details stops before anything is made, and so does a repeat of a client and proposal already set up. Either way, the team gets a Slack message saying why.
All of its parts exist in full. The label itself says nothing about live runs.
The logic ran on sample data, with stand-ins for the outside services.
Every outside service it uses was exercised for real on test accounts I own, including failures and reruns.
Running for a client, on the client's own accounts. Nothing I have built is there yet.
Questions
What if the proposal is vague?
The plan follows what the proposal says. Each task is marked as named in the proposal or added as standard onboarding work, and carries a note on why. Tasks that need something from the client are flagged, and the team can change the plan in ClickUp before work starts.
Will it create duplicates if I run it twice?
Sending the same client with the same proposal again is skipped before anything is made, and I tested that several times in a row. A revised proposal reuses the folder, list and channel, then adds its tasks beside the old plan. Two forms for the same client sent at the same moment can still both create things, so one person should send it.
Does the client get access to anything they shouldn't?
The client gets their own Drive folder, shared at the access level you choose. ClickUp and Slack stay with the team. The welcome email names only the access the client was given; in my test run it said nothing about ClickUp or Slack.
Which tools does it need?
Google Drive, ClickUp, Slack and Gmail, plus an AI account for the task plan. It runs in an n8n account you own. The proposal has to be a PDF with real text in it. A scanned one is stopped at the form, and the team is told why.
Have you set this up for a client?
Not yet. Every run so far was on test workspaces I own, and this page lists what those runs proved and what they didn't.
Related
- Records from forms and emailed PDFs, kept in one place that stays rightA system I built that keeps the right version of each customer record in Airtable. Forms and emailed PDFs feed it, and HubSpot copies from it.
- What a reliable automation looks likeFive properties any automation should have, checkable by an owner who doesn't build: logged runs, named alerts, one send per approval, safe reruns, an owner.
- n8n template library for service businessesEvery workflow template I have ready to show for service businesses, with its stage and how far it has been tested. None is offered as a download yet.
- Closed-won to kickoffClosed-won to kickoff is the gap between a client signing and the project starting. What has to happen in it, where it breaks, and how a system runs it.