How to Use Zapier for Client Onboarding

Skip This Intro if You Already Know What Zapier Is

When I take on a new Web Design or SEO client, I used to manually perform several client onboarding tasks such as entering the client’s info into our CRM, adding them to our accounting software, sending them a welcome newsletter, and so on. These tasks aren’t extremely difficult, but they are time-consuming.

I needed a way to automate these tasks, so I started searching online, and I stumbled upon Zapier, a web automation app. Zapier automates tasks by integrating two or more apps such as:

• Office 365
• Google Drive
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Paypal
• Stripe
• WooCommerce
• and so many more.

Zapier works with over 750 apps, and that number is growing! Thanks to Zapier, I only need to add our new client info in one place and the rest of the client onboarding tasks are done automatically. If you’re interested in automating admin tasks, then I’ll show you what integrations I used to make this possible.

Integrating Gravity Forms and Highrise

Our website uses WordPress, and Gravity Forms is our form plugin of choice. If you don’t use WordPress for your site, there are other options like FormStack, Wufoo, Google Forms, etc. Highrise is our CRM. We don’t have hundreds of clients (read our mission statement), so the free plan is good enough for us. There are other CRMs like Salesforce, Hubspot, Zoho, etc. Back to the subject at hand, we have a new client form which collects the client’s name, company name, title, email address, phone number, website address (if applicable), physical address, and referral source.

Gravity Forms has a Zapier Add-On which is a Developer’s License feature. Showing you how to connect Gravity Forms to Zapier is outside the scope of this blog post, but you can read Zapier’s help article to learn how to do this.

Once we fill out this form and submit it, a new contact is created in Highrise with the info from our New Clients form submission. I created this integration just in case I wanted the new client to add in their information themselves. This Zap isn’t needed if you prefer to enter client info yourself. If this is you, ignore this section and move on to the next. You can start the client onboarding process by entering info into Highrise.

Set up a Gravity Forms – Highrise integration

Integrating Highrise and Google Contacts

I needed to have our clients’ contact info on all of my devices (computer, tablet, phone). I keep all of my clients’ contact info on Google Contacts because that info is synced on all of my devices. With Zapier, the new client info is also created in Google Contacts automatically.

Set up a Highrise – Google Contacts integration

Integrating Highrise and MailChimp

I use MailChimp as our email marketing provider because I like their business model. They’re located in Atlanta and just down the street from us, so it makes me feel good to help out a business in our own backyard. If you have less than 2000 newsletter subscribers, you can use MailChimp for free with no strings attached. I send out a client newsletter about once a month. Whenever we get a new client, I have to add the client on MailChimp as well. With Zapier, this is done automatically.

Set up a Highrise – MailChimp integration

MailChimp has its own automation tools. Once a client is added to our client newsletter list, they receive an automated welcome email from me. The welcome email adds a personal touch to the client onboarding process.

Learn how to set up automated emails on MailChimp

Integrating Highrise and QuickBooks Online (QBO)

QBO is our preferred accounting software. I liked using their standalone software, and I was sold on their online version when I found out that I could send invoices from any of my devices. I liked the online version so much that I decided to become a QBO Certified User. In order for me to send invoices to our clients, I need to have the client info in QBO. With Zapier, I don’t need to worry about that. Once our client information gets entered into Highrise, the customer or client is created in QBO.

To set up this integration, click here and scroll down to select a trigger and an action, then click the Continue button as shown below:

Integrating Highrise and Dropbox

In order to access client invoices and website files on multiple devices, I store them in Dropbox folders. I also share the client website folders with my web designers, assistants, and social media marketers. If you want to be humored, read my old blog post that talks about how Dropbox saved my ass. When we take on a new client, a folder named after the client’s company (for website files) and a folder named after the person I am working with (for invoices) is created.

To set up this integration, click here and scroll down to select a trigger and an action, then click Continue button as shown below:

You can create a second folder on the same Zap by adding another action to the trigger. To learn more about adding multiple actions to one trigger, click here.

Integrating Highrise and Toggl

We track billable and non-billable tasks with Toggl. Whenever we take on a new client, we have to create a new client and a new project in Toggl. With Zapier, the info we entered in Highrise is just passed to Toggl, and the client and project are created automatically.

To set up this integration, click here and scroll down to select a trigger and an action, then click Continue button as shown below:

Just like the Highrise – Dropbox Integration, you can create a second folder on the same Zap by adding another action to the trigger.

Conclusion

By using Zapier, I can have several tasks performed automatically by just adding a client into our CRM.

Thanks for reading this blog post. I plan on updating occasionally so that it stays current. If this blog post helped you or if you have any questions, please feel free to comment below.