What is the client onboarding checklist for a GoHighLevel agency?
A client onboarding checklist for a GoHighLevel agency is the fixed sequence of sub-account, telephony, snapshot, calendar, automation and reporting steps the agency completes in the first two weeks of every engagement, so each client account is live, compliant and reporting before any campaign starts.
What does agency client onboarding cover?
Agency client onboarding is the repeatable process of turning a signed client into a working sub-account: creating the account, registering its phone number for texting, loading the industry snapshot, connecting calendars and profiles, configuring the AI agents, importing contacts with consent tags, and sending the first report. It is the same ten steps every time, adjusted by industry.
What is different for an agency, compared with a business setting up its own GoHighLevel account, is that onboarding is a product. The client judges the agency in the first two weeks, the steps are run by different staff across many accounts, and any step skipped shows up later as a failed campaign or a compliance problem the agency has to fix at its own cost. A written checklist with owners and dates is the only thing that keeps thirty accounts consistent.
Skill Up Experts runs this checklist as a fulfilment partner for agencies, under the agency’s brand, and returns a completed account with the first report attached.
What is specific to onboarding a client into an agency account?
The attributes that make agency onboarding different from a single-business setup.
| Attribute | What it means for an agency |
|---|---|
| Sub-account creation | Created from the agency dashboard with white-label branding, custom domain and the client’s timezone and business details |
| Telephony | Client number purchased or ported, A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registered in the client’s name before any text is sent |
| Snapshot | Industry snapshot loaded from the agency library: pipelines, calendars, workflows, templates, AI prompts, reports |
| Access | Client users with role-based permissions; agency staff added per account, removed at offboarding |
| Integrations | Google Business Profile, Facebook page, WhatsApp, practice or job software, Stripe if payments run through the account |
| AI agents | Voice AI and Conversation AI configured with the client’s hours, calendar, script and escalation rules |
| Data import | Contacts with source, consent and last-activity tags; Do Not Send list created before any campaign |
| First report | Sent at the end of week two, from the reporting objects in the sub-account, in the agency’s report template |
How do we onboard a client account, step by step?
Ten steps in order; the telephony and WhatsApp steps start first because approvals take days.
Create the sub-account and brand it
Set up the sub-account from the agency view with the white-label domain, logo, timezone and business profile, then add client users with the roles they need.
Register telephony
Buy or port the client’s number, submit A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration in the client’s name, and start WhatsApp Business verification if the client will use WhatsApp.
Load the industry snapshot
Import the snapshot for the client’s industry so pipelines, calendars, workflows, templates and AI prompts arrive configured, then rename stages and calendars to the client’s language.
Connect calendars and profiles
Link the client’s Google calendar or set availability, connect Google Business Profile and Facebook, embed the booking calendar on the client site, and connect practice or job software where it exists.
Configure AI agents
Set Voice AI hours, greeting, booking rules and transfer numbers; train Conversation AI on the client’s approved answers; test with real scenarios before go-live.
Import contacts
Load the client’s list with consent and last-activity tags, build the Do Not Send list, and prepare the reactivation campaign if the client bought it.
Wire forms and tracking
Point every form, chat widget and ad lead form at the sub-account pipeline, and add the client’s tracking IDs so bookings can be attributed later.
Run the go-live checks
Send a test text, place a test call, book a test appointment, trigger a test review request, and confirm each lands where the workflow says it should.
Set billing
Confirm the client’s plan, and on the $497 Agency Pro plan set usage rebilling rules; on the $297 plan fund the wallet from the agency fee.
Send the first report
At the end of week two, send the report from the sub-account reporting objects: calls answered, bookings, response time and campaign status, in the agency’s template.
What does the agency have to get right legally in the USA?
Texting from an unregistered number breaks carrier rules and exposes the client under the TCPA of 1991, so A2P 10DLC registration is a gate, not a step to finish later. The client agreement should cover data ownership (the sub-account and its contacts belong to the client), what the agency staff may access, and who is responsible for consent on imported lists.
Review requests set up during onboarding follow the FTC’s 2024 rule on fake and incentivized reviews, and recorded calls follow state consent rules, which is why the Voice AI greeting discloses recording where required.
Common questions about agency client onboarding
How long does onboarding take?
About two weeks when telephony and WhatsApp approvals are started on day one. The snapshot load and configuration take days; the approvals set the pace.
Can we skip the snapshot and build each account by hand?
You can, but every hand-built account drifts from the others and takes longer to support. The snapshot is what makes thirty accounts behave the same way.
Who owns the sub-account if the client leaves?
The client’s data and number should be theirs by contract; the agency keeps its snapshot and templates. Set this in the agreement before onboarding, not at offboarding.
Does Skill Up Experts run onboarding under our brand?
Yes. We work inside your agency account as a fulfilment partner, under an NDA, and the client sees your brand on every screen and report.
What is in the first report?
Calls answered, bookings made, response time, campaign status and any open items, pulled from the sub-account reporting objects into your report template.
Want every client account onboarded the same way, under your brand?
Book a call and we will share the ten-step checklist, the snapshot library and the first-report template we use as your fulfilment partner.
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