The GHL Agency Setup Guide

The 5 automations that replace an entire client-management stack — onboarding, follow-up, invoicing, appointment booking, and lead capture, all set up step-by-step in GoHighLevel.

What this guide covers

• 5 high-value agency automations
• Exact GHL setup steps (no guesswork)
• Snapshot templates you can import
• Pricing tiers to offer for each automation

1. Lead Capture Funnel

What it does: captures leads 24/7 and books them into your calendar automatically.

1. Create a new funnel in GHL → choose the "Lead Capture" template
2. Connect your custom domain (or use the GHL subdomain)
3. Build a 2-step funnel: landing page → thank-you + calendar booking
4. Add your calendar widget (Google Calendar or GHL native)
5. Set up automatic SMS + email follow-up (5-touch sequence)
6. Test the funnel end-to-end before going live

Pricing to charge: $1,500 setup + $500/month maintenance

2. Client Onboarding Sequence

What it does: automatically onboards new clients with forms, contracts, and welcome sequences.

1. Build a client onboarding form (intake questions, goals, brand assets)
2. Create a 5-email welcome sequence in GHL Campaigns
3. Upload your contract template to GHL Contracts
4. Set up automatic tag application ("New Client → Onboarding Active")
5. Build a client dashboard (Kanban: Onboarding → Active → Complete)
6. Connect Stripe for automatic invoicing

Pricing to charge: $1,000 setup + $300/month

3. Review Generation System

What it does: automatically requests reviews from happy clients and funnels them to Google.

1. Create a "Request Review" email/SMS template
2. Trigger: project marked complete → wait 3 days → send review request
3. Build a review landing page with a direct Google review link
4. Add a feedback form (negative feedback → internal alert; positive → review request)
5. Set up a monthly review reporting dashboard

Pricing to charge: $800 setup + $200/month

4. Missed Call Text Back

What it does: instantly texts missed callers so you never lose a lead.

1. Connect your business phone number to GHL
2. Enable "Missed Call Text Back" in GHL Phone settings
3. Write your auto-response: "Hi! Sorry we missed your call. We're usually with clients. Text back what you need or book a time here: [calendar link]"
4. Set business hours so it only triggers when you're closed
5. Track response rates and adjust the message monthly

Pricing to charge: $500 setup (included in most packages)

5. Appointment Reminders + No-Show Recovery

What it does: reduces no-shows by up to 60% with automated reminders and rescheduling.

1. Set up 3 reminder texts: 24 hours before, 1 hour before, 15 minutes before
2. Write each message to be friendly but firm
3. Add a "Reschedule" link to every reminder
4. Build a no-show sequence: 15 min after a missed appointment → "Sorry we missed you!" → reschedule link
5. Track no-show reduction and report to your client monthly

Pricing to charge: $600 setup + $200/month

How to offer this as a service — the $5K agency launch

1. Set up each automation in your own GHL account first (practice)
2. Pick one niche: dentists, real estate agents, or coaches
3. Build a demo for a local business (free, in exchange for a testimonial)
4. Create a simple landing page: "I help [niche] automate their client management"
5. Outreach: 10 DMs a day on Instagram to your niche
6. First client at $1,500 → second at $2,500 → scale from there

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Full disclosure: this is my affiliate link. I use GHL for my own business and recommend it because it genuinely replaced 6 other tools I was paying for.