Valentina Akpan: Founder of Rellatech, providing administrative and operations support to executives, founders, business owners and teams. Her background combines technical support, customer success, administration and operations.
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The Starting Point
The client runs a high-touch executive coaching business. Every welcome email, contract, onboarding sequence, and phase follow-up was being sent by hand. Clients slipped through the cracks, follow-ups were missed, and the business owner was spending time on operations instead of coaching.
They needed the client journey's emails to go out from payment through closeout without each one being sent by hand, and they needed to keep their existing Stripe payment setup, including Klarna. Stripe and Klarna stayed in place, connected to HoneyBook through Zapier, so the main thing that changed was the manual sending in between.
What I Did
I built a phase-based automation system in HoneyBook. The email a client receives changes based on where they are in the programme journey. A new client who just paid gets a different message than a client who is three phases in, and neither message is sent manually.
The payment-to-onboarding flow is the backbone. When a client pays through Stripe, Zapier triggers the welcome email and contract in HoneyBook. Once the contract is signed, HoneyBook automatically moves the client to onboarding and fires the next set of emails. The business owner no longer has to remember to send the next step, though checking that clients moved through the stages is still part of running it.
I also rebuilt the HoneyBook pipeline so there is a stage for every phase of the programme. As a client moves from one phase to the next, the stage change triggers the right email. The pipeline now shows where each client is and what they have received, as long as the stages are kept up to date.
The Stripe connection was the trickiest part. The client wanted to keep their existing Stripe checkout, including Klarna, rather than move payments directly into HoneyBook. I built a Zapier workaround that listens for Stripe payments and creates the corresponding HoneyBook records so the operations flow starts at the right moment. Payments stay where they are. This was built for their setup rather than as a general HoneyBook recipe, and it needs testing again when Stripe, Zapier or HoneyBook change.
For post-booking intake, I set up a Flodesk automation triggered by a Calendly booking. The sequence sends the intake form with reminders, and the reminders stop once the form is completed. That reduces the chasing of intake responses.
I wrote SOPs for the workflows. Each has its trigger, expected outcome and troubleshooting steps. Keeping them current when a tool or step changes, and checking that the Zapier connection still fires, is part of maintaining the setup.
What Went Into the Build
Phase-based automation in HoneyBook
Each email a client receives changes based on where they are in the programme journey, so a welcome message does not land after someone is already three weeks in.
Payment-to-onboarding flow
A payment triggers the welcome email and contract. A signed contract triggers onboarding. The owner no longer sends each step by hand, though the flow still needs a periodic check that each client moved through as expected.
Pipeline with a stage for every programme phase
The HoneyBook pipeline has a stage for every phase of the programme, and each stage change fires the right email automatically as the client advances.
Stripe-to-HoneyBook workaround
For this client, I kept their existing Stripe checkout, including Klarna, and used Zapier to start the HoneyBook workflow from a Stripe payment. It suited their setup rather than being a standard HoneyBook feature, and it needs testing again when either tool changes.
Post-booking intake automation in Flodesk
A booking in Calendly triggers a Flodesk intake sequence with reminders that stop once the form is completed, which reduces the chasing of incomplete responses.
Written SOPs for the whole system
Each automation's trigger, expected outcome and troubleshooting steps are written up so the workflows can be run, adjusted and handed over. The SOPs need updating when a tool or step changes.
Why It Matters
In a coaching business, the experience is the product. If a welcome email is late, a contract is forgotten, or a phase follow-up never arrives, the client notices. The automation does not remove the human parts of coaching. It removes the administrative parts that were getting in the way.
The biggest change is that the business owner no longer sends each message by hand. Each phase has its email, the pipeline shows where each client is, and the SOPs mean the workflows can be maintained or handed over without rebuilding them.
The workflows keep the client experience consistent while removing the manual sending behind it.
Tools Used
Who This Is For
This case study is worth reading if you are:
- ●Running a coaching or consulting business where client emails, contracts, and follow-ups are still sent manually
- ●Using HoneyBook but not using its automation, or using it only for invoices and contracts
- ●Needing to keep Stripe payments, including options like Klarna, while still triggering automations elsewhere
- ●Wanting SOPs so your client operations system can run without the operator or a single contractor holding it together
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