Learning Hub · Policies
Client Onboarding
What does this policy do?
It sets the steps a NEW client must complete before they can book anything they like. Until they finish, their booking screen shows one service — the step they are on — and nothing else is selectable. Existing clients are unaffected: this only ever applies to people you have not worked with yet.
The steps, and what each one holds back
You choose which steps apply. A client moves through the ones you have switched on, in this order:
Meet & Greet
A short introductory visit. While a client is waiting for one, the only thing they can book IS the Meet & Greet. Approving it moves them on. This step only applies while the separate Meet & Greet Scheduling policy is active — that is where its availability lives.
Test Overnight Stay (boarding)
A trial stay to see how the pet settles. A client at this step can book the test stay and nothing else. Completing it gives them full booking access.
Test Walk (dog walking)
The walking equivalent. Walking clients take this instead of a test stay — you will only see it if your plan offers walking.
The policy sets the rule. The switches make exceptions.
There are two levels, and they answer different questions:
This policy
Does my business do meet & greets and test stays AT ALL? Switch it off and nobody is held back — new clients can book immediately.
Onboarding, on a client
Does THIS person need one? Open a client and use Onboarding to skip a step for somebody you already know — a neighbour, or a client who followed you from another business. It is an exception to the rule, not a second rule.
Who is never held back
Two exemptions are built in, and neither is a setting you need to find:
You, and any admin
An owner can book anything for anybody. The steps apply to what the CLIENT can choose in their own app — never to what you can book on their behalf. If somebody needs a booking now, you can simply make it.
Pet Sitting clients
The Sitter plan does not do meet & greets or test stays, so onboarding never gates a pet-sitting client whatever this policy says.
A new boarding client, from sign-up to free booking
Meet & Greet + Test Overnight Stay both switched on
Client signs up
Books the Meet & Greet — the only thing offered
You approve the Meet & Greet
Books the test stay — now the only thing offered
Full booking access
What you see while somebody is partway through
Click each scenario to see the result and email preview
A client is waiting on a step
Their row in Clients carries a lock chip naming the step they are held at, and opening the row explains what unlocks it. The chip disappears the moment they are through — there is nothing to chase once they are done.
Tips & best practices
Most boarding businesses use at least a Meet & Greet — many councils expect you to have met the dog.
Switch the policy off and everyone books immediately; the steps stop applying to new clients straight away.
A client you already know does not need to start again — open them and skip the step rather than turning the whole policy off.
A test stay is worth keeping for anxious pets and cautious owners; it is often the thing that wins the booking.
The Client Onboarding menu only appears in your sidebar while this policy is active.
Learning Hub • Client Onboarding