Complete build specification, cost analysis, risk assessment, workflow architecture, and contract clauses for the OffSider AG GoHighLevel CRM deployment.
OffSider AG business context and what was promised
Australian livestock handling equipment manufacturer based in Wagga Wagga, NSW.
| Name | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Andrea Brosnan | Marketing | Primary contact, provides product info and approvals |
| Dave Brosnan | Engineering / Sales | Technical product knowledge, handles sales enquiries |
CRM Build: $6,000 one-time setup fee
Monthly Hosting: $150/month with SMS and email volume caps
Monthly Management: $2,000/month (optional, not confirmed yet)
Ad Management: $2,500 setup + $5,000/month + 5% ad spend (separate agreement)
Platform: GoHighLevel (GHL) sub-account
Build Timeline: 3 to 6 weeks from onboarding
Verified from offsiderag.com.au:
| Product Name | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Meat Sheep Handler | Sheep Handling | Bulk sheep handling equipment for meat sheep operations |
| Spin-a-Calf | Cattle Handling | Standup calf marking cradle |
| The Tonto | Cattle Handling | Cattle crush / handling system |
Our actual costs vs what we charge
John Chin builds at $20/hour. Estimated 15 to 30 hours depending on complexity.
| Item | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| GHL sub-account setup and configuration | 1 | $20 |
| Pipeline build (6 stages + custom fields) | 2 | $40 |
| 3x landing page form integrations | 3 | $60 |
| Lead routing rules (by product interest) | 2 | $40 |
| SMS automation workflow (instant lead response) | 2 | $40 |
| 5-email nurture sequence | 4 | $80 |
| Notification triggers for sales team | 1 | $20 |
| User setup and permissions (up to 5 users) | 1 | $20 |
| End-to-end testing | 3 | $60 |
| Training session(s) | 2 | $40 |
| Buffer / fixes / adjustments | 4 | $80 |
| Total Build (estimate) | 25 | $500 |
| Item | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| GHL sub-account (SaaS Plan or sub-account fee) | $0 (included in agency plan) |
| Phone number | $7 |
| SMS costs (estimated 50 to 100 SMS/month at ~$0.08 each) | $4 to $8 |
| Email sending | $0 (included in GHL) |
| Total Monthly Cost | $11 to $15 |
At $6,000 per build and $500 actual cost, every CRM client nets ~$5,500 on setup alone. If we onboard 5 CRM clients per quarter, that is $27,500 in pure build profit. The $150/month hosting stacks: 10 CRM clients = $1,500/month recurring at 90%+ margin. This is a high-margin service line.
Pipeline structure, automations, and form fields
Single pipeline with product interest custom field. This avoids the GHL known bug where moving contacts between multiple pipelines creates duplicate records.
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Text | Yes | Maps to GHL contact name |
| Yes | Maps to GHL contact email | ||
| Phone Number | Phone | Yes | Maps to GHL contact phone |
| Product Interest | Dropdown | Yes | Options: Meat Sheep Handler, Spin-a-Calf, The Tonto |
Field Name: Product Interest
Type: Dropdown
Options:
Populated by: Form submission (auto-mapped from landing page dropdown)
Triggers when a new lead enters the pipeline via form submission.
Trigger: New form submission (any product landing page)
Action: Create/update contact in pipeline at "New Enquiry" stage
Action: Send instant SMS to lead
"Hi [First Name], thanks for your enquiry about the [Product Interest]. One of our team will be in touch shortly. - OffSider AG"
Wait: 1 minute (GHL race condition prevention)
Action: Send notification to assigned sales rep (email + in-app)
Includes: lead name, phone, email, product interest, form source
Action: Enrol contact in 5-email nurture sequence
Simple drip sequence triggered on lead entry. Same sequence for all leads regardless of pipeline stage. No stage-specific emails.
| Timing | Subject | Content | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email 1 | Immediate | Welcome / Info Pack | Introduction to OffSider AG, product overview for their interest area, brochure attachment or link |
| Email 2 | Day 2 | Product Deep Dive | Specific details on the product they enquired about, specifications, use cases |
| Email 3 | Day 5 | Social Proof | Customer testimonials, case studies, farm stories |
| Email 4 | Day 9 | FAQ / Objection Handling | Common questions, delivery, warranty, financing options |
| Email 5 | Day 14 | Call to Action | Encourage phone call or quote request, direct phone number for Dave |
Design Decision: Using If/Else branches within a single workflow (branching by product interest) rather than separate workflows per product. This avoids GHL's documented race condition where multiple workflows firing simultaneously can conflict. The 1-minute wait between sequential actions is mandatory.
GHL platform risks identified from deep research
Based on deep research across GHL documentation, community forums, and industry reports.
Issue: SMS segments are billed per 160 characters (GSM-7) or 70 characters (Unicode). A single SMS with emojis or special characters can be billed as 2 to 3 segments.
Mitigation: Cap at 200 SMS per month in the contract. Keep SMS templates short and plain-text (no emojis). Monitor usage monthly.
Issue: Invalid numbers waste SMS credits and can hurt sender reputation.
Mitigation: OffSider AG collects phone numbers directly from interested buyers via landing pages. These are real enquiries from real farmers, not scraped lists. Low risk.
Issue: Spam Act 2003 penalties up to AUD $2.22M/day for body corporates sending unsolicited messages.
Mitigation: All contacts opt in via landing page form submission (documented consent). Unsubscribe mechanisms included in all sequences. Contract clause places compliance responsibility on the client. Low risk for this use case.
Issue: GHL uses shared Mailgun IPs. High-volume senders can suffer from shared IP reputation issues.
Mitigation: OffSider AG will send 200 to 500 emails per month at most. This is low volume and unlikely to trigger deliverability issues. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC will be configured on their domain.
Issue: GHL suspends email sending if bounce rate exceeds 3%, with a 24-hour cooldown.
Mitigation: All emails go to fresh opt-in leads (not imported cold lists). Bounce rate will be well under 3%.
Issue: GHL has averaged 7.9 reported outages per month since January 2023 (294 total). These can affect workflow triggers, SMS delivery, and pipeline updates.
Mitigation: Contract includes platform liability disclaimer (clause 2.5). Market Lead is not responsible for platform-level failures. For OffSider AG's volume (a few leads per day), occasional outages will have minimal impact.
Issue: GHL has a documented bug where simultaneous workflow triggers can conflict, causing missed actions or duplicate sends.
Mitigation: Build uses If/Else branches in a single workflow (not multiple parallel workflows). 1-minute waits between sequential actions. Tested end-to-end before launch.
Issue: Moving contacts between separate pipelines in GHL creates duplicate opportunity records.
Mitigation: Architecture uses a single pipeline with a Product Interest custom field. No multi-pipeline setup required. Bug completely avoided.
Issue: CRM builds can expand in scope if requirements are unclear.
Mitigation: Scope is tightly defined: 1 pipeline, 6 stages, 1 SMS workflow, 1 nurture sequence (5 emails), 3 product options. Build estimated at 25 hours. Anything beyond this scope is billed at Market Lead's hourly rate.
Issue: Clients or their staff modify workflows, pipelines, or forms after handover, breaking automations.
Mitigation: Contract clause 2.1 (Non-Interference) prevents unauthorised modifications. Repair work billed at Market Lead's hourly rate. Training sessions included to reduce risk of accidental changes.
Key protections in the CRM Services Schedule
Full contract at: market-lead/clients/market-lead/contracts/crm-services-schedule.html
| Clause | Title | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Non-Interference and Third-Party Access | Third parties can access the CRM. But if anyone other than Market Lead breaks anything, it's the client's responsibility to identify and fix. We have no obligation to find or fix their issues. If they ask us to, it's out-of-scope. |
| 2.2 | Landing Page and Form Changes | Any LP/form change that needs CRM remapping is a separate CRM charge, even if we made the LP change as part of ad management. Ad management and CRM are separate services. |
| 2.3 | Hosting and System Suspension | 7 days overdue = system suspended. $250 reactivation fee. 30 days = data deleted. |
| 2.4 | Scope and Out-of-Scope Work | Only Section 3 items in scope. Out-of-scope billed in minimum 1-hour blocks (includes fixing + comms). Hours quoted ahead. Invoice paid within 72 hours. If client has $2K/month management, some items may be covered. |
| 2.5 | Market Lead's CRM Responsibility | Our job: build the CRM, integrate landing pages and ads, get leads into the pipeline. Not our job: finding or fixing issues caused by client, third parties, or the platform. |
| 2.6 | CRM Ownership and Data | Client owns the CRM, all workflows, templates, and data. Cannot resell. Access requires hosting payment. On termination: landing pages go offline, ads paused, client responsible for reintegration. |
| 2.7 | Integration Maintenance | Client maintains their own credentials. Reconnections billed at Market Lead's hourly rate. |
| 2.8 | Training Scope | 1 session per user (60 min). Additional training at Market Lead's hourly rate. |
| 2.9 | Approval Authority | 5 business days to review. No response = deemed approved. Changes after approval at Market Lead's hourly rate. |
| 2.10 | Termination | Client keeps CRM ownership. Landing pages go offline (service, not owned). Ads paused. Client handles reintegration. 30 days to transfer hosting billing. |
| 2.11 | Chargeback Protection | Chargebacks = material breach = immediate termination. |
| 2.12 | SMS and Email Compliance | Client responsible for Spam Act compliance. Must maintain consent records. Unsubscribe mechanisms mandatory. |
| 2.13 | SMS and Email Volume Limits | 200 SMS + 500 emails per month. Overages billed at cost + 15%. No rollover. |
| 2.14 | Client Indemnity (Communications) | Client indemnifies Market Lead for all Spam Act claims, ACMA complaints, and missing consent issues. Survives termination. |
| Item | Included for OffSider AG |
|---|---|
| CRM account setup | 1 GHL sub-account |
| Sales pipeline | 1 pipeline, 6 stages |
| User accounts | Up to 5 users |
| Landing page form integration | Up to 3 forms (1 per product) |
| Pipeline custom field | Product Interest dropdown (3 options) |
| SMS automation | 1 instant lead response workflow |
| Email nurture sequence | 1 sequence, 5 emails |
| Notification triggers | Sales rep notifications on new leads |
| Testing | End-to-end QA before launch |
| Training | 1 session per user, up to 60 min each |
| Post-launch optimisation | 30 days |
| Monthly SMS allowance | 200 per month |
| Monthly email allowance | 500 per month |
| Phone number | 1 number |
Step-by-step implementation guide for John
John to follow this checklist. Estimated 25 hours total over 3 to 4 weeks.
Create GHL sub-account for OffSider AG
Purchase phone number (Australian local number)
Build pipeline: New Enquiry > Contacted > Qualified > Quote Sent > Won/Ordered > Lost
Create custom field: Product Interest (dropdown: Meat Sheep Handler, Spin-a-Calf, The Tonto)
Set up user accounts for Andrea and Dave (+ any other team members)
Build instant lead response workflow (SMS + sales rep notification + nurture enrolment)
Use If/Else branches for product-specific SMS copy. Include 1-minute wait between sequential actions.
Build 5-email nurture sequence
Immediate, Day 2, Day 5, Day 9, Day 14. Include unsubscribe link in every email (Spam Act).
Configure SPF, DKIM, DMARC on OffSider AG domain
Connect landing page forms to GHL (map fields: name, email, phone, product interest)
End-to-end testing: Submit test leads through each form, verify SMS sends, email sequence triggers, notifications fire, pipeline populates correctly
Fix any issues found during testing
Training session(s) with Andrea and Dave
Go live: Activate all workflows and confirm everything is running
30-day optimisation period begins
1. Single pipeline only (no multi-pipeline setup)
2. If/Else branches in one workflow (not separate workflows per product)
3. 1-minute wait between every sequential action in workflows
4. Unsubscribe link in every email (Spam Act requirement)
5. Plain-text SMS (no emojis or special characters) to avoid multi-segment billing
6. Test every flow end-to-end before go-live