> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.salestools.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Onboarding: Complete Your Guided 7-Minute Account Setup

> Complete the guided onboarding wizard to let Sally research your business, build an audience, draft your sequence, and launch your first campaign.

Onboarding is the guided setup you see the first time you sign in to Salestools. In about seven minutes, Sally reads your company website, drafts a target audience from a 240M-record buying graph, writes a real personalised sequence, walks you through connecting your channels, and launches your first campaign. You don't configure anything from scratch — you review what Sally proposes and correct anything that's off. New accounts receive **10,000 free credits** (roughly \$300 of value) with no credit card required.

<Note>Sally is **read-only** during onboarding. She won't message anyone until you explicitly launch in the final step.</Note>

A progress checklist and an estimated time-remaining badge stay visible on the right throughout the entire flow. Use **Back** in the header to revisit any earlier step without losing your inputs, or click **Skip onboarding** to jump ahead if you already know what you need.

## Complete the onboarding wizard

<Steps>
  <Step title="Let Sally research your business">
    On the first screen, Sally runs four research tracks in parallel — **Identity**, **Company**, **Buying graph**, and **Messaging** — against your website and public sources. A live activity feed streams her progress as she works.

    Your **10,000 free credits** are activated here, with a 30-day free window and no card required.

    When research finishes, the button changes from **Researching…** to **See what I found**. Click it to move on to the next step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm your details">
    Sally pre-fills your full name, job title, company, website, LinkedIn URL, and city from her research. Review each field and correct anything that's inaccurate, then click **Continue**. Your edits are saved to your business context and used in every draft Sally writes going forward.

    <Note>If Sally couldn't find much — common for brand-new accounts or sites with minimal public content — some fields may be empty. Just fill them in here. The flow never dead-ends on a save error.</Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose your audience">
    Sally drafts a starting audience based on your positioning. Refine it using chip filters across four groups:

    * **Role & seniority** — e.g. VP+ Sales, Head of Revenue, RevOps, Founder / CEO
    * **Geography** — e.g. USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden
    * **Industry** — e.g. SaaS, Fintech, Healthcare, E-commerce
    * **Company size** — 1–50 employees up to 10,000+

    Each group includes an **Add** chip for custom values beyond the presets. As you toggle chips, a live prospect count and a sample table of real people (name, company, location, industry, domain) update underneath.

    <Tip>Aim for the sweet spot: under \~1,000 matches is usually too narrow, over \~5,000 is often too broad for a first campaign. You can also **Import CSV** or open **Advanced** filters from the table header for more precise targeting.</Tip>

    When you're happy with the audience, click **Use this audience**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick your channels">
    Choose how Sally reaches out to your audience. Each card shows an average positive-reply range to help you decide:

    * **Email + LinkedIn** *(Sally's pick)* — LinkedIn warms the prospect first, then a personalised email lands a day later. Best balance of reach and response.
    * **Email only** — pure email sequence, higher volume, lower setup overhead.
    * **LinkedIn + phone** *(Pro)* — LinkedIn cadence plus calling tasks, ideal for high-ticket or enterprise targets.
    * **Custom sequence** — mix WhatsApp, LinkedIn DMs, voice notes, and a reply handler; full configuration happens after launch in the builder.

    Select a card and click **Continue**. You can always add or change channels later in the agent builder.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Invite senders (optional)">
    Each connected mailbox safely sends about **150 messages per month** to protect your domain reputation. Adding teammates is the quickest way to scale your reach without risking deliverability.

    Enter a teammate's email address and click **Send invite**. They accept with a single link — they don't need to learn Salestools or set up an account to act as a sender.

    The panel shows how many months it will take to reach your full audience list solo versus with the senders you add. Click **Continue** when done. Solo mode works fine — it's just slower, and most teams add two to four senders before launch.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review the sequence">
    Sally generates a **real, personalised Day 1 email** for one of your sample prospects, grounded in your positioning and the prospect's own data — never placeholder text. The Day 4 and Day 9 follow-ups appear collapsed; click **expand** to read them.

    Use the avatar switcher under **Previewing for** to cycle through sample prospects and see how the same sequence reshapes for each one. Every send is rewritten from scratch using everything Sally knows about that specific prospect.

    When the sequence looks right, click **Looks good — launch**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect your channels">
    Connect the channels Sally will send through. Every integration is optional **except an email mailbox**, which is required for any email-based outreach.

    | Channel              | Purpose                                     | Required?                   |
    | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
    | Gmail or Outlook     | Sends and receives email on your behalf     | Required for email outreach |
    | LinkedIn             | Profile views, connection requests, and DMs | Recommended                 |
    | Slack                | Real-time reply pings and escalation alerts | Optional                    |
    | HubSpot / Salesforce | Two-way CRM sync for contacts and deals     | Optional                    |
    | Calendar             | Meeting booking and round-robin scheduling  | Optional                    |

    Click **Connect Gmail** or **Connect Outlook** for a one-click popup authorisation. CRM and Calendar tiles open the integrations page in a new tab.

    <Warning>If you chose an email channel but haven't connected a mailbox, the launch button reads **Connect email first** and displays a warning. Connect Gmail or Outlook before launching, or use **Skip for now → open dashboard** to set it up later in **Settings → Integrations**.</Warning>

    Click **Launch campaign** to proceed to the final step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Launch your campaign">
    Sally deploys a live agent built from your audience, channel mix, and sequence, marks onboarding complete, and celebrates with a confetti burst. When the status reads **campaign live**, you're ready to go.

    * Click **Open your agent** to view and edit the agent immediately in the AI SDR Builder.
    * Click **Open dashboard** to head to your Dashboard and see Sally's first actions appear in the activity feed.

    <Note>If deployment hits a snag, your audience and sequence are still saved. Click **Open the builder** to finish wiring the agent manually — you're never stuck, and nothing is lost.</Note>
  </Step>
</Steps>

## FAQ

<Accordion title="How long does onboarding take?">
  About seven minutes from start to launch. The progress checklist on the right shows an estimated time remaining at each step, counting down as you progress. If Sally's research step takes a moment, the live activity feed keeps you updated while she works.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Do I need a credit card or paid plan to get started?">
  No. New accounts receive 10,000 free credits (roughly \$300 of value) activated during the research step, with a 30-day free window. You won't be prompted for a card until you're ready to upgrade to a paid plan.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Can I skip steps or go back?">
  Yes. **Back** in the header returns you to the previous step without losing any of your inputs. Most steps also show a **Skip onboarding** link if you want to jump ahead. You can skip channel connection entirely with **Skip for now → open dashboard** and complete it later in **Settings → Integrations**.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="What if Sally got my company details wrong?">
  That's expected — onboarding is designed around correction. Edit any field on the **Confirm details** step, adjust audience chips on the audience step, and review the sequence before you launch. Nothing is sent until you click **Launch campaign** on the final step.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Why does each mailbox have a sending limit?">
  To keep your domain healthy. Email providers flag domains that exceed roughly 0.4% spam complaint rates, so each mailbox is capped at approximately 150 sends per month. Inviting additional senders multiplies your safe sending capacity without risking deliverability for your primary domain.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Can I revisit the onboarding guide later?">
  Once onboarding is complete, signing in takes you straight to your Dashboard. To walk through the setup again, open **Settings → Getting started** and click **Show guide**. This re-activates the onboarding checklist without resetting any of your existing configuration.
</Accordion>

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/getting-started/quickstart">
    The fast-path flow to get an AI agent live in three steps after onboarding.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI SDR Builder" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/ai-agents/ai-sdr-builder">
    Build and customise the AI BDR that onboarding deploys, or create additional agents from scratch.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Managing Agents" icon="list-check" href="/ai-agents/managing-agents">
    Open, pause, tune, or archive the agent created at launch.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Credits & Billing" icon="credit-card" href="/getting-started/credits-and-billing">
    Understand how your free credits and paid plan work, and what each action costs.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>