If you’re selling a program and onboarding buyers manually, you’re burning time on work that should be automated. The moment someone pays, they should get a Keap contact, the right tags, a Basecamp project, and their team — all within seconds.

Here’s how to build that automation in under an hour.

Why Automate Onboarding

When a buyer completes checkout, a chain of tasks begins. Create the contact. Apply tags. Fire the welcome sequence. Create a project. Add team members. Done manually, this takes 10-15 minutes per buyer and invites errors.

Automate it, and the entire flow runs the moment Stripe confirms the payment. Zero manual steps. Zero delays. Your buyer gets credentials and access before they even close the checkout confirmation email.

This guide walks you through building that automation using Stripe (payment), Zapier (the connection layer), Keap (contacts and email), and Basecamp (projects).

Before You Start: Gather These

You will need:

• Stripe account with at least one completed purchase to use as test data
• Zapier account (free tier can start; you’ll need a paid plan for multi-step Zaps)
• Keap admin access — you need permissions to create contacts, apply tags, and view which tags trigger campaigns
• Basecamp 3 with an existing project template for your program (in this case, “HRI’s AI Apprentice”)
• Your AI Apprentice Price ID from Stripe (not the product name — the Price ID)
• The Keap Tag IDs that trigger your onboarding campaign (in this setup: 1817 and 1821)
• Email addresses of team members who should be added to every new project

Have these ready before you start building the Zap. You will need them for field mapping.

---

The Complete Flow (See It First)

Here is the full automation from trigger to finish:

Stripe Payment Confirmed → Create or Update Contact in Keap (name, email, tags applied) → Keap Campaign Fires (welcome email, credentials, onboarding sequence) → Basecamp Project Created from Template (named after the buyer) → Team Members Added to Project → Buyer is ready to start

Each step triggers the next with zero gaps. When the last step completes, your buyer is fully onboarded.

---

Step 1: Create the Zap and Name It Clearly

Open Zapier and click Create Zap. Name it something descriptive that shows the direction of data flow:

Stripe → Keap → Basecamp — AI Apprentice Onboarding

A clear name matters when you manage multiple Zaps. Future you will thank present you when you’re debugging three months from now.

Click Continue.

---

Step 2: Set Up the Stripe Trigger

The trigger is the event that starts everything. Pick the right one, or your automation will fire at the wrong times.

Choose your trigger based on how you process payments:

If you use Stripe Checkout (hosted payment pages): Select Checkout Session Completed. This event includes the customer email, the product purchased, and the payment confirmation in a single payload — ideal for automation.

If you use direct charges or subscriptions: Use Invoice Payment Succeeded or Customer Subscription Created respectively.

For this guide, we will use Checkout Session Completed.

Connect your Stripe account and click Test Trigger. Use a real or test purchase for the AI Apprentice product. Zapier needs live payment data to map the fields in the steps ahead. The test will fail if you do not provide actual purchase data.

Once the test passes, you will see the customer email, the product purchased, and the amount paid in the payload. These fields are what the rest of the Zap will reference.

---

Step 3: Add a Filter to Prevent Wrong Purchases from Triggering

This is critical if you sell more than one product. Without a filter, every single Stripe payment — regardless of product — will trigger your onboarding Zap.

Add Step → Filter by Zapier

Set the condition:

• Field: Line Items → Price → ID (Text)
• Condition: Exactly matches
• Value: Your AI Apprentice Price ID

Why Price ID, not product name? Product names can be edited. Price IDs are permanent. If someone renames your product in Stripe three months from now, your filter will silently break.

If you offer both a one-time payment and a subscription for the AI Apprentice, add a second condition using OR logic with the second Price ID. This way, either payment type triggers the onboarding.

---

Step 4: Split the Customer’s Full Name

Stripe sends the customer’s full name as one field: billing_details.name. Keap requires separate first and last name fields.

Use Zapier’s Formatter to split it.

Add Step → Formatter by Zapier → Text → Split Text

• Input: billing_details.name (or customer_name depending on your Stripe trigger)
• Separator: A single space character
• Extract: “First”

Zapier will output the first name. Then add a second Formatter step for the last name:

• Input: Same as above
• Separator: A single space
• Extract: “Last”

(Alternatively, use Zapier’s Utilities: Split Name for both in one step.)

These formatter outputs feed directly into the Keap contact fields next.

---

Step 5: Create or Update the Contact in Keap

Use Keap’s Upsert Contact action. Upsert means: create a new contact if none exists with that email, or update the existing one if found. This prevents duplicate contacts.

Map the fields as follows:

Keap Field	Source	Notes
Email	Stripe: customer_email	Primary key for upserting
Given Name	Formatter: First Name output	From Step 4
Family Name	Formatter: Last Name output	From Step 4
Tag IDs	1817, 1821	These tags trigger your Keap campaign
Opt In	True	Compliance + campaign readiness

The tags 1817 and 1821 are critical. These are the tags that trigger your Keap campaign sequence — the welcome email, credentials delivery, and onboarding email series. If your campaign uses a tag-based Goal in Keap, you do not need a separate “Add to Campaign” step. The tags alone will fire the sequence.

Test this step with your Stripe payment data. Confirm the contact appears in Keap with the correct tags applied.

---

Step 6: Create the Basecamp Project from Your Template

Add a new step: Basecamp → Create Project from Template

• Account: Select your Basecamp account
• Template: Select your “HRI’s AI Apprentice” template (or whatever you named it)
• Name: Use the customer’s name — map it as: HRI's AI Apprentice: [First Name] [Last Name]

The name should pull from the Formatter outputs so each project is automatically named after the buyer. This keeps your Basecamp clean and makes it easy to find a specific apprentice’s project.

Save the Project ID output from this step. You will reference it in the next steps.

---

Step 7, 8, 9: Add Team Members to the Project

For each team member who should be added automatically, create a separate Basecamp → Add Person to Project step.

For each team member:

1. Add Step → Basecamp → Find Person (search by email)
   • Email: The team member’s email address
2. Add Step → Basecamp → Add Person to Project
   • Account: Your Basecamp account
   • Project: The Project ID output from Step 6
   • Person: The Person ID output from the Find Person step

Repeat this for each team member (Dennis, Dylan, Muzamil — or whoever your team is).

Once all three are added, the project is ready and your team can start working with the apprentice.

---

Step 10: Turn On the Zap and Run a Full Test

Review every step in your Zap. Make sure field mappings are correct and no steps are red.

Click the toggle at the top right to turn on the Zap. It is now live.

Run a real test purchase for the AI Apprentice product (or use a test Stripe payment if your account supports it). Do not skip this step. Watch what happens:

• Does a contact appear in Keap with tags 1817 and 1821?
• Does the welcome email sequence fire in Keap?
• Is a new Basecamp project created with the apprentice’s name?
• Are all three team members added to the project?

If all four happen within 30 seconds of the payment, your automation is working.

---

What Happens When It Works

The moment a customer completes checkout:

1. Stripe sends the payment confirmation
2. Zapier receives the event and checks the filter (is this an AI Apprentice purchase?)
3. A new contact is created in Keap with the customer’s email and name
4. Tags 1817 and 1821 are applied
5. Keap’s campaign fires automatically — welcome email, credentials, and onboarding sequence go out
6. A Basecamp project is created from your template, named “HRI’s AI Apprentice: [Customer Name]”
7. Dennis, Dylan, and Muzamil are added to the project
8. Your buyer receives their credentials and can access Basecamp and the Academy immediately

No manual steps. No delays. No room for error.

---

Customize This for Your Own Program

If you are adapting this for a different program or team structure, change these variables:

• Team members: Replace the email addresses in the Find Person steps with your team
• Keap tags: Update 1817 and 1821 to whatever tags trigger your program’s campaign
• Basecamp template: Select a different template if you use one
• Project name prefix: Change “HRI’s AI Apprentice” to match your program name
• Additional team members: Duplicate the Find Person + Add Person steps for each extra person

The core logic stays the same. Only the specific IDs, emails, and names change.

---

Before You Go Live: Verification Checklist

Use this to confirm everything is set up correctly:

• Zap is named clearly (e.g., Stripe → Keap → Basecamp — AI Apprentice Onboarding)
• Stripe trigger is tested with a real AI Apprentice purchase
• Filter is set to your AI Apprentice Price ID (not product name)
• Name formatter correctly splits first and last name
• Keap Upsert Contact step includes all fields, including tags 1817 and 1821
• Keap campaign fires when tags are applied (verified in Keap’s campaign settings)
• Basecamp project is created from the correct template
• Project name dynamically includes the customer’s first and last name
• All team members are added to the project
• Full end-to-end test run with a real purchase confirmed successful
• Zap toggle is ON (green)

---

Troubleshooting: What If It Does Not Work

No contact created in Keap: Check that Keap’s Upsert Contact step has the email field mapped correctly. Email is the duplicate key — if it is blank or mapped wrong, a new contact will not be created.

Contact created but tags not applied: Verify that tag IDs 1817 and 1821 exist in Keap and that you entered the exact numbers. Copy-paste from Keap to avoid typos.

Campaign does not fire: In Keap, check that your onboarding campaign has a trigger set to these tag IDs. The campaign must have a tag-based Goal, not an email-based one.

Basecamp project not created: Confirm you selected the right template. Templates must exist in Basecamp before Zapier can use them.

Team members not added: Check that you mapped the Project ID from Step 6 correctly. If this field is blank or wrong, the Add Person steps will fail.

---

Document This for Your Team

After you confirm the Zap is working, document it in your team’s task library or SOP. Include:

• A screenshot of each Zap step
• The specific Price ID you used
• The specific Tag IDs you used
• Links to the Basecamp template
• Email addresses of team members

This becomes your reference when you onboard a new team member or need to troubleshoot months from now.

---

That is it. You now have a fully automated onboarding flow that runs the moment someone pays.