· By Dylan Siple
GoHighLevel Consultant: What to Expect
A GoHighLevel consultant fixes your GoHighLevel account. They set it up, keep it running and show your team how to use it. That way, every new lead gets a reply and nothing breaks without anyone noticing.
Most owners call one after an agency set up their account and it stopped working. Or it never worked the way they were told it would.
This guide covers what GoHighLevel is, what a consultant does, the three problems I find most, how hiring one works, and what to check before you hire anyone. That includes me.
What is GoHighLevel?
GoHighLevel is a CRM. People also call it GHL or HighLevel.
A CRM is the software a business uses to keep track of customers. It holds your contacts, texts, emails and calendar. It can also follow up with new leads for you. A lead is a person who might become a customer.
Lots of owners use GoHighLevel and don’t know it. Agencies often put their own name and logo on it. So it looks like the agency made it.
Here’s how to tell. If your app is called LeadConnector, or your login page shows your agency’s name, you are probably on GoHighLevel.
What a GoHighLevel consultant does
A GoHighLevel consultant works on the account itself. Not your ads. Not your logo. Just the part where a lead comes in and either gets a reply or gets forgotten. Some people call this person a GoHighLevel expert.
The work comes in four parts:
| Part | What it means |
|---|---|
| Audit | Look through the account. Find what’s broken, what’s not used and what it’s costing you. |
| Fix | Fix the things that lose you leads first. |
| Run | Keep it working every month as your business changes. |
| Train | Show you and your team how to use it. |
Consultant or agency?
| Agency | Consultant | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Ads, websites and marketing | Making your CRM work |
| The CRM | Comes along with the marketing | Is the whole job |
| Best for | Getting more leads | Not losing the leads you already get |
You can have both. Lots of owners keep their agency for ads and bring in a consultant for the CRM.
The 3 problems I find in most GHL accounts
1. No custom fields, so one change breaks everything
A custom field is a box on a contact’s page. It holds a detail you care about, like what service they want or where they found you. Your automations can read those boxes to decide what to do next. An automation is a set of steps the software does by itself, like “send a text, then wait a day, then send an email.”
When there are no custom fields, the automations get tied to something weak instead. For example, the name of one ad. Then someone changes that ad, and the whole system stops. Leads still come in. Nothing happens to them.
2. No alerts to your team
An internal notification is an alert to you or your staff. It says “a new lead just came in.” A lot of accounts don’t have one.
So the lead lands in the CRM and just sits there. Nobody knows to call them. By the time someone looks, that person already hired someone else.
3. Nothing gets updated
Things change all the time:
- Passwords change.
- Workers come and go.
- The other apps you connect to change how they work.
Most accounts were set up once and never touched again. So the worker who left still gets the lead alerts. The calendar stopped working when someone changed a password. The texts still talk about last year’s deal. Nobody notices until the leads stop.
Who owns your GoHighLevel account?
There are two ways to have a GoHighLevel account:
| Your own account | A sub-account | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays GoHighLevel | You | Your agency or consultant |
| Who you pay | GoHighLevel | Your agency or consultant |
| Who controls it | You | The agency or consultant runs it, and you get a login |
In my experience, it’s about half and half. Neither one is wrong. But you should know which one you have.
I haven’t met anyone stuck because their agency controlled the account. But I’ve heard from lots of owners who were, and it caused big problems. So ask your agency these three questions now, while things are friendly. Here’s what a good answer sounds like.
Is this my own account, or a sub-account under yours? If you pay GoHighLevel and the bill has your name on it, it’s your own. If you pay your agency and they pay GoHighLevel, it’s a sub-account under theirs.
If I leave, can I take my contacts, my phone number and my automations? You can download your contacts as a list any time, so ask for a copy now. Ask if your phone number can move with you. Your automations can be copied with a snapshot. A snapshot is GoHighLevel’s word for a saved copy of how your account is set up. Get the answers in writing.
Who has admin access? You should. Admin access means full control of the account. Keep at least one admin login for yourself. Then you can never be locked out of your own customer list.
How I do it
I like to put my clients’ accounts under mine as sub-accounts. That way I manage every account from one place instead of keeping track of 1,000 logins. It makes me faster, and you get help sooner.
You don’t lose anything by doing it this way. You get your own admin login, so you have full control of your account. I also make a snapshot of your setup and download your contact list for you. If you ever leave, you take everything with you.
How hiring a GoHighLevel consultant works
Here’s how it works with me. Others may do it a little differently.
- A short form. You tell me what’s going on and what’s broken.
- A quick call to get me into your account. You add me as a user, so you never give out your password. You can remove me any time.
- A findings call. I show you everything I found, worst problems first.
- A cleanup for one flat price. I fix what you said yes to. You know the price before I start. I never charge by the hour.
- A monthly plan, if you want it. I keep everything updated and running. You get a report every week, so you always know how it’s going.
Two things to check in your account today
You don’t need anyone’s help for these. They take a few minutes.
Where your emails send from
When GoHighLevel sends emails for you, they come from a sending domain. That’s the part after the @ in the “from” address.
Don’t send from your main domain. That’s the one your everyday email uses, like you@yourbusiness.com. Use a subdomain instead, like mail.yourbusiness.com. A subdomain is a separate address that sits under your main one.
Why? It keeps your mass emails apart from your everyday inbox. If one has a problem, the other keeps working.
I do this myself. My GoHighLevel emails send from mail.sipleops.com. My normal email stays on sipleops.com.
In GoHighLevel, you set this up under Settings, then Email Services. You add the subdomain there. Then you copy a few settings it gives you into the place where you bought your domain. If the sending domain is brand new, start slow. Send a few emails at a time at first. Email companies take a while to trust a new sender.
Things you pay for but don’t use
Look at your bill. You pay for your plan, plus any add-ons, like AI tools, extra phone numbers or email credits. Then ask: which of these do I use?
I often see owners paying for things nobody ever turned on. If you pay an agency, ask them for a list of what your monthly bill includes.
How to pick a GoHighLevel consultant
The setup is almost never the real problem. The real problem is that nobody looks after it once it’s built. So whoever you hire, ask them these questions:
- Who fixes it when something breaks next month?
- What happens when a connection stops working?
- Will you show my team how to use it?
- Is it one flat price, or by the hour?
If they don’t have a good answer, that’s your answer. If price is your question, I wrote a whole post on what a CRM consultant costs.
How I can help
Most of my work is in GoHighLevel, and I work with other CRMs too. If you want a second set of eyes on your account, I’ll check it for free. I’ll show you what’s broken, worst first. You can also read more about how I work as a CRM consultant.
Quick answers
Is a GoHighLevel consultant the same as a GoHighLevel expert? Mostly, yes. People use both names for someone who sets up and fixes GHL accounts.
Do I have to leave my agency to hire a consultant? No. Lots of owners keep their agency for ads and bring in a consultant for the CRM.
Do I have to give you my password? No. You add me as a user. You can remove me any time.
What if I’m not sure I’m on GoHighLevel? That’s fine. Tell me what your app or login page is called. I’ll figure it out when I look at your account.