Pre-Launch Deliverability and Compliance Gate (Onboarding)

Pre-Launch Deliverability and Compliance Gate (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Verify sending domain authentication before any sequence is built

   Confirm SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records resolve on the client's primary sending domain, and require a separate subdomain for outbound so the corporate domain stays insulated from cold volume.

2. 02

   Warm the new subdomain over 3 to 4 weeks at a fixed ramp

   Start near 50 sends per day per mailbox and step up weekly; a client expecting 2,000 touches in week one is a churn risk, not a growth target.

3. 03

   Map the client's lawful basis and opt-out path per target region

   Document consent or legitimate-interest reasoning for each list source, and confirm unsubscribe handling meets GDPR and CAN-SPAM timing requirements before importing contacts.

4. 04

   Deduplicate and suppress against the client's existing CRM and prior opt-outs

   Overlap between a purchased list and an active customer base produces complaints from people who already bought, which is the fastest route to a blacklisting.

5. 05

   Cap automation volume per mailbox and assign a named human reviewer

   Set a daily ceiling per seat and require a person to approve the first 100 sends of any new cadence; AI agents that run unattended across multi-step workflows drop context between steps and fail without surfacing an error.

6. 06

   Instrument bounce, complaint, and reply-rate thresholds with a kill switch

   Define the numbers that pause a campaign automatically (for example bounce above 3 percent or complaint above 0.1 percent) and record who has authority to resume it.

7. 07

   Sign off the gate with the client in writing before the first send

   A one-page record of domain status, list provenance, volume plan, and reviewer names protects the retainer when a client later asks why inbox placement dropped.