The first automations to set up in a small business.

Write the steps down first

Before you automate a task, write down how it works today: what starts it and where the details end up. If the steps change every time, settle the process first. An automation repeats a messy process exactly as messily. Start with the tools you already have: a shared inbox and a spreadsheet are a fine first home for enquiries, and customer records software can come later.

Each workflow below should keep a log of what it did. When a step fails, it should send an alert and wait for a person to review it instead of carrying on.

Route each enquiry and confirm it at once

It starts when an enquiry arrives from your website form or chatbot. The customer gets an instant confirmation that says what happens next and when to expect a reply. Keep it honest: if replies take until the next working day, say so. The enquiry goes to the right person by service or area, with a copy in your customer records or a spreadsheet, so nobody types it in twice.

A person checks the list of new enquiries during the day for anything sent to the wrong place or left without an owner. When one goes to the wrong person, fix the rule behind it as well as forwarding the email. If an AI step sorts enquiries by topic or drafts the first reply, a person checks the sorting and approves every draft before it goes out.

Confirm bookings and send reminders

Check your booking tool first: many already send confirmations and reminders, and you only need to switch them on. The automation fills the gaps, where the tool's API allows.

It starts when a booking is made, changed or cancelled. The customer gets a confirmation with the date, time, address and how to change it, then a reminder the day before. A change or cancellation updates your calendar and customer records at the same moment, and tells the team a slot is free.

A person checks the replies. Customers answer reminders with "Can I come at four instead?", so send them from an address someone reads. More on this in booking automation.

Follow up when an enquiry goes unanswered

It starts when an enquiry has had no reply from your team by a time you set, such as the end of the working day. It reminds the person it was assigned to, and if the enquiry is still open the next morning, it tells the owner or manager. A person checks the list of open enquiries, and anything still waiting after the reminders goes to someone to decide rather than getting another automatic message.

It works the other way round too. When you have sent a quote and the customer has gone quiet, one polite follow-up a few days later often gets an answer. Write it once in your own words, or let an AI step draft each one for a person to check. A short question such as "Is the quote still useful to you?" reads better than a sales push. The automation stops as soon as they reply or say no. See enquiry follow-up.

Ask for a review after a finished job

It starts when a job is marked finished or an invoice is paid. After a short wait it sends one message with a direct link to your review page, and one reminder at most. Send it while the job is fresh, and in the name of the person the customer dealt with if you can.

Where the rules require permission for these messages, ask for it at booking and keep the answer with the customer's record. Anyone who said no never gets the request. Ask every finished customer the same way, because Google's review policy does not allow asking only the customers you expect to be happy.

A person reads the replies. Some customers answer a review request with a problem, and that reply has to reach someone who can fix it.

Send yourself a weekly summary

It starts at a set time each week, such as Monday at eight. It gathers the week's new enquiries by source, bookings and cancellations, enquiries still open and new reviews into one short email or team chat message.

The owner or manager checks it, and it should end with the items that need a decision. Put each number next to last week's so changes stand out, and link every item to the record behind it. If nobody reads it, cut it down or stop sending it.

Start with one

Pick the automation that fixes the delay your customers notice most, which is usually the reply to a new enquiry. Run it until it is boring, then add the next. Write down what each one does and who to call when it stops, so it does not live in one person's head.

We build these in n8n, Zapier, Make or custom code, depending on the job and the tools you already use, and we check what your software allows first. See automation.