Ask two people on your team how a new enquiry gets assigned. If you get two different answers, you’ve found where to start. Automating a process nobody has defined only makes the mess faster.
The good news is that many repetitive tasks can be automated: copying a form into a spreadsheet, creating the contact in the CRM, notifying the salesperson. But first you have to see them written down.
Signs you need to organize before you automate
- Everyone does the same process their own way.
- The most common answer to “how do we do this?” is “we usually just figure it out”.
- The same information is copied from one system to another several times a day.
- Nobody knows what happens when data is missing or something unusual comes in.
- When something breaks, you find out days later.
What to check
1. Write the process down as it is today
What triggers it, who handles each step and what happens when something is missing or unusual. Not how it should be, but how it actually happens.
2. Manual copying
A website form arrives by email. Someone copies it into a spreadsheet, creates a CRM contact, then messages the salesperson. Map those steps: where your tools support it, an integration can transfer the information and notify the right person.
3. A small, well-defined part
Choose a section with clear rules to automate first. Test it with real cases and with exceptions before expanding it.
4. Duplicates and failures
Include a check for duplicates and a way to spot failed transfers. An automation that fails silently is worse than a manual task.
5. What should stay with a person
Some decisions need judgement. Define which ones and how they reach the right person.
An example to make it concrete
A solar panel installer gets quote requests through its website. Today someone copies them into a spreadsheet, moves them to the CRM and texts the salesperson for that area. Writing down the process, they find that assignment by area follows clear rules, but incomplete requests don’t. They automate only the first part: the form creates the CRM contact, assigns it by postal code and notifies the salesperson; incomplete requests go to an inbox for human review. It is an illustrative case, but it shows how to start small.
Common mistakes
- Automating before agreeing on the process.
- Trying to automate the whole workflow in the first stage.
- Not testing exceptions.
- No owner to supervise the automation.
- Replacing every tool when the current ones could be connected.
Frequently asked questions
What should I automate first?
A repetitive task with clear rules that takes time today: for example, sending form submissions to the CRM and notifying the owner.
Do I need to change my tools?
Not necessarily. First we evaluate the ones you use and how they can connect.
What happens if an automation fails?
We define how a failure is detected, who gets the alert and what to do while it’s fixed.
How we solve it at Lovbot
We document the process with you, choose what to automate first, connect your tools with clear rules and train your team to supervise it. See our marketing and sales automation service.
Where to start?
Tell us what information your team keeps copying from one system to another. In a one-time advice session we tell you what can be automated and what’s better left to your team.
