If you're still doing these tasks manually, you're giving away 20+ hours per week. Here are the workflows you absolutely must automate before hiring more people.
1. Lead Qualification (the most critical)
The problem
Sales spends 60% of their time talking to people who will never buy.
The automation
Stack: Chatbot (WhatsApp/web) + Typeform + CRM (HubSpot/Pipedrive)
Flow:
- Lead arrives → Chatbot asks 3-4 key questions
- Automatic scoring: budget, timing, decision-maker
- If "Hot" → Calendar link straight to Sales
- If "Warm" → Drip email campaign
- If "Cold" → Nurturing list
Goal: Sales only talks to leads that close. Conversion rate +200%.
Tools
- Free: Google Forms + Zapier (100 leads/month)
- Pro: Intercom + Clearbit ($200/month, worth every cent)
2. Customer Onboarding
The problem
New customer = 10 manual emails, PDF docs, forgotten steps, churn by month 1.
The automation
Stack: Email automation (Customer.io / Loops) + Notion + Slack
Flow:
- Customer pays → Automatic trigger
- Welcome email with access (auto-generated)
- Notion workspace pre-loaded with templates
- 7-day sequence: intro video day 1, check-in day 3, scheduled call day 7
- Slack: notification to CS if customer doesn't complete a critical step
Goal: Churn in the first 30 days reduced by 40%.
Tools
- Free: Mailchimp + Notion (up to 500 contacts)
- Pro: Customer.io + Intercom ($300/month for <1000 users)
3. Executive Reports
The problem
Analyst pulls data from 5 sources (Stripe, GA, CRM, SQL). Delivers on Friday. Decisions are made on Monday with stale data.
The automation
Stack: Google Data Studio + Supermetrics / Zapier
Flow:
- Automatic connector to each data source
- Live dashboard (refresh every hour or real-time)
- Automatic alert if a critical metric drops (e.g. MRR -10%)
- Weekly PDF auto-sent to investors
Goal: Real-time decisions. Analyst focuses on insights, not copy/paste.
Tools
- Free: Google Data Studio + Google Sheets (with scripts)
- Pro: Metabase self-hosted + dbt ($0-200/month depending on infra)
4. Sales Follow-up
The problem
Salesperson closes the call, says "I'll follow up next week"... and forgets. Dead deal.
The automation
Stack: CRM with sequences + Calendar automation
Flow:
- Call ends → Salesperson checks "send follow-up sequence"
- Email 1: 24h later (recap + next steps)
- Email 2: 3 days later (relevant case study)
- Email 3: 7 days later (last chance + urgency)
- If no reply → Notification to manager
Goal: Win rate +30%, zero forgotten deals.
Tools
- Free: HubSpot CRM + Sequences (up to 1000 contacts)
- Pro: Salesforce + Outreach ($$$, only if you're already at 7 figures)
5. Invoice & Payment Management
The problem
Customer buys, pays by bank transfer, sends receipt by email, accounting loads it manually, and they forget to follow up if they don't pay.
The automation
Stack: Stripe / MercadoPago + Electronic invoicing (AFIP) + CRM
Flow:
- Customer pays online → Invoice generated automatically (AFIP compliant)
- Thank-you email + attached invoice
- If payment is pending → Automatic reminder on day 7, 14, 21
- If unpaid after 30 days → Automatic service suspension + notification to CS
Goal: On-time collections (DSO -50%), zero manual effort.
Tools
- LATAM: MercadoPago + TuFacturación / Billit
- International: Stripe Invoicing (free)
Conclusion: Your action checklist
For each workflow, ask yourself:
- Do I do this more than 5 times a week? → Perfect candidate for automation
- Does it have clear, repeatable steps? → Easy to implement
- What happens if it fails? → If it's critical, start with alerts + manual fallback
Golden rule: Automate the repetitive. Delegate the strategic.
Let's talk about YOUR startup
Tell us which process you want to solve. After a first conversation, we'll propose the next step.