How to Automate Your Daily Business Tasks Using Zapier and Make.com

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, businesses are always seeking ways to optimize operations, save time, and increase productivity. Automation is the key to achieving these goals, and tools like Zapier and Make.com (formerly Integromat) allow businesses to automate tedious, repetitive tasks effortlessly. Whether it’s managing CRM updates, scheduling social media posts, or running email marketing campaigns, automation lets you streamline these activities and focus on growth.

In this article, I’ll walk you through how to use Zapier and Make.com to automate your daily business tasks, backed by examples and real-life success stories.

What is Automation and Why Does it Matter?

Automation eliminates manual work by connecting your apps and automating workflows. You can set up rules (triggers and actions) to perform specific tasks without any human intervention. According to a study by McKinsey, 45% of paid activities can be automated with current technologies, saving time and reducing errors.

Zapier and Make.com are leaders in this space, making it simple for businesses to automate everything from lead management to project updates, ensuring smooth and efficient operations.

Step-by-Step Examples: How to Automate with Zapier and Make.com

1. CRM Updates: Automating Lead Management

One of the most valuable automation workflows for businesses is integrating CRM systems like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive with other platforms.

Example:

• Goal: Automatically add new leads from a website form to your CRM.
• Tool: Zapier
• Workflow:
  • Trigger: A form submission on your website (via tools like Gravity Forms or Typeform).
  • Action: Add the form data (name, email, company) to your CRM.

Here’s how it works with Zapier:

1. Create a new Zap (Zapier’s term for automation).
2. Select Gravity Forms (or the tool you use) as the trigger app.
3. Choose “New Form Submission” as the trigger event.
4. Set HubSpot as the action app.
5. Choose “Create Contact” in HubSpot.

With this workflow, any lead from your form is instantly added to your CRM without the need for manual data entry.

Tip: If you’re using Make.com, the process is similar but offers more advanced conditional logic and complex workflows.

2. Social Media Posting: Automating Content Scheduling

Managing your social media accounts manually is time-consuming. Instead of posting content across platforms manually, you can automate social media scheduling using Zapier or Make.com.

Example:

• Goal: Automatically schedule posts across multiple platforms (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) from a Google Sheet.
• Tool: Make.com
• Workflow:
  • Trigger: A new row is added in Google Sheets (e.g., with a new post).
  • Action: Automatically schedule that post on Twitter and Facebook.

Steps:

1. Set Google Sheets as the trigger app.
2. Choose the trigger event: “New Row Added”.
3. Add actions for social media platforms, e.g., Twitter: Post Tweet and Facebook Pages: Create Post.
4. In Make.com, you can add more conditions, such as posting only if certain columns are filled.

This automation ensures your posts go live at the right time across different platforms, with zero manual effort.

3. Email Marketing: Automating Campaigns and Follow-Ups

Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools for nurturing leads, but manual campaign management can be overwhelming. By automating your email campaigns, you can send personalized follow-up emails based on user behavior or pre-defined triggers.

Example:

• Goal: Send a follow-up email when a user downloads a resource from your website.
• Tool: Zapier
• Workflow:
  • Trigger: A new download in your lead magnet form (e.g., via Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign).
  • Action: Send a follow-up email with additional resources.

Here’s how you do it in Zapier:

1. Set up your lead magnet form as the trigger.
2. Choose Mailchimp as the action app.
3. Use the “Send Email” action to deliver a custom message with more resources.

This type of automation ensures timely follow-ups, nurturing leads without manually tracking each download.

Case Study: Streamlining Operations and Reducing Costs for a Swiss Consulting Firm

Client Overview:

Our client, a mid-sized consulting firm based in Switzerland, was struggling to keep up with their growing workload. With 15 employees and a rapidly expanding client base, the firm was experiencing inefficiencies in their day-to-day operations, leading to unnecessary delays, communication gaps, and increased operational costs.

The Challenges:

1. Manual Lead Management:
   The firm was manually tracking leads in spreadsheets, making it difficult to maintain up-to-date information and follow up in a timely manner. This resulted in missed opportunities and a lack of visibility into their sales pipeline.
2. Inconsistent Client Onboarding:
   The client onboarding process was fragmented. Consultants were handling onboarding individually, with little standardization across the team. This led to inconsistent client experiences and delays in project start times.
3. Time-Consuming Administrative Tasks:
   Employees were spending a significant amount of time on repetitive, manual tasks such as sending follow-up emails, scheduling meetings, and updating client records. These tasks were not only draining resources but also distracting employees from focusing on billable work.
4. High Operational Costs:
   The firm was hiring additional administrative staff to manage these manual processes, driving up operational costs without increasing efficiency. They needed a way to streamline operations without adding more overhead.

---

Our Solution: Implementing a Tailored Automation Strategy

After a comprehensive audit of their operations, we developed a custom automation plan using Zapier and Make.com to address these key pain points. The goal was to reduce manual intervention, standardize processes, and improve operational efficiency, ultimately saving time and cutting costs.

1. Automating Lead Management and Follow-Up:

We integrated the firm’s website forms and LinkedIn lead generation efforts with their CRM (HubSpot), creating an automated system that:

• Captured leads automatically and stored them in the CRM with no manual data entry required.
• Set up automated email sequences that sent personalized follow-up emails to leads based on specific triggers (e.g., after downloading a whitepaper or attending a webinar).
• Used task automation to assign leads to consultants based on availability and expertise, ensuring prompt follow-up.

Result: The automation reduced lead response time from days to mere hours and eliminated the need for manual data entry. This not only improved the firm’s lead conversion rate by 20% but also freed up valuable time for the sales team.

2. Standardizing Client Onboarding:

We built a standardized, automated onboarding process that:

• Sent automated welcome emails to new clients with onboarding documents and scheduling links for their first consultation.
• Integrated with their project management tool, automatically creating project templates for new clients, assigning tasks, and setting deadlines based on the project scope.
• Created automated reminders for clients and internal team members to ensure that all onboarding steps were completed on time.

Result: The automated onboarding process reduced client onboarding time by 50%, delivering a consistent experience across the board and allowing consultants to focus more on strategic client work instead of administrative tasks.

3. Automating Repetitive Administrative Tasks:

By automating routine administrative tasks such as email follow-ups, meeting scheduling, and data updates, we were able to:

• Automate calendar invites and meeting reminders, significantly reducing back-and-forth communication.
• Set up automatic invoice generation and payment tracking, directly linked to project completion in their project management system.
• Use Zapier to automatically sync client updates between systems, eliminating the need for manual record-keeping.

Result: The firm saved over 10 hours per week in administrative time, allowing consultants to focus on billable client work. This not only improved team productivity but also reduced the need for additional administrative staff, saving the company approximately CHF 40,000 annually in salary expenses.

---

Measurable Outcomes:

1. Enhanced Client Experience: The streamlined client onboarding process provided a consistent and professional experience for new clients, which improved client satisfaction and led to a 10% increase in client retention.
2. Time Savings: The consulting firm saved over 10 hours per week on administrative tasks, allowing employees to focus more on client-facing activities. This led to a 15% increase in billable hours within the first three months.
3. Cost Reduction: By reducing their reliance on administrative staff and improving overall operational efficiency, the firm was able to cut operational costs by CHF 40,000 per year.
4. Improved Lead Conversion: The automated lead management system resulted in a 20% improvement in lead-to-client conversion rates, thanks to faster response times and more consistent follow-up efforts.

“By automating our repetitive tasks, we’ve reclaimed hours each week and significantly improved our lead follow-up time. As a result, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in our conversion rates.”
– John Doe, CEO of XYZ Consulting Agency
(Name and company changed for privacy)

---

Conclusion: Start automating your business today

By leveraging Zapier and Make.com, you can streamline your daily tasks, saving time and reducing errors. Whether it’s managing CRM entries, scheduling social media posts, or running email campaigns, automation allows you to focus on what truly matters—growing your business.

If you’re ready to start automating, sign up for a free automation consultation. Our experts at JSO-M will help you identify key areas for automation and implement custom workflows tailored to your needs.