# Agency Automation Guide: What to Automate and How to Start > To automate an agency, log everything you do for a week or a month, pick the tasks that are repetitive and happen on a regular basis, write a short process document for each, then build it in a no code tool such as Zapier or Make. Systemise first and automate second, so the process is sound before technology speeds it up. Source: https://fluxomate.com/blog/an-agency-s-guide-to-automation.html Published by Fluxomate (https://fluxomate.com/), 2024-06-17. Section: Full breakdowns. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWDVgqKW8r0 ## Key takeaways - Automation is using technology to perform a task with minimal human intervention. - The main benefits are savings in time and money, scalability and a better experience for clients and team. - Just because you can automate something does not mean you should. Keep the human touch where relationships matter. - Find candidates by journalling your work and highlighting repetitive, regular tasks. - Spend about 15 minutes writing a clear process before you build anything. - For larger systems, use an interface such as a CRM, project management tool or spreadsheet to trigger and track automations. ## What is automation and why use it in an agency? Automation is the use of technology to perform a task with minimal human intervention. The idea is old. It became popular in the 20th century when assembly lines were introduced in car manufacturing. The tools are different now, but the concept is the same: take a process, break it down into steps, and use technology to increase speed and efficiency, reduce human effort and reduce the chance of errors. There are three main reasons to start. The first is savings, in both time and money. The second is scalability. The third is experience, for your clients and for your team. ## What are the benefits of automating your agency? **Savings.** Take a simple example. Every time a new member joins a low ticket programme or coaching offer, someone adds them to the CRM, gives them the relevant files and sends a welcome email. That is a task a simple automation can do instantly. Now picture the same small saving across onboarding, sales, fulfilment, content, team management and customer success. Small savings stack up. **Scalability.** When it is just you and a couple of clients, doing things by hand is fine. Once the team and client list grow, clients expect results without delays. Without systems that can cope, you get unhappy clients, chargebacks and bad reviews. Automation is not the only answer, since you also need other systems and a good team, but it reduces the problem a lot. **Experience.** For clients, automation means fewer delays, constant communication, consistent quality and faster results. That supports better relationships. For your team, it lowers the admin workload so they can focus on the skills they are good at, gives them the tools they need, and makes them more likely to stay. ## Should you automate everything? No. Today there is very little you cannot automate, but that does not mean you should. A large share of customer success work could be automated, yet in an agency the human relationship with the client still matters in most cases. The principle to follow is to systemise, not just automate. Here is an example. You could send every new client a generic email after 30 days. Everyone knows it is generic, so it means little. Or you could build a systemised process that, 30 days after onboarding, notifies a customer success manager to write a personal handwritten note and post it. Both use a process. Only the second one creates a good experience. ## How do you find what to automate? Journal everything you do, for a week or, if you want to be thorough, a month. Be literal: write down what you did hour by hour, for example a call from one time to another, then updating the CRM. The best method is to set a timer that goes off every hour so you write it down then. Doing it at the end of the day means you will forget things. 1. Review your journal and highlight every task you could hand to a low cost virtual assistant. Do not think about automation yet, think about what you would outsource. 2. Look for tasks that are repetitive and tasks that happen on a regular basis. Typical examples are sending reports, updating the CRM and sending template emails to clients. 3. If the journal gives you no ideas, go through your agency processes instead, such as onboarding, fulfilment and content creation, and highlight the tasks that are repetitive and regular. 4. Start with the simple, beginner friendly tasks. The harder, higher value automations need more planning and are better tackled once you have some experience. ## Zapier or Make: which tool should you choose? Automation tools mostly repackage the APIs of different companies. An API is how two systems communicate with each other. The two main tools are Zapier and Make. We use both, so it comes down to preference. In our experience Zapier is a bit more beginner friendly but more expensive. Make is slightly cheaper and can do a bit more, but it is harder to learn at the start. Most of these tools have a free plan or a 14 day free trial, so test a few and pick the one that suits you. ## How to build your first automation 1. Choose your platform, such as Zapier or Make. 2. Optimise the process before you automate it. An automation applied to an inefficient process only magnifies the inefficiency. 3. Spend about 15 minutes laying out exactly what the automation should do, as a clear standard operating procedure. Think about it as something that will run every day for a long time, not for a month. 4. Build it. For small automations, such as updating a CRM when a new lead arrives or sending a lead magnet, the platforms make this easy. Follow a tutorial, build along, and use ChatGPT to get past any hurdles. 5. Expect some obstacles. They are all solvable, and trying things yourself is the quickest way to learn. ## How do you run automation day to day? For a few small automations you do not need anything extra. But once you are connecting many systems, an interface helps. It can be a CRM, a project management tool or even a Google Sheet. Its jobs are to trigger automations, track what is happening, and store key values that link different automations together. This is why we set up an internal platform for clients before we move on to automation work. It gives the automations somewhere to live. The video above walks through the wider approach. ## Questions people ask ### What should an agency automate first? Start with tasks that are repetitive and happen on a regular basis, such as sending reports, updating the CRM and sending template emails to clients. Journal your work for a week or a month to find them. ### Is Zapier or Make better for agencies? It comes down to preference, and we use both. Zapier is a bit more beginner friendly but more expensive. Make is slightly cheaper and can do a bit more, but it takes longer to learn. ### Should I automate customer success? Be careful. Much of it can be automated, but the human relationship with the client still matters in most cases. Systemise the process, for example by prompting a team member to write a personal note, rather than sending something generic. ### Do I need a developer to automate my agency? For small, beginner tasks, no. Tools like Zapier and Make connect applications together without code, and free tutorials and ChatGPT can help you past problems. Larger systems need more planning. Tools used: Zapier, Make.com, ChatGPT, Google Sheets Free templates for this guide: https://fluxomate.com/resources.html?r=an-agency-s-guide-to-automation