You know automation is important. But where do you start? In this article, we'll show you 15 concrete workflow examples - with tools, time savings, and step-by-step instructions.

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Basics: What Is a Workflow?

A workflow is a sequence of tasks that lead to a result. For what these builds typically cost, read our guide to automation pricing and project-size brackets:

Trigger → Action 1 → Action 2 → Action 3 → Result

Example:

New email → Save attachment → Extract data → Enter in CRM → Notify team

The 15 Examples

1. Lead Capture and Distribution

Problem: Leads from different sources land in different inboxes. Manual entry into CRM.

Automated Workflow:

[Typeform] ──┐
[Website]  ──┼──→ [Make.com] ──→ [HubSpot CRM]
[LinkedIn] ──┘         |
                       |──→ [Slack: #sales]
                       |──→ [Email to lead: Thank you]

Tools: Make.com + HubSpot + Slack

Time savings: 5 min/lead x 50 leads/week = 4+ hours/week

Complexity: Easy

Setup:

  • Typeform trigger in Make.com
  • HubSpot module: Create Contact
  • Slack module: Send Message
  • Email module: Send Email (Template)

    • 2. Automatic Invoice Creation

    Problem: After project completion, invoice must be manually created. Often forgotten.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Asana: Task set to "Done"]
      |
[Make.com checks: Is it a client project?]
      |
[Accounting software: Create invoice]
      |
[Email to client: Invoice as PDF]
      |
[Slack: "Invoice sent to X"]

    Tools: Asana + Make.com + Accounting software

    Time savings: 15 min/invoice x 20 invoices/month = 5 hours/month

    Complexity: Medium

    3. Social Media Cross-Posting

    Problem: The same post needs to go on 5 platforms.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Notion: New content entry with status "Publish"]
      |
[Make.com]
      |──→ [LinkedIn: Post]
      |──→ [Twitter: Tweet]
      |──→ [Facebook: Post]
      |──→ [Instagram: Scheduled Post]
      |──→ [Notion: Status → "Published"]

    Tools: Notion + Make.com + Social APIs

    Time savings: 20 min/post x 12 posts/month = 4 hours/month

    Complexity: Easy

    4. Meeting Follow-up

    Problem: After every meeting: distribute notes, create tasks, plan follow-ups.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Calendly: Meeting ended]
      |
[Fireflies.ai: Fetch transcript + summary]
      |
[GPT: Extract action items]
      |
[Asana: Create tasks for each action item]
      |
[Email to participants: Summary + action items]

    Tools: Calendly + Fireflies + OpenAI + Asana + Make.com

    Time savings: 20 min/meeting x 15 meetings/week = 5 hours/week

    Complexity: Advanced

    5. Customer Feedback Loop

    Problem: Feedback is collected but never systematically analyzed.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Typeform: Feedback survey]
      |
[Airtable: Store feedback]
      |
[GPT: Analyze sentiment + categorize]
      |
[IF Sentiment = Negative]
   |──→ [Slack: Alert to Customer Success]
   |──→ [HubSpot: Note on contact]
      |
[Weekly: Generate report → Email to team]

    Tools: Typeform + Airtable + OpenAI + Make.com

    Time savings: Qualitative (better insights, faster response)

    Complexity: Medium

    6. Applicant Screening

    Problem: Review 100 applications, 10 are relevant. Huge time waste.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Email: Application to jobs@company.com]
      |
[Make.com: Extract attachments]
      |
[GPT: Analyze resume vs. requirements]
      |
[Calculate score]
      |
[IF Score > 70%]
   |──→ [HR system: Create candidate]
   |──→ [Email: Send scheduling link]
   |──→ [Slack: "Promising candidate"]
[ELSE]
   |──→ [Email: Friendly rejection (template)]

    Tools: Gmail + Make.com + OpenAI + HR software

    Time savings: 5 min/application x 100 applications = 8+ hours/job posting

    Complexity: Advanced

    7. Inventory Alerts

    Problem: Low inventory noticed too late. Stockouts or overordering.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Daily 8:00 AM]
      |
[Shopify: Fetch all products with inventory]
      |
[Filter: Inventory < minimum threshold]
      |
[For each product:]
   |──→ [Airtable: Add to reorder list]
   |──→ [Slack: "Warning: Product X only Y left"]
   |──→ [Optional: Auto-order from supplier]

    Tools: Shopify + Make.com + Slack + Airtable

    Time savings: Prevented stockouts = immeasurable revenue protection

    Complexity: Easy

    8. Report Automation

    Problem: Every Monday, 2 hours clicking together Excel reports.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Every Monday 7:00 AM]
      |
[Make.com: Collect data]
   |── [HubSpot: Deals last week]
   |── [Google Analytics: Traffic data]
   |── [Stripe: Revenue data]
   |── [Zendesk: Support tickets]
      |
[Google Sheets: Enter data]
      |
[Google Slides: Fill report template]
      |
[Email to management: Report as PDF]

    Tools: Make.com + various APIs + Google Workspace

    Time savings: 2 hours/week = 8 hours/month

    Complexity: Medium

    9. Contract Reminders

    Problem: Cancellation deadlines are forgotten. Contracts auto-renew.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Airtable: Contract database]
      |
[Daily: Check cancellation deadlines]
      |
[IF Cancellation in 90 days:]
   |──→ [Email to responsible person: "Review contract"]
      |
[IF Cancellation in 30 days:]
   |──→ [Slack: Alert + Task in Asana]
      |
[IF Cancellation in 7 days:]
   |──→ [Email to CEO: "Urgent: Contract X"]

    Tools: Airtable + Make.com + Slack

    Time savings: Qualitative (avoided unnecessary renewals)

    Complexity: Easy

    10. Content Repurposing

    Problem: One blog article should also become a LinkedIn post, newsletter, and Twitter thread.

    Automated Workflow:

    [WordPress: New article published]
      |
[GPT: Summarize article]
      |
[GPT: Generate LinkedIn post]
[GPT: Generate Twitter thread]
[GPT: Generate newsletter teaser]
      |
[Notion: Save all versions for review]
      |
[After approval: Auto-post]

    Tools: WordPress + Make.com + OpenAI + Notion

    Time savings: 45 min/article x 4 articles/month = 3 hours/month

    Complexity: Medium

    11. Onboarding Checklist

    Problem: New customer onboardings miss steps. Inconsistent experience.

    Automated Workflow:

    [HubSpot: Deal set to "Closed Won"]
      |
[ClickUp: Create onboarding project from template]
      |
[Set due dates for all tasks]
      |
[Slack: Notify onboarding team]
      |
[Email to customer: Welcome + next steps]
      |
[Calendly link: Book kickoff call]

    Tools: HubSpot + ClickUp + Make.com + Calendly

    Time savings: 30 min/onboarding + better customer experience

    Complexity: Medium

    12. Support Ticket Triage

    Problem: All tickets land in one pot. Important ones get lost.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Zendesk: New ticket]
      |
[GPT: Analyze]
   |── Determine category
   |── Estimate priority
   |── Detect sentiment
      |
[Zendesk: Set tags + priority]
      |
[Route by category:]
   |── Billing → Finance team
   |── Technical → Dev team
   |── General → Support queue
      |
[IF Priority = High OR Sentiment = Angry]
   |──→ [Slack: Immediate alert]

    Tools: Zendesk + Make.com + OpenAI

    Time savings: 2 min/ticket x 200 tickets/month = 6+ hours/month

    Complexity: Medium

    13. Expense Tracking

    Problem: Collecting receipts, photographing, submitting - annoys everyone.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Slack: Post receipt photo in #expenses]
      |
[Make.com: Extract image]
      |
[GPT Vision: Read data]
   |── Amount
   |── Date
   |── Vendor
   |── Category
      |
[Airtable: Create entry]
      |
[Google Drive: Archive receipt]
      |
[Slack: "Receipt captured: [Details]"]

    Tools: Slack + Make.com + OpenAI Vision + Airtable

    Time savings: 3 min/receipt x 50 receipts/month = 2.5 hours/month

    Complexity: Advanced

    14. Competitor Monitoring

    Problem: Manually tracking competitor news is time-consuming.

    Automated Workflow:

    [Daily:]
      |
[Google Alerts: News about competitors]
[LinkedIn: Posts from competitor pages]
[Crunchbase: Funding alerts]
      |
[Make.com: Aggregate]
      |
[GPT: Summarize + assess relevance]
      |
[Slack: Daily digest]
      |
[Weekly: Update Notion report]

    Tools: RSS + Make.com + OpenAI + Slack + Notion

    Time savings: Qualitative (better market intelligence)

    Complexity: Medium

    15. Automatic Follow-ups

    Problem: Follow-ups are forgotten. Deals die.

    Automated Workflow:

    [HubSpot: Deal without activity for 7 days]
      |
[Check: Is deal still open?]
      |
[Email to contact:]
   "Hi [Name], just wanted to check in..."
      |
[HubSpot: Log activity]
      |
[IF no response after 7 more days:]
   |──→ [Second follow-up]
   |──→ [After 3rd attempt: Task for sales rep]

    Tools: HubSpot + Make.com

    Time savings: Qualitative (more closed deals)

    Complexity: Medium

    Quick Start: Your First Automation

    Step 1: Identify the Problem

    Ask yourself:

    • What do I do every week that annoys me?
    • What task do I often forget?
    • Where do I copy data from A to B?

    Step 2: Sketch the Workflow

    Trigger: [What triggers it?]
    |
Action 1: [What happens first?]
    |
Action 2: [What happens next?]
    |
Result: [What's the goal?]

    Step 3: Choose Tools

    • Simple: Zapier
    • Flexible: Make.com
    • Powerful: n8n

    Step 4: Build and Test

  • Create account
  • Set up trigger
  • Add actions
  • Run with test data
  • Activate

    • Step 5: Optimize

    • After 1 week: Is everything running?
    • After 1 month: What can be improved?
    • Continuously: Identify more workflows
    Build it or have it built?
    We implement this workflow for you — fully tested in 1-4 weeks. Fixed-price quote within 24h.
    Get a Quote →

    Conclusion

    These 15 examples are just the beginning. Every company has dozens of workflows that can be automated. See our guides on automation costs and payback, customer service automation, and e-commerce automation for deeper dives.

    Start with one. The most annoying one. The biggest time sink.

    When that works, take on the next.

    Have a process that should be automated but don't know how? Contact us - we'll show you how it's done. For tool guidance, read our Zapier vs. Make vs. n8n comparison and learn what process automation is.