Workflow Automation: 15 Real-World Examples

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.

Basics: What Is a Workflow?

A workflow is a sequence of tasks that lead to a result:

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

Conclusion

These 15 examples are just the beginning. Every company has dozens of workflows that can be automated.

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.