Simple Automations That Save Hours Every Week

When people hear 'automation,' they often think of complex enterprise systems. But the most impactful automations for local businesses are simple — and they can be set up in a day.

1. Auto-respond to new inquiries

When someone fills out your contact form, they should get an instant confirmation email. Not a generic 'we received your message' — a real response that sets expectations: 'Thanks, we'll call you within 2 business hours.' This keeps leads warm and reduces the 'did they even get my message?' anxiety.

2. Lead notification to your phone

Don't rely on checking your email to know when a new lead comes in. Set up an instant SMS or Slack notification so you or your team can respond quickly. Speed matters — the first business to respond gets the job more than 50% of the time.

3. Follow-up reminders

Sent a quote but didn't hear back? An automated reminder at 3 days and 7 days can recover a surprising number of leads. Keep it simple and personal: 'Just checking in on the estimate we sent over. Happy to answer any questions.'

4. Review requests after job completion

Send an automated email or text 24 hours after completing a job asking for a Google review. Include a direct link to your review page. Most happy customers are willing to leave a review — they just need to be asked at the right time.

5. Appointment confirmations and reminders

Reduce no-shows by sending automatic confirmation when someone books, plus a reminder 24 hours before. This is table stakes for any service business — if you're still doing this manually, you're wasting time.

Getting started

You don't need to implement all of these at once. Start with the one that addresses your biggest pain point. For most businesses, that's either auto-responding to inquiries or follow-up reminders.