Systems
Process Automation
The thing that eats the most time and is the least fun: doing the same steps over and over. That’s exactly what I rebuild so it runs on its own.
A real example
For MessingerDesign I built a four-stage dunning system that works completely automatically: it detects open invoices, generates the matching PDF, attaches the SEPA document and sends the email — without anyone pressing a button. Four stages, from the friendly reminder to the final notice.
What can be automated
Basically almost any process that happens regularly to the same pattern. A few examples from everyday office life:
- Creating and sending invoices, dunning letters and payment reminders
- Automatically capturing, checking and correctly filing incoming invoices
- Generating quotes and contracts from templates
- Adding appointments from emails to the calendar, sending reminders
- Confirmation, welcome and follow-up emails
- Transferring data from forms or mails into the CRM, into Excel or accounting
- Automatically generating and distributing recurring reports and analyses
- Renaming, converting, sorting or backing up files
- Keeping track of maintenance contracts, deadlines and renewals
- Stock or inventory alerts as soon as something runs low
- Synchronising data between programs (API integrations)
The rule of thumb
If you or your people do something the same way again and again by hand, it can usually be automated. And that doesn’t just save time — it also makes fewer mistakes.