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Automation

Admin automation for engineering and trade firms

Too much of your week goes on chasing enquiries, retyping quote requests and sending the same documents again

The problem

Skilled people spend the week on repeat admin

Enquiries get chased by hand, quote requests are retyped, and the same documents are sent again and again. It is work that a system should do, and every hour of it is an hour not spent on the job

What I build

Automations around the tools you already use

I set up simple automations around web forms, email, spreadsheets and your CRM, so nothing needs replacing

  • Enquiry and quote request intake, captured, sorted and acknowledged automatically
  • Quote, certificate and job documents generated from templates
  • Appointment and renewal reminders
  • CRM updates and simple reporting dashboards
  • Connecting systems that don't currently talk to each other
Where automation sits

The steps automation takes off your desk

These are the steps in the lifecycle that automation handles

  1. Enquiry + drawing

    Service: Website and Automation

    The old way: Enquiries arrive as emails and phone messages, drawings turn up in different places, and details get missed

    With the system: A quote request form asks what you'd ask on the phone, takes the drawing if you want it to, and sends the request straight to your email

    The outcome: No lost enquiries, and each one arrives complete

  2. Quote drafted

    Service: Automation and Tolra

    The old way: Someone retypes the enquiry into a quote document and checks it against the template by hand

    With the system: The details are captured and a quote is drafted from your template for you to check

    The outcome: Quotes go out faster, and nobody retypes the same details twice

  3. Approved & sent

    Service: Automation and Tolra

    The old way: Finished quotes wait in drafts until someone has time to check and email them

    With the system: Nothing goes out until a person approves it, and then it's sent in one step

    The outcome: You stay in control, and approved quotes don't wait around

  4. Follow-up

    Service: Automation and Tolra

    The old way: Chasing a quote depends on someone remembering to ring or email

    With the system: Follow-ups and chasing by email go out when you schedule them, and the dashboard lists quotes with no reply

    The outcome: Fewer quotes go cold, and you can see which ones still need an answer

  5. Reviewed & repeat work

    Service: Website and Automation

    The old way: Nobody asks for a review, and past customers are forgotten until they ring again

    With the system: A Google Business Profile and a review link make it easy to leave a review, and reminders can prompt follow-up with past customers

    The outcome: Reviews build trust, and repeat work comes back to a firm that's easy to find

An example

From input to output

One example process, to show how it works, this isn't a client project

InputAn enquiry email arrives with a drawing attached
ProcessThe details are captured in your CRM or spreadsheet and an acknowledgement goes out
OutputA quote document is drafted from your template, ready for you to check and send

A person stays in the loop

Anything the automation can't read or isn't sure about gets flagged for you to check rather than guessed at, and documents come out as drafts for you to approve before they go anywhere

See it working in a live app

Tolra, my job management app for CNC shops, has AI built in that reads from emails and drafts quotes and invoices for you to approve See Tolra

What you get

What you get

  • A walkthrough of one process before anything is built, covering who touches it and which tools it runs on
  • The automation built around your existing tools, with documents generated as drafts for you to approve
  • Reminders and follow-ups on the schedule you set
  • A walkthrough of how it works and what to do if something looks off
  • A pilot of 2 to 4 weeks on one process, with optional monthly care afterwards
Outcome

The outcome

Enquiries are captured and acknowledged, quotes and documents go out faster, and your team spends less time retyping and chasing

Discovery to handover

How a pilot runs

  1. Discovery

    We talk through one process, who touches it and which tools it runs on

  2. Build

    I set it up around the tools you already use

  3. Test

    We run it on real examples from your own enquiries and documents before it goes live

  4. Handover

    You get a walkthrough of how it works and what to do if something looks off, with optional monthly care afterwards

A pilot of 2 to 4 weeks on one process, so you can see if it's worth it before committing to more, with optional monthly care afterwards

Questions

Questions about automation

What kind of jobs can you automate?

Enquiry and quote request intake, quote, certificate and job documents from templates, reminders, CRM updates and simple dashboards, and connecting systems that don't currently talk to each other

Do I have to change the tools I use?

No, I set up automations around the tools you already use, like web forms, email, spreadsheets and your CRM

What if the automation gets something wrong?

Anything it can't read or isn't sure about gets flagged for you to check rather than guessed at, and documents come out as drafts for you to approve before they go anywhere

What is the pilot?

A pilot of 2 to 4 weeks on one process, so you can see if it's worth it before committing to more, with optional monthly care afterwards

How do we start?

With a free 20-minute chat, then a review of how the process works today, then a written proposal, and then I build it

Take the repeat admin out of the week

Tell me which job takes the most time and what tools you already use

Book a free 20-minute chat

Bring one process you want to fix