Automation

Growth teams run on repetitive processes. Lead routing, data syncing, notification sending, report generating. Each task is small, but they add up to hours of work that could be automated.

Automation tools connect your systems and handle the predictable work. When a lead hits a threshold, route it to sales. When a deal closes, update the dashboard. When a campaign launches, notify the team. These aren't complex workflows, but doing them manually is a waste of human attention.

The risk is over-automation. Brittle workflows that break silently. Complexity that nobody understands. Automation that saves ten minutes but takes hours to maintain. The best automation is simple, reliable, and obvious.

This chapter covers automation tools for growth teams, focusing on practical workflows that save real time without creating technical debt.

Lead routing sends new leads to the right person automatically. Based on company size, industry, source, or score, leads go directly to the appropriate rep without manual assignment.

Data syncing keeps your tools consistent. When someone updates a deal in your CRM, the change should reflect in your dashboard, your Slack channel, and your reporting tool without manual exports.

Notification workflows alert the right people at the right time. Sales needs to know when target accounts visit the website. Marketing needs to know when campaigns hit performance thresholds. Automation makes this instant instead of delayed.

Reporting automation generates and distributes reports on schedule. Weekly pipeline summaries, monthly campaign reviews, and quarterly business updates can compile and send themselves.

Reliability is non-negotiable. Automation that fails silently causes more problems than it solves. Good tools surface errors clearly and retry failed actions appropriately.

Connector coverage determines what you can automate. Check that your specific tools are supported with native integrations, not just generic API connections that require technical setup.

Conditional logic handles real-world complexity. Simple automations trigger on events, but useful automations include conditions, filters, and branching paths based on data.

Monitoring and logging let you understand what's happening. When something goes wrong, you need visibility into what triggered, what data was passed, and where it failed.

Start with your most painful manual process. The workflow your team complains about, the one that eats hours every week, the one where mistakes happen because humans forget steps. Automate that first.

Consider who will build and maintain automations. Some tools require technical skills. Others let anyone build workflows visually. Match the tool to who will actually use it.

Evaluate pricing carefully. Automation tools often charge by task or action. High-volume workflows can get expensive quickly. Calculate the real cost for your expected usage.

Plan for growth and complexity. Simple automations tend to become complex over time. Choose a tool that can handle sophisticated workflows even if you start simple.

Good automation is invisible. It just works. You stop thinking about the tasks it handles because they happen reliably in the background.

Start small and prove value before building complex workflows. One reliable automation that saves an hour a week beats ten fragile automations that require constant maintenance. Build trust in your automated systems before depending on them for critical processes.