Talking about automation in theory is easy. But what does it look like concretely in an SMB?
Here are 5 real cases (anonymized) of automated processes, with the initial problem, the implemented solution, and the measured results.
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Book my slotCase #1: Automatic Incoming Lead Qualification
Industry: B2B Consulting Firm (Europe) | Size: 18 people
The Problem
The firm received 50-80 contact requests per week via their website. An assistant spent 2 hours/day reading each email, qualifying the prospect (company size, budget, urgency), and forwarding to the right sales rep.
The Solution
An automated workflow that:
- Analyzes email content with AI (intent, company size via LinkedIn/company databases)
- Assigns a qualification score (Hot / Warm / Cold)
- Automatically routes to the right sales rep based on industry
- Sends an immediate personalized response
The Results
-85%
Processing time
+23%
Conversion rate
< 5 min
Response time
Case #2: Automated Invoice Follow-ups
Industry: Marketing Agency (Europe) | Size: 12 people
The Problem
DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) of 58 days. The CFO spent 4 hours/week sending manual reminders, often too late or forgotten. Recurring cash flow tension.
The Solution
A progressive reminder system:
- Day 1 after due date: Automatic friendly reminder email
- Day 7: Second reminder with late fee mention
- Day 15: Alert to sales rep + firmer email
- Day 30: Notification to management + account pause
The Results
38 days
New DSO (-35%)
4h/week
Time recovered
+$45k
Average cash position
Case #3: Automated Client Onboarding
Industry: IT Services Provider (Europe) | Size: 35 people
The Problem
Each new client required 3 hours of administrative work: folder creation, document sending (contract, NDA, access), signature follow-ups, CRM and project tool setup.
The Solution
An onboarding workflow triggered at quote signature:
- Automatic generation of personalized contract (via template)
- Sending for electronic signature (DocuSign/HelloSign)
- Automatic creation: CRM record, Notion workspace, Slack channel
- Welcome email with access and documentation
- Notification to assigned project team
The Results
15 min
vs 3h before
0 missed
Documents/access
+NPS
Client satisfaction
Case #4: Automatic Weekly Reporting
Industry: E-commerce / Distribution (Europe) | Size: 22 people
The Problem
Every Monday, the ops manager spent 2 hours compiling data from 5 sources (Shopify, CRM, accounting, inventory, ads) to create the weekly management report.
The Solution
An automated data pipeline:
- Automatic data extraction every Sunday evening
- Consolidation in a simple data warehouse (Supabase)
- PDF report generation with AI-generated commentary
- Automatic delivery to executives Monday at 7am
The Results
0h
Manual time
100%
Data reliability
7am
Delivered Monday morning
Case #5: HR Leave and Absence Management
Industry: Manufacturing (Europe) | Size: 45 people
The Problem
Leave requests via email, lost approvals, undetected scheduling conflicts, approximate leave balances. HR spent 5 hours/week on this topic.
The Solution
A complete HR workflow:
- Standardized request form (Slack/Teams)
- Automatic verification: sufficient balance? scheduling conflicts?
- Routing to the right manager for approval
- Automatic update of shared calendar and payroll
- Notification to affected team
The Results
-80%
HR time
< 24h
Approval time
0
Scheduling conflicts
Key Takeaways
These 5 cases have one thing in common: they automate low-value but high-volume tasks.
Automation doesn't replace humans. It allows them to focus on what really matters: client relationships, strategy, creativity.
"The goal isn't to automate for the sake of automation. It's to free up time for what truly creates value."
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