At one of my previous companies, there was a team whose entire job was to build websites for users based on their requirements. The process started with collecting requirements via a form.
If a user didn’t submit their content within 15 days, the team would send a follow-up asking for details and an expected timeline. If there was still no response after another 15 days, a second follow-up would go out before the project was finally built using demo content.
All of this was tracked manually in a Google Spreadsheet. Every follow-up reminder was set up by hand. Every email was sent manually. The team was spending an enormous amount of time on process management instead of doing the actual work ie. building sites.
The Problem with Manual Workflows
When I came to know about this, my first instinct wasn’t to write a script. And I think that’s worth pausing on because when most people hear “automation”, they immediately think: we need to build something.
I believe the more scripts you create, the more technical debt you take on. Someone has to maintain them. Someone has to fix them when they break. Scripts are powerful, but they’re not always the right first move.
So instead, I asked: what can we do with the tools we already have?
Starting with Zendesk
Zendesk was the tool everyone on the team already used. It was already the hub for customer communication, and it made it easy to move requests across teams and bring in the right people at the right time. Starting there was a no-brainer.
I built out a full workflow using Zendesk Automations and Triggers:
- Automated the 15-day follow-up reminders to users — no more manual calendar reminders
- Automated the second follow-up and project closure sequence
- Recreated the project stages the team already used in the spreadsheet as custom fields and views within Zendesk
- Eliminated the spreadsheet entirely
The spreadsheet didn’t just get replaced, it became unnecessary. Everything the team needed to see was now visible in Zendesk, in real time, with no manual upkeep.
Going Further: CSAT and Migration Workflows
Once the foundation was in place, we kept going. The team had always wanted to send CSAT surveys but they wanted to give users enough time to actually explore their new site before asking for feedback. That timing had always been managed manually. We automated that too, sending the survey at the right interval after site delivery without anyone having to remember.
There was also a similar migrations workflow that another team worked on. Migration requests came in via an API that created tickets in Zendesk but the follow-up asking users how to submit their site details for accessing the backup was still being sent manually. I automated that as well, so the moment a migration ticket was created, the right next steps were triggered automatically.
The Result: 40 Hours a Week Back
By the time we were done, the team had reclaimed 40 hours per week that had previously been spent on manual follow-ups, reminder-setting, and spreadsheet maintenance.
Those 40 hours went back into building sites. Which meant more projects completed. Which meant more revenue.
The partnership between me and the teams became much stronger through this work which is one of those outcomes you don’t always anticipate but always appreciate.
The Lesson
Before you build, look at what you already have. Regularly review your workflows. Map where your team’s manual time is going. Ask what existing tools can do that you haven’t fully explored yet.
Automation doesn’t have to mean engineering effort. Sometimes it means being curious enough to dig into the tools you already use every day.
This improvement makes me feel so proud not because it was technically complex, but because it made a real, measurable difference for a team that deserved more time to do the work they actually loved.
Sandeep Kaur 