27 Make.com automations consultants set up for clients: what to automate first, and why (free blueprints)
Short answer
Automate first what happens every week, follows the same steps each time, and costs money or a client when it is missed: for most small businesses that is the lead alert, then quote follow-up, then invoice reminders with a payment check. Each is three to five Make modules with Google Sheets, Gmail and Telegram, and each has a free blueprint. Leave anything that polls Gmail for later, because on Make's Free plan a 15-minute Gmail check alone uses more credits than the plan includes.
What to automate first for a small-business client, in what order and why: four tests, the first six compared, and 27 free Make blueprints by problem.
Disclosure: links marked "paid link" pay us a commission from the vendor if you sign up. Your price is unchanged, and every file here works without them. How we choose tools →
If you build systems for clients, the same requests come back again and again: "I lose leads", "nobody follows up on quotes", "chasing invoices is awkward", "the client keeps asking what is going on". None of them needs a big platform. Each is three to five steps in Make, a Google Sheet, Gmail and a Telegram message. The hard part is not building them. It is choosing which one to build first, so the client sees a result in the first week and the plan fits the tools and the budget they have.
This page is that decision. First the tests we use to choose, then the first six automations compared side by side, the order we set them up in, and what does not work. At the end is the full list of 27, grouped by the problem each one solves, each linking to its free blueprint, sheet columns, steps and caveats. Each blueprint page says whether it has been imported into our own Make account; a new one is marked unverified until it has.
- 76%of US small-business owners and operators said they had adopted some form of automation (500+ surveyed)Zapier / Centiment, 2026
- 55%said they had repetitive manual tasks they had thought about automating but had notZapier / Centiment, 2026
- 94%of SMB employees said they perform repetitive, time-consuming tasksZapier, 2021
- 33%named invoice management as one of their most time-consuming tasks; 38% named data entryZapier, 2021
These are surveys run by a company that sells automation software, so treat the percentages as a rough picture of what owners say, not a measurement. The useful part is the list of tasks people name, which matches what clients ask us for: data entry, invoices, and copying the same information between tools.
Four tests for what to automate first
Run every candidate through these four questions. An automation that passes all four goes first; one that fails the first or the second usually should not be automated yet.
- Does it happen every week? A task that happens twice a year is cheaper to do by hand than to build, test and maintain.
- Are the steps the same every time? If the client describes the process differently each time you ask, write the process down first. Automating an unsettled process fixes the mess in place.
- Does missing it cost money or a client? A lead not called, a quote not followed up, an invoice not chased. These are where a client notices the automation in the first month.
- Is the data already somewhere Make can reach? A form that can send a webhook, a Google Sheet, a Gmail label. If the data lives in someone's head or on paper, the first job is a form, not an automation.
The first six, compared
Operations per run come from each blueprint file. How often a scenario runs decides what it costs: a webhook scenario runs only when something happens, a scheduled one runs every day whether or not there is work, and a Gmail watch checks the inbox on a timer.
| Order | Automation | Starts on | Make operations per run | The problem it removes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lead alert (form → sheet → Telegram) | A form webhook, per lead | 3 | Leads that wait hours for a reply |
| 2 | Quote follow-up | A daily schedule | 4 | Quotes sent and never mentioned again |
| 3 | Invoice reminder | A daily schedule | 3 | Invoices noticed at month end |
| 4 | Payment received | The payment provider's webhook, per payment | 4 | Reminders sent to clients who have paid |
| 5 | Review request after a project | A daily schedule | 3 | Happy clients who were never asked |
| 6 | Labelled Gmail email → task | A Gmail watch on a timer | 3 | Requests that stay in the inbox |
Why this order
- The lead alert goes first because clients feel it in the first week, it runs only when a lead arrives, and it teaches the pattern every other blueprint uses: a trigger, a row in a sheet, a message.
- Quote follow-up is next because it reads the same sheet. A quote that gets a polite follow-up after three days is one the client no longer has to remember.
- The invoice reminder and the payment check go together, never one without the other. A reminder without the payment check will eventually chase someone who has paid.
- The review request comes after the client has a few finished projects in the sheet. It asks every client the same way, which is also what Google's review policy requires.
- The Gmail-to-task automation goes last on the Free plan. It watches the inbox on a timer, and every check costs a credit whether or not an email arrived.
Client onboarding automation: what to automate after the yesThe kickoff email, the first task and the alert, from a quote marked "won" or a form
Build a plan for a specific clientAnswer a few questions; get the automations in order, with the credits each one uses
What the first automations cost on Make
Make's Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month, two active scenarios and a 15-minute minimum interval; Core starts at $12 a month for 10,000 credits with unlimited active scenarios (checked 2026-09-29). In practice the limit a client meets first is the two active scenarios, not the credits. A lead alert and a quote follow-up use both. Adding the invoice reminder is the point where Core is needed.
The exception is anything that polls. A Gmail watch that checks every 15 minutes runs 96 times a day, about 2,880 checks in a 30-day month, which is almost three times the Free plan's credits before a single email is processed. Webhook scenarios cost nothing while nothing happens. That is why the webhook-based automations come first here, and why the Gmail one waits until the client is on a paid plan.
Estimate the credits for a client (free calculator)Pick the automations and a monthly volume; see the credits and the Make plan that fits
What does not work
- Automating a process nobody owns. Every automation needs a person who reads the alert, answers the follow-up reply, or calls the client whose invoice is still open. Put that person's name in the sheet before switching anything on.
- Asking only happy clients for a review. Google's policy forbids businesses to "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers", and reviews collected that way can be removed. The review request blueprint asks every finished project the same way; the NPS form only changes whether you also get an alert.
- Building on a client's personal @gmail.com account without checking. Make can hit Google's "restricted scopes" error with personal Gmail accounts; test the connection before promising a date.
- Six automations in the first week. Each one needs a week of test runs against real data before the client relies on it. Two a week is a pace a client can check.
- Treating the blueprint as finished. Every blueprint has placeholders (sheet id, columns, wording) and a caveats list. Read the caveats on each blueprint page before importing it.
Fix the Gmail "restricted scopes" errorWhen Make cannot connect a personal @gmail.com account
The full list follows: all 27 automations, grouped by the problem each one solves, each with its blueprint, video and caveats.
Leads: stop losing the ones that already came in
Lead comes in → logged → alert. No hands.
A form on the client site sends a lead; it is logged and an alert reaches Telegram in seconds. The first automation every consultant sets up.
Blueprint, steps and caveats → · Watch the tutorial on YouTube
Get all 27 blueprints in one ZIP, by email
Returning lead → recognised → "second contact", not "new lead"
A returning lead is greeted as new. Before logging, the phone is checked against the log; if it is there, the alert says "came back", not "new lead".
Form arrives incomplete → an email asking for exactly what is missing
A lead without a phone, an order without an address. Instead of someone chasing, one email lists the missing fields; the lead is logged as "incomplete".
A lead untouched for 7 days → an alert to the salesperson, not the client
Every morning, each open lead not updated for a week surfaces in one list: name, source, owner, days quiet. The lead gets nothing — the owner does.
Every Sunday: leads by source → one message with the change from last week
Which source brings the leads? Every Sunday one Telegram message lists this week's leads per source (website, Facebook, referral) beside last week's.
Tally form → lead log → Telegram alert. The free version of the lead alert
No website form, no CRM, no paid tool. A free Tally form posts to Make; the lead lands in Google Sheets and Telegram pings sales in seconds.
Sales: follow up without remembering to
Quote unanswered for 3 days → one follow-up, automatic
Every quote sent and unanswered within three days gets one short follow-up email, and the consultant gets an alert. Nothing to remember, nobody to chase.
Quote still unanswered on day 10 → one last "should I close this?" email
A quote still silent 10 days after it went out, follow-up included, gets one last short email offering to close it. The row is closed; you get an alert.
Quote marked "won" → kickoff email → onboarding task → alert
Mark a quote "won" in the sheet: the client gets an email saying what happens next, a kickoff task opens in the onboarding list, and you get an alert.
New client → welcome email → onboarding checklist → alert
A client signs and hears nothing until someone is free. On signing, they get an email saying what comes next, a checklist opens and the team is alerted.
Project closed → 7 days → a Google review request
A week after a project is marked "done", the client gets a personal email with a direct link to write a review. Once, at the right moment.
A meeting tomorrow → a reminder 24 hours ahead, with a "can't make it" link
A no-show is a slot nobody could refill. Every morning, each of tomorrow's meetings gets a reminder email with the time and a "can't make it" link.
Booking form → meetings sheet → confirmation email. Feeds the no-show reminder
A booking arrives and nobody confirms it. A Tally form writes the meeting to the sheet, emails the client a confirmation and pings you on Telegram.
Booked on Cal.com → logged in the meetings sheet → you know in seconds
Every Cal.com booking becomes a row in your meetings sheet, in your time zone, and a Telegram alert. The no-show reminder takes it from there.
Blueprint, steps and caveats → · Watch the tutorial on YouTube
Feedback score → the same thank-you and review link for everyone; a low score also alerts you
Unhappy clients stay silent until the review. A one-question Tally form (0–10) sends everyone the same review link; a 6 or lower also pings Telegram.
Money: invoices that chase themselves, politely
Invoice past due → an automatic, polite reminder
Once a day it finds open invoices past their date and sends a reminder. The client no longer has to remember to chase.
Blueprint, steps and caveats → · Watch the tutorial on YouTube
Payment received → invoice marked "paid" → a thank-you to the client
A paid invoice keeps getting reminders. The payment webhook marks the invoice "paid" with the date in the sheet, and the client gets a short confirmation.
Invoice 30 days late → a firmer second notice, and a nudge to call
Once a day it finds invoices 30 days past due that already had a reminder, sends a firmer second notice, and tells you it is time to call.
Work: one list instead of five apps
Labelled email → task in the log → reminder
Tag an email with one label and it becomes a task with a due date and an alert. One screen for everything that is waiting.
Every morning: what is due today → one message
At seven in the morning one Telegram message arrives with every task due today, by client. One screen to open the day, instead of five.
A task overdue by 3 days → an alert to the consultant, not the client
Overdue tasks do not disappear, they sink. Once a day, every open task 3 days late surfaces in one Telegram message to its owner, before the client asks.
A Make scenario fails → a row in the error log and a Telegram alert in seconds
Every failing scenario posts to one webhook: the failure is logged in an errors sheet and sent to you on Telegram with the error and the scenario link.
Clients: answer "what is going on?" before they ask
Weekly report → Telegram, every Sunday at eight
The numbers the client asks about every week — leads, open tasks, invoices — reach them on their own, in one message, before they ask.
Every Thursday: project status → an email to the client, without writing it
Clients ask "what's happening" because nobody wrote. One status word in a sheet becomes a tidy weekly email to the client every Thursday, with no writing.
On the 1st: the month's summary → an email to the client, without opening a sheet
Clients want the same three numbers every month: leads in, deals closed, invoices open. On the 1st at eight they arrive in one email, from the sheet.
Contract ends in 30 days → renewal email to the client → alert to you
Every morning Make checks the contracts sheet. A contract ending within 30 days gets one renewal email to the client, the row is stamped, you get an alert.
"Remove me" email → marked → confirmation, within a minute
A "remove me" email waits until someone is free. The sender is marked in the list and gets a confirmation within a minute, as spam law and GDPR require.
Where to start
Start with the lead alert. It is the one clients feel in the first week, it touches the tools every other automation uses, and it shows you how the blueprints are built: a trigger, a row in a sheet, a message. Once it runs, the rest are variations.
New automations go out on the Telegram channel and as Shorts on YouTube.
The numbers behind these automationsLead response, late invoices, no-shows, admin time and automation adoption — every figure with its source
What should a small business automate first?
The task that happens every week, follows the same steps each time, and costs money or a client when it is missed. For most service businesses that is answering new leads, then following up quotes, then chasing overdue invoices together with marking payments received.
How many automations can a client run on Make's free plan?
Two active scenarios, with 1,000 credits a month and a 15-minute minimum interval (checked 2026-09-29). A lead alert and a quote follow-up fit; a third automation needs Core, which starts at $12 a month (checked 2026-09-29).
Why not start with the email-to-task automation?
It watches Gmail on a timer, and every check uses a credit whether or not a new email arrived. At the Free plan's 15-minute interval that is about 2,880 checks in a 30-day month, more than the plan includes. Webhook-based automations cost nothing while nothing happens.
Are these blueprints free to use for client work?
Yes. Each blueprint file is published under CC0, so you can import, change and deploy it for clients. Each page lists its placeholders and what does not work, and says whether we have imported it into our own Make account.
Do I need a CRM before automating?
No. Every blueprint here uses a Google Sheet as the log. When a client outgrows the sheet, the same webhooks can feed a CRM instead; the alerts and follow-ups stay the same shape.
- Zapier. "Survey: SMBs use AI. Now they need to use it safely," 2026 (survey by Centiment of 500+ US SMB owners and operators)
- Zapier. "The 2021 state of business automation" (repetitive tasks; most time-consuming tasks)
- Make — Pricing (Free: 1,000 credits, 2 active scenarios, 15-minute interval; Core from $12/month; checked 2026-09-29)
- Make Help Center — Operations (one operation per trigger check)
- Google — Maps user-contributed content policy: prohibited and restricted content (review solicitation)