Before You Automate
Turn a painful workflow into a buildable plan.
Map how the work happens today, decide where automation belongs, and leave with a specification someone can build.
The facts
- Fixed fee
- agreed in writing before kickoff
- 2 weeks
- kickoff to handoff
- 1 workflow
- up to three source systems
- 2 sessions
- 90 minutes each, working
You receive an annotated current-state and future-state map, a build specification, and a 60-minute handoff. One revision round included.
Use this when
- One recurring marketing process, such as campaign reporting, lead routing, or content approvals, creates delays, duplicate work, manual reconciliation, or unclear handoffs.
- Exceptions are handled from memory, and the answer depends on who is working that day.
- A new AI feature has arrived and nobody has mapped it into the actual workflow.
- You know which workflow hurts, but not whether to automate it, assist it, simplify it first, or keep it human.
You leave with
An annotated current-state and future-state map, a build specification with review points and exception routes, acceptance criteria, and a 60-minute handoff. One revision round included.
Already know which workflow hurts? Start here. Use the AI Foundation Diagnostic when the primary blocker is still unclear.
Sample blueprint
Every step gets one of four decisions.
Inquiry arrives by form or email
AutomateBoth channels land in one queue. Source: CRM, shared inbox.
Classify type and urgency
AutomateFive categories, agreed in session one. Unmatched items go to the exception route.
Draft the first reply
AssistDraft from approved templates. Nothing sends without step 4.
Review, edit, send
Keep humanOwner: marketing ops coordinator. Review point with edit rights. Acceptance: reply within one business day.
Log outcome to the tracker
Simplify firstThree trackers today. Collapse to one before anything writes to it.
Exception route
Anything unclassified or flagged by the person at step 4 goes to a named reviewer, with the original message attached. Nothing is silently dropped.
Access and permissions
Read from CRM and inbox. Write to one tracker only. No send permission for the automated steps.
Sound familiar?
Workflows that usually qualify.
You already know which process hurts. It repeats, it touches a few systems, and someone has to check the result before it counts.
Inbound inquiry triage
Form and email requests sorted, drafted, and routed, with a person approving each reply.
Intake to project setup
A signed brief becomes folders, tasks, and a kickoff note without someone retyping it three times.
Weekly reporting assembly
Numbers from several exports pulled into one draft, with the commentary still written by the person who owns it.
Content review and approval
Drafts checked against brand and source rules before an editor decides. See the Content Resonance Engine.
What's included
Scope, straightforward.
The fee covers the design. It doesn't cover building, integrating, or cleaning data. Those come next, if they come at all.
In the Sprint
Not in the Sprint
In the Sprint
- One workflow, up to three source systems
- Two 90-minute working sessions with the people who do the work
- Annotated current-state and future-state map
- Build specification: access, exceptions, review points, acceptance criteria
- One revision round
- 60-minute handoff
Not in the Sprint
- Integrations or connectors
- Data cleanup or migration
- Any implementation. The blueprint can be built by your team, another builder, or me.
- A second workflow. Scoped as its own Sprint.
- Vendor selection or procurement
How it runs
Current state to future state in four moves.
We start with the work as it actually happens, not as the process doc says it does.
Map how it happens today
Session one. Walk the workflow end to end with the people who run it. Capture every handoff, wait, and workaround.
Decide what each step becomes
Automate, assist, simplify first, or keep human. Each call is written down with the reason behind it.
Set permissions, review, and exceptions
Session two. What the system may read and write, who checks output before it counts, and where anything unusual goes.
Write the specification
Acceptance criteria a builder can test against. Handed over in a 60-minute session, with one revision round after.
Deliverables
Three things you keep.
Annotated workflow map
Current state and future state side by side, with the decision and reason on every step.
Build specification
Access rules, exception route, review points, and acceptance criteria. Enough for a quote and a test plan.
60-minute handoff
Walk the map and spec with the sponsor and whoever will build it. Agree the next step: build, or simplify first.
Two weeks
What it asks of your team.
About five hours total from the people who do the work, plus the sponsor at handoff.
| Week | What I do | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| One | Kickoff. Session one: map the current state with the people who run the workflow. Draft the future-state decisions. | Name the workflow and up to three source systems. Send two or three people to a 90-minute session. Share screenshots or exports of the steps. |
| Two | Session two: agree permissions, review points, and exceptions. Write the specification. Run the 60-minute handoff. | Same people for the second 90 minutes. Sponsor attends the handoff. One revision round by email afterward. |
One
What I doKickoff. Session one: map the current state with the people who run the workflow. Draft the future-state decisions.What you doName the workflow and up to three source systems. Send two or three people to a 90-minute session. Share screenshots or exports of the steps.Two
What I doSession two: agree permissions, review points, and exceptions. Write the specification. Run the 60-minute handoff.What you doSame people for the second 90 minutes. Sponsor attends the handoff. One revision round by email afterward.
In their words
“Allison turned a proof of concept into a fully functioning automation that has set an important foundation for better governance, significantly improved efficiency be removing hours of manual effort, and enabled development teams who have historically struggled to meet our needs to more effectively implement the specifications. She connected strategy, design, and execution, and created an enduring 'product' that will evolve and become even more effective as current and future client business and measurement needs evolve.”
Excerpts from 2025-2026 company award submissions
Before you book
Common questions.
Do I need a Diagnostic first?
No. If you already know which workflow hurts, start here. The Diagnostic is for when the blocker is unclear.
Does the fee include building it?
No. The Sprint ends at a specification. The blueprint can be implemented by your team, another builder, or me through an Automation Build.
What if the answer is "don't automate this"?
Then the map says so, step by step. Sometimes the right next move is to simplify the process first and revisit in a quarter. That's a useful outcome, not a failed Sprint.
Do we own the map and the spec?
Yes. Share them internally or with any vendor you like.
Bring the workflow that hurts. We'll work out whether two weeks of design is the right next step.
Free introductory conversation. No preparation required.
