How automation runs this very website.
The website you're reading isn't just about automation. It runs on it. Here are the two tools I built to run betechnical, told in plain English, including what went wrong along the way. You can have your own version of either one.
Every enquiry saved, sorted and answered, without me lifting a finger.
When someone gets in touch through this website, a lot happens in the next few seconds, and none of it involves me. Here's what it does, and how it's built.
Every enquiry landed in my inbox, and that was it. Nothing saved anywhere tidy, no reply until I got round to it, and the risk of something slipping through the cracks.
Every enquiry is saved to my customer list, and the person gets a friendly, personal reply within seconds. It costs nothing to run.
What happens when you press send
- 📝You send a messageThrough Bea's chat or the contact formThis website
- 📬It arrives as an emailSafely, with a spam check firstFormspree
- 🔎It's read automaticallyEvery detail picked out: name, job, budget, team sizeZoho Mail + Zapier
- ✍️A reply is written for youAbout what you actually asked, not a templateAI by Zapier
- 📋You're added to my listSaved as a new lead, ready for me to follow upGoogle Sheets
- 💌Your reply is sentBranded, from hello@betechnical.co.ukZoho Mail
The reply you get, seconds later
To: sam@example.co.uk
Subject: Thanks for getting in touch, Sam
Hi Sam,
Thanks for getting in touch about your booking reminders. Losing a few appointments a week to people who simply forget is frustrating, and it's one of the easiest things to fix.
I'll have a proper look at what you've described and come back to you with a fixed price within one working day.
Founder, betechnical
hello@betechnical.co.uk · betechnical.co.uk
And the same second, in my customer list
| Name | Wants | Team | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priya S. | Faster quotes | 2–5 | Customer | Website |
| Dan W. | Stock alerts | 6–20 | Potential client | Website |
| Sam T. | Stop no-shows | 2–5 | Lead | Website |
Sample data. Real enquiries stay private.
What went wrong along the way (because real builds always hit snags)
A decorative banner in the first row made the automation think it was the only column, so every detail was crammed into one cell.
Fixed: proper column headings in row one.
By default, all the details went into a single box instead of one box per column. The fix was a setting that isn't obvious until you know it's there.
Fixed: one detail per column, every time.
The first replies squeezed in the slogan and even spelt "betechnical" wrongly. Two rounds of tuning later, they read like a person wrote them.
Fixed: natural replies, correct spelling.
My own business app, built around how I actually work.
The enquiry pipeline fills a spreadsheet. But a spreadsheet isn't a business tool: you can't see what needs doing today, who's paid, or which client has a problem. So I built the Hive, a proper app on top of that same spreadsheet, shaped exactly around how betechnical runs.
A growing spreadsheet. Changing a status meant finding the right cell. Nothing told me what was urgent, who was waiting, or what I'd forgotten to invoice.
One screen that tells me what needs me, worst first. Every client, job, quote, contract and support ticket in one place, and nothing typed twice.
The first thing I see every morning: "Needs you"
Good morning, Ryan
Here's what needs you today, worst first.
- Invoice reminders stopped sendingBT-0004 · Bot Cover · reported 2 hours agoUrgent
- Report shows last month's totalsBT-0011 · no plan · 1 hr billableToday
- Quote sent, no reply for 6 daysBT-0015 · Automation · £420Follow up
- New enquiry, not answered yetBT-0017 · Stop no-shows · team of 2–5Reply
- Support time ready to invoiceBT-0009 · 1.5 hrs loggedInvoice
Sample data, shown for illustration. Real client details never leave the business.
Every job moves across the board, from first hello to paid
Lead 4
Potential client 3
Customer 5
Paid 9
Everything about a client, in one place
Every client gets one automatically, so nobody is ever "that email from last week".
Priced by what was built, and it decides how urgently their problems are treated.
Problems are logged, and priced automatically if they're not on a plan.
Every quote can be reopened exactly as sent, and contracts are tracked to signed.
It runs inside my own Google account, and Google checks it's really me before the page will even open. There's no separate password to leak, no public way in, and no extra security product to pay for.
Here's the clever part: the two tools work as one. The enquiry pipeline writes new clients into the spreadsheet, and the Hive reads and updates that same spreadsheet live. No exporting, no importing, nothing to keep in sync.
Every tool here started as a problem I had.
Tell me yours. If it's something you do over and over, there's a good chance it can run itself. Stop being busy. Be technical.