Top 5 Business Processes to Automate in 2025.
(And Why They Actually Matter)
Automation Without Strategy Is Just Noise.
You don’t need to automate everything. You need to automate what’s actually draining your time.
We’ve worked with dozens of small and mid-sized businesses across Aotearoa — trades, accounting, services, manufacturing — and here’s what we’ve seen:
The businesses getting real ROI from AI and automation?
They all start with the same thing: useful systems that solve real problems.
Here are the 5 most valuable automations we’re seeing work right now.
1. Client Follow-Ups
Still manually chasing leads or checking in with prospects?
A smart follow-up system can:
Track form submissions or inquiry emails
Auto-send tailored responses (without sounding robotic)
Nudge leads after a few days if there’s no reply
Route high-intent leads straight to your calendar
It saves hours, keeps momentum, and stops leads falling through the cracks.
2. Quote Generation
Stop rewriting the same thing every time.
If you’re still manually building quotes from scratch — or tweaking old ones — you’re wasting time.
We build quoting flows that:
Pull in product or service info
Apply client-specific logic or pricing
Auto-generate a clean, professional email or PDF
Log it to your CRM and notify your team
Clients get faster answers. Your team gets hours back.
3. Internal Approvals + Reminders
Leave requests. Job sign-offs. Onboarding checklists.
Most of this still sits in someone’s inbox — and gets missed.
Simple automation can:
Trigger tasks when a form is submitted
Auto-notify the right person
Remind people when something’s overdue
Track the full flow in one place
It keeps your ops running smoothly — without needing a babysitter.
4. Document Summaries + Insights
You don’t need to read every page anymore.
Whether it’s PDF briefs, call transcripts, or onboarding info — AI can now pull out what matters fast.
Our clients use this to:
Summarise long client calls for their CRM
Pull out action points from proposals
Extract key terms or risks from supplier contracts
It’s not just faster — it’s clearer.
5. Lead Gen That Doesn’t Leak
(Our Own Use Case)
Most businesses still rely on generic contact forms, spreadsheets, and inconsistent follow-ups.
We don’t.
At Catalyst, we turned our own lead generation into a fully-automated, human-first flow:
You complete the Friction Finder — a 3-minute diagnostic
Your answers are reviewed in our system
A personalised ROI breakdown is generated
You’re invited to book a 30-minute consult (only if it’s the right fit)
No chasing. No “we’ll get back to you.”
Just clarity — delivered fast.
Want to Know What You Should Automate First?
Don’t guess.
Run the Friction Finder and we’ll show you:
Where your biggest time drains are
Which processes could be automated
How much time/money you could get back
Whether AI or workflow automation makes the most sense
You’ll get a personalised report + the option to book a 30-min consult to unpack it.
It’s free. It’s fast. It’s actually useful.