Building Your First Client Management Automation: A Beginner’s Guide
I created a simple client management system using Airtable and Make.com. Perfect for learning automation basics and available as ready-to-use templates.
Why I Built This Learning Project
If you’re new to no-code automation, client management is actually a perfect place to start. The workflows are straightforward, the pain points are real, and you can see immediate results. That’s exactly why I put together this simple system.
This isn’t some enterprise-level solution or groundbreaking technical achievement. It’s three basic automations that solve real problems and teach fundamental automation concepts. Think of it as “Automation 101” with a practical application.
The goal was to create something that:
- Anyone can set up in an afternoon
- Teaches core automation principles
- Solves actual business problems
- Provides templates for others to learn from
What This Simple System Does
The automation handles three basic client management tasks that most service businesses do manually:
1. Lead Capture → Research & Meeting Setup When someone fills out your contact form, the system automatically creates an Airtable record, schedules the meeting, and does basic research on the company and contact.
2. Meeting → Proposal Creation After a good meeting, you can trigger proposal generation that uses AI to create a first draft based on your client research and meeting notes.
3. Proposal Accepted → Client Onboarding When they say yes, the system automatically creates a Slack channel and organized Google Drive folder for the new client.
That’s it. Three workflows (4 total Make.com Scenarios), each handling one simple business process.
The Technical Setup (It’s Simpler Than You Think)
The Database: Just Airtable
I used Airtable because it’s visual and beginner-friendly. The base has five tables:
- Clients – Basic company info, status, and project details
- Tasks – Individual to-dos linked to clients
- Employees – Team member assignments
- Meetings – Calendar events with notes
- Referral Sources – Track where your new clients come from
- Automation Log – Simple tracking of what ran when
Nothing fancy here—just organized data that multiple people can access and update. You can also try your hand at creating the base schema using Airtable’s built in AI feature.
A quick note on simplification:
This setup is deliberately basic to make learning easier. In a real medium or large business environment, you’d want a more robust system.
A More Enterprise-Ready Structure Would Include:
- Separate “Companies” table for organizational data
- “People” table combining both client contacts and employees
- “Opportunities” table to properly track the sales pipeline
- “Projects” table for active work
- “Products/Services” table for standardized offerings
A good rule of thumb when designing business databases: identify every important ‘noun’ in your business processes (people, companies, projects, products) and give each its own table. This creates a more scalable and maintainable system.
But for learning automation basics, we’re keeping it simple with our stripped-down version.
The Automations: Three Make.com Scenarios
Workflow 1: Form to Meeting-Ready Client
Form submission → Create Airtable record → Calendar event → AI research → Update recordsThis one takes about 3 minutes to set up once you have your API keys. The AI research using Perplexity is optional but adds nice context for your meetings.
Make.com Scenario
Fillout Form
See the Perplexity Research Prompts
Research Person
System Prompt
You are an AI Pre-Sales Research Specialist with expertise in digital marketing, ad optimization, and AI funnel building. Your task is to conduct thorough research on a prospect who has booked a lead with our company. Here's what you need to do:
Input Required:
- Contact's full name
- Company name
- Project type (Ad Optimization or AI Funnel Building)
Research Focus Areas:
1. Individual Research:
- LinkedIn profile analysis
- Previous work history and achievements
- Published articles, interviews, or speaking engagements
- Social media presence and engagement style
- Educational background and certifications
2. Company Research:
- Company size, age, and growth trajectory
- Current digital marketing presence
- Existing marketing funnel structure
- Competitors and market position
- Recent news, press releases, or company updates
- Company's social media strategy and engagement
- Current tech stack or marketing tools being used
3. Industry-Specific Analysis:
For Ad Optimization Projects:
- Current ad performance metrics (if public)
- Platform presence (Google Ads, Meta, etc.)
- Ad creative patterns and strategies
- Target audience demographics
For AI Funnel Building Projects:
- Current conversion funnel structure
- Marketing automation tools in use
- Lead generation strategies
- Customer journey touchpoints
Output Format:
1. Executive Summary (2-3 key insights)
2. Detailed Findings (organized by research areas)
3. Potential Pain Points
4. Opportunity Areas
5. Recommended Talking Points
6. Risk Factors to Consider
Please use only publicly available information and note any information gaps that might need verification during the call. Format your findings in a clear, scannable structure with headers and bullet points for easy reference during the sales call.User
Company Name: {{3.`Client Name`}}
Contact Name: {{3.`Contact Name`}}
Project Type: {{3.`Project Type`}}Research Company
System Prompt
You are an AI Research Specialist focused on company analysis. Using the provided company information, create a detailed business profile.
Required Input:
- Company Name
- Industry
- Target Service Type (what service they're interested in)
Output Structure:
# Company Profile: [Company Name]
Industry: [Industry Type]
Research Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
## Business Overview
Company Facts:
-
Growth Trajectory:
-
Recent Developments:
-
## Digital Presence
Website Analysis:
-
Social Media Footprint:
-
Content Strategy:
-
## Market Position
Competitive Landscape:
-
Unique Selling Points:
-
Market Challenges:
-
## Technical Infrastructure
Current Tools:
-
Digital Marketing Stack:
-
Integration Points:
-
## Business Insights
Pain Points:
-
Opportunities:
-
Risk Factors:
-
## Engagement Strategy
Recommended Approaches:
-
Value Proposition Alignment:
-
Discussion Topics:
-User
Company Name: {{3.`Client Name`}}
Project Type: {{3.`Project Type`}}Workflow 2: Client Status Change to ‘Proposal‘
Status = "Proposal" → Grab client data → AI content generation → Populate Google Doc templateThe ChatGPT integration creates a decent first draft that you’ll definitely want to review and customize. Think of it as a starting point, not a finished product.
Make.com Scenario
Resources
See the Prompts used to create the Proposal
System Prompt
You are a proposal generator. Using the input information provided, create a standardized proposal in JSON format.
Company Profile Template:
[COMPANY_NAME]: The company generating the proposal
[SERVICE_TYPES]: Array of possible service types offered
[DEFAULT_DURATIONS]: Standard phase durations for projects
[BASE_RATE]: Starting price point for services
Required Input Fields:
- Project Type (must be one of [SERVICE_TYPES])
- Client Company Name
- Contact Name
- Pre-Call Notes (summary of initial client requirements/situation)
- Post-Call Notes (key points from discovery call)
Generate a JSON response in this exact format:
{
"projectType": "",
"companyName": "",
"contactName": "",
"postCallNotes": "",
"proposalDate": "",
"executiveSummary": "",
"projectUnderstanding": "",
"proposedSolution":"",
"discoveryPhaseDuration": "",
"developmentPhaseDuration": "",
"implementationPhaseDuration": "",
"optimizationPhaseDuration": "",
"projectFee": null,
"nextSteps": ""
}
Content Generation Rules:
1. Executive Summary: 2-3 sentences describing solution and expected outcomes
2. Project Understanding: Synthesize key points from both pre and post call notes
3. Proposed Solution: Solution suggested in the post call notes.
3. Phase Durations: Express in weeks, based on [DEFAULT_DURATIONS]
4. Project Fee: Numerical value based on [BASE_RATE] and project complexity
5. Next Steps: String of action items separated by semicolons
6. Proposal Date: YYYY-MM-DD format
7. All content should be professional and specific to the project type
Example Values:
[COMPANY_NAME] = "Agency Name"
[SERVICE_TYPES] = ["Digital Marketing", "Web Development", "Brand Strategy"]
[DEFAULT_DURATIONS] = {
"discovery": "1 week",
"development": "2 weeks",
"implementation": "1 week",
"optimization": "4 weeks"
}
[BASE_RATE] = 5000User
Company: {{8.`company name`}}
Contact name: {{8.`contact name`}}
Project Type: {{8.`project type`}}
Pre call notes: {{8.`pre call notes`}}
Post call notes: {{8.`post call notes`}}Workflow 3: Proposal Accepted to Organized Client
Status = "Onboarding" → Create Slack channel + Google Drive folder → Move proposal to client folderThis one’s probably the most immediately useful—no more scrambling to set up project infrastructure when a client says yes.
Make.com Scenario
Note: These two workflows run independently in Make.com. While you could combine them into one larger scenario, keeping them separate makes testing, monitoring, and maintenance much simpler. Each workflow has a clear purpose and trigger, making it easier to debug issues or make updates as your needs change.
What You’ll Actually Learn
Building this system teaches several automation fundamentals:
Database Design Basics
- How to structure related data across multiple tables
- When to use lookup fields vs. direct relationships
- Creating user-friendly interfaces for team members
Workflow Triggers
- Form submissions as automation starters
- Status changes as workflow triggers
- Webhook basics for real-time automation
API Integration
- Connecting different tools (Airtable, Google Workspace, Slack)
- Handling API responses and data formatting
- Basic error handling concepts
AI Integration
- Structured prompts for consistent AI outputs
- Using JSON formatting for data integration
- When AI helps and when human review is essential
These are building blocks you’ll use in much more complex automations later.
The Reality Check: What This System Actually Saves
Let’s be honest about the impact:
Time saved per client:
- Research and meeting prep: ~30 minutes → 5 minutes
- Proposal first draft: ~2 hours → 20 minutes
- File organization: ~10 minutes → automatic
For a small agency with 5-10 new clients per month, that’s maybe 10-15 hours saved monthly. Not life-changing, but definitely worth the setup time.
The bigger value is consistency—every client gets the same level of research and organization, regardless of how busy you are.
Getting Started: all Templates and Setup
I’ve made the complete template package available because the whole point is helping people learn automation:
What’s Included:
- Clonable Airtable base with sample data
- Make.com scenario templates (JSON files you can import)
- Google Docs proposal template
- Fillout form template
- Step-by-step setup guide
Setup Requirements:
- Airtable account
- Make.com account
- Google Workspace access
- OpenAI API key
- Perplexity API Key
- Form builder of your choice (Fillout, Jotform, Google Forms, etc)
- About 2-3 hours for complete setup
Building Blocks for Growth
The beauty of starting simple is that you can expand piece by piece:
Easy additions:
- Email automation for follow-ups
- Invoice generation from accepted proposals
- Project milestone tracking
- Time tracking integration
More advanced expansions:
- Lead scoring based on research data
- Predictive proposal success rates
- Advanced project management workflows
- Custom client portals
Each addition teaches new concepts while building on what you already understand.
Why Start Here?
Client management automation is ideal for beginners because:
- Clear Business Value – You immediately see time savings and improved organization
- Manageable Complexity – Three workflows are enough to learn fundamentals without overwhelm
- Real Data – You’re working with actual business information, not practice scenarios
- Expandable Foundation – Easy to add features as your skills grow
- Team-Friendly – Non-technical team members can use the interfaces
Most importantly, you’ll actually use this system while learning from it.
Common Beginner Mistakes (That I Made)
- Over-engineering from the start – I initially tried to automate everything. Start simple and add features gradually.
- Ignoring error handling – When APIs fail (and they will), have a plan. Even basic error notifications help.
- Complex approval workflows – Keep it simple initially. You can always add human review steps later.
- Too many integrations – Start with 2-3 tools maximum. Add others once the core system is stable.
What’s Next?
This system represents maybe 20% of what’s possible with client management automation. But it’s the right 20% to start with—the fundamentals that everything else builds on.
Once you’ve got this running, you’ll have a solid foundation for understanding:
- How no-code tools connect and communicate
- When automation helps vs. when it’s overkill
- How to design workflows that real people will actually use
- The basics of API integration and data flow
From there, you can tackle more complex projects with confidence.
Questions or Stuck?
The templates include troubleshooting guides for common setup issues, but if you get stuck or want to share what you’ve built, feel free to reach out. Part of the learning process is connecting with others doing similar work.
The no-code automation community is incredibly helpful—don’t hesitate to ask questions and share your progress.
Sometimes the best way to learn is by building something simple that actually works. This client management system won’t change the world, but it might change how you think about automation.