Think of it as a spare pair of hands in the office that never clocks off, so you can stay on the tools instead of putting someone new on the payroll.
Most of it is not hard. It is just the same small jobs, again and again, usually after a long day.
A customer fills in your form at 9pm. If nobody replies until tomorrow, they may book someone else.
Adding up items, working out the total, typing it into Xero, then emailing it. Mistakes creep in when you are tired.
You meant to follow up last week. Now the customer has forgotten who you are.
Name, phone and address from the form into Xero, then into a spreadsheet, then into your job app.
Checking which invoices are late and writing polite reminders, one at a time.
Checking your phone between jobs, just in case a new enquiry has landed.
Here are plain examples. Prices and wording are always yours, we just make the steps happen by themselves.
A real Melbourne client.
Before, each request meant someone sat down, added up the items, did the sums in Xero, checked for errors and then sent the quote. Each one took somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes.
Now an automation answers each enquiry and sends the right quote the moment the form arrives, at any hour. The big win is that they did not need to hire a person just to watch the inbox and send quotes.
Both are good. They are good at different things. Here is an honest guide to which one suits which job.
| The job | Virtual assistant (a person) | Automation |
|---|---|---|
| Answering phone calls | Better. A real person can talk it through. | Not what we build. |
| Tricky customers and judgement calls | Better. People can read the situation. | Follows the rules you set, nothing more. |
| Different tasks every day | Better. Easy to ask for something new. | Each new task needs to be set up first. |
| The same steps every time | Fine, but you pay for every hour. | Better. Same steps every time. |
| Replies at night and on weekends | During their working hours. | Better. Runs 24/7, holidays included. |
| Speed of a reply or quote | When they next check the inbox. | Better. Sent the moment the form comes in. |
| When your process changes | Better. A person adapts on the spot. | Needs updating first. A care plan covers that. |
| How you pay | Ongoing, by the hour or week. | A fixed price to build, plus your Zapier plan and an optional care plan. |
Lots of businesses use both: automation for the repeat jobs, and a person for the calls and the curly ones. If a VA suits you better, we will tell you on the free audit.
Tell us which admin jobs take up your time. We look at the tools you use now and point out what can run by itself.
You get a written price and a plain list of what we will build. The price does not change halfway through, unless you add to the job.
We build it in your own accounts and test it with real examples. You see it work before it goes live.
All prices are in Australian dollars, plus GST. Your Zapier plan is paid to Zapier separately.
One focused automation, like sending a quote when your form comes in.
A few connected automations that cover your main admin, from enquiry to invoice.
Your website enquiry form set up to reply to customers by itself.
Care Essentials A$197 a month, or Care A$397 a month, to keep things running smoothly.
More detail on the services and pricing page.
Listed in Zapier's partner directory, based in Melbourne.
View our Zapier listing ↗Big Screen Entertainment Pty Ltd, ABN 71 006 931 675.
Check the ABN ↗See how jobs, quotes and invoices can flow between the two.
ServiceM8 + Xero automation →Read our plain guide to automating a trades business.
Read the guide →Tell us which jobs you are sick of doing by hand. We will tell you honestly whether automation, a VA or a mix of both fits best.