How to Automate a Booking System | Part 2 of 3

In last week's tutorial, I outlined the database structure that would support an hourly consulting agency. We mapped the steps to creating the Team, linking that with Consultations and Clients. We also outlined the steps to adding a table of Invoices so that our team members can get accurately paid for their efforts.

But of course, the proper database structure is only the first part of this puzzle. To build a proper operating system for this business, we will need to leverage the power of automation. Frankly, we can eliminate the need of an admin role by creating automating these steps, thereby freeing up our team and employees to focus on higher value work.

In this week's tutorial, I walk through the Zapier automation that logs these consultations in Airtable. At a minimum, this automated process requires three steps:

1. Trigger: an event is scheduled
2. Action: find the client - if none exists, create new
3. Action: create a consultation and link it to the client

However, in some cases, additional steps may be required. For example, if you have several different Calendly events, you'll want to use a filter to keep this automation from triggering in all cases. Also, you may elect to integrate with additional software (we love Slack for internal notifications).

Whatever your specific needs, this tutorial should get you pointed in the right direction with your Booking Automation, getting you one step closer to automating your entire business, and one step closer to mai tais on the beach!