What if you could shrink your to-do list by 70% this week without hiring?
AI pays fastest when it touches revenue. List the workflows that create customers or cash.
Think leads, follow-ups, proposals, checkout, fulfillment, renewals, and reviews. Pick one bottleneck you can automate today.
You do not need dozens of apps. A lean stack covers 90% of wins.
Core picks: ChatGPT or Claude for reasoning, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for docs and mail, Notion or Airtable for knowledge, Zapier or Make for automation, Calendly for scheduling, Stripe or Square for payments, Shopify or Woo for ecommerce, and a CRM you will actually use.
Start now: block 15 minutes, connect your accounts, and create one automation trigger per tool.
Copy, paste, and adapt.
Sales email: 'You are a concise SDR. Draft a 120-word follow-up that references {pain} and offers a 10-minute call. Use a clear CTA and one link.'
Proposal summary: 'From these notes {paste}, produce a 1-page scope with outcomes, timeline, and 3 pricing options: Essential, Plus, Pro.'
Customer support: 'Given this ticket {paste}, draft a friendly reply, suggest next steps, and update status as Waiting on Customer or Resolved.'
Track a simple scorecard weekly: leads, response time, show-up rate, conversion rate, average order value, days-sales-outstanding, and 5-star reviews.
Set guardrails: human review on refunds and discounts, no PII in prompts unless your vendor offers enterprise compliance, and document who owns what data.
Want hands-on help? Book a 15-minute AI audit and get a custom 7-day plan.
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