The Field Guide / Automate a job
Build your first AI automation in an afternoon
A no-code walkthrough: turn new contact form leads into a drafted reply you approve, using Zapier, Make, n8n or Activepieces.
The best first automation is small, frequent and easy to check. Replying to new website leads fits: it happens often, speed matters, and you can read every draft before it goes out. You will build: new form submission → AI drafts a reply → you approve → it is sent and logged.
What you need
- A form that sends submissions somewhere (Google Forms, Typeform, your website builder, or email).
- An automation tool: Zapier or Make (easiest), Relay.app (built-in human approval steps), or n8n and Activepieces (open source, self-host option).
- A short facts sheet: services, prices you are happy to quote, service area, booking link.
Build it
- Trigger: choose “new form submission” (or “new email with label Leads”).
- AI step: add the tool's AI or ChatGPT/Claude action and paste the prompt below, mapping the form fields into it.
- Approval: send the draft to yourself (email, Slack or the tool's approval step) instead of to the lead.
- Send: after you approve, send the reply from your normal address.
- Log: add a row to a Google Sheet with the date, lead and status so nothing is lost.
- Test: submit 3 fake leads with different requests, including one off-topic and one rude, and read every draft.
You draft first replies to new leads for [BUSINESS NAME], a [TYPE OF BUSINESS] in [AREA].
Facts you may use (nothing else):
[SERVICES, PRICE RANGES, SERVICE AREA, BOOKING LINK]
The lead wrote:
Name: [NAME FIELD]
Message: [MESSAGE FIELD]
Write a reply under 120 words: thank them by first name, answer what they asked using only the facts above, and invite them to book at the link.
If they ask something the facts do not cover, write [OWNER TO ANSWER] in that spot.
If the message is spam or not a real enquiry, reply only with: SKIP.Why approval first
Anthropic recommends starting with simple, composable patterns, and OpenAI's agent guide recommends human intervention for high-risk actions. Sending email to a customer is one of those. Run with approval for a few weeks; only consider auto-sending for the simplest, lowest-risk replies.
Keep the cost predictable
On task-based tools each step can count as usage. Zapier counts a task for each successful action, so a five-step automation can use several tasks per lead. Check your plan's allowance against your monthly lead count, or see AI pricing explained.
Tools mentioned
Listings link to each tool's official site. Prices change often; confirm on the vendor's page.
AI by Zapier
Add an AI step to a Zap: describe the task in plain English, pick the tools, and it acts across the 9,000+ apps Zapier connects to.
Make
Drag-and-drop scenarios with AI modules for routing, summarizing and replying; good for multi-step back-office flows.
n8n
Visual workflow builder with AI agent nodes, so you can wire an LLM to email, sheets, CRMs and 1,500+ integrations without writing a backend.
Activepieces
Open-source Zapier alternative with AI steps and MCP support.
Relay.app
Automations with AI steps and human-in-the-loop approvals built in.
Pipedream
Code-friendly workflows and thousands of API integrations, plus MCP servers for agents.
Sources
Factual claims in this article come from these pages. We have not tested every tool mentioned.