Three years ago, "AI automation" meant expensive enterprise software and months of implementation. Today, it means n8n, Make.com, and a few API keys. Australian SMBs are running sophisticated automated workflows for under $200 AUD per month — workflows that used to require a part-time employee or an expensive off-the-shelf SaaS product.
Here are five real-world workflows we've built for Australian clients through our AI Automation service.
Workflow 1: Lead Qualification + CRM Entry
The problem: A professional services firm was receiving 40–60 enquiries per week across email, their website contact form, and LinkedIn messages. Their team was manually reviewing each one, scoring it, and entering qualified leads into HubSpot.
The solution: An n8n workflow that intercepts incoming enquiries, passes them to Claude via the Anthropic API with a scoring rubric, scores them against ideal client criteria, and enters qualified leads into HubSpot with notes. Unqualified leads get a polite automated reply.
Time saved: 6–8 hours per week. Implementation cost: AUD $4,200. Break-even: 6 weeks.
Workflow 2: Content Repurposing Pipeline
The problem: A Sydney e-commerce brand was publishing one long-form blog post per week but doing nothing with it — no social posts, no email summary, no short-form variants.
The solution: A Make.com workflow triggered by a new WordPress post. It passes the content to Claude, which generates a LinkedIn post, three Instagram captions, an email newsletter summary, and five short social quotes — all in the brand's voice (trained via system prompt). The outputs are posted to a Notion review board for approval before publishing.
Time saved: 3 hours per week. Implementation cost: AUD $2,800.
Workflow 3: Invoice Chasing (Without the Awkwardness)
The problem: A creative agency was spending 2–3 hours per week chasing unpaid invoices via email — a task that felt uncomfortable and was often delayed, hurting cash flow.
The solution: An n8n workflow connected to Xero that monitors invoice due dates, generates contextually appropriate follow-up emails via Claude (varying tone based on days overdue), and sends them from the director's email address via Gmail API. The director reviews a daily digest of what went out.
Cash flow impact: Average days-to-pay reduced from 48 to 31 days. Implementation cost: AUD $3,100.
Workflow 4: Job Applicant Screening
The problem: A growing retail business was receiving 100+ applications per open role. Their HR manager was spending two full days per role doing initial screening.
The solution: A Make.com workflow that pulls applications from their applicant tracking system, passes CVs and cover letters to Claude with a role-specific scoring rubric, ranks candidates, and generates a shortlist with summary notes. A human reviews the shortlist rather than the raw pile.
Time saved: 14 hours per hire. Implementation cost: AUD $3,800.
Workflow 5: Client Reporting Automation
The problem: A digital marketing agency was spending 6–8 hours per client per month compiling performance reports from Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta Ads.
The solution: An n8n workflow that pulls data from all three platforms via APIs on the first of each month, passes the numbers to Claude for written analysis and insight generation, and populates a Google Slides template. Reports are ready for review by 9am on the 1st without anyone touching a spreadsheet.
Time saved: 60–80 hours per month across all clients. Implementation cost: AUD $6,500.
What These Workflows Have in Common
Every workflow above has the same structure: a trigger (time, event, or data change), a Claude AI step that handles the reasoning or language task, a human review stage for anything that carries risk, and an action step that creates the final output. The human stays in the loop for decisions; the automation handles the repetitive cognitive work.
If you're running a task in your business that follows a consistent pattern and involves language or data, it's almost certainly automatable. Start a conversation with us and we'll tell you whether it's a one-week build or a six-week project.