How to explain Zapier to a beginner

What is Zapier? That might be a question your asking yourself, or getting asked by a colleague. Well, in short, it's a tool that lets you join up all the different apps you use to run your business and to automate some of the processes you currently do by hand. Sounds good, right? But how does it actually work?

Simply put, Zapier makes it so that when something happens in one app, you can make something else automatically happen in another app.

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Explain Zapier with an example

Say you have a website, and on that website you have a form for customers to fill in when they want to place an order. As it stands, when someone fills in that form, you get an email with the details, at which point you login into Xero or Quickbooks to create and send an invoice to the customer. It's easy enough to do, but you've started getting dozens of orders per day and time spent invoices is starting to add.

This is a typical scenario where Zapier can really help. You'll create an automation scenario in Zapier - known as a 'zap' - and every time someone completes the order form on your website, this zap will be triggered. Zapier will receive all the data submitted on the form and then will send that data onto your invoicing app to create the invoice. What's more, because Zapier has your customer's email address from the form - the zap can be configured to send the invoice directly.

Suddenly, a task that was taking you 5 minutes to complete will now be done instantly, 24/7, without the need for you to do anything.

What's the catch?

We'd like to think there isn't one. Zapier now integrates with over 1,400 different apps - so there's a good chance the ones you use are covered. It's not free to use, but they have affordable pricing plans, and when you think how much of yours and your staff's time is set to be saved - the cost benefits quickly add up.

Is Zapier hard to learn?

There's a learning curve for sure, but Zapier has excellent beginner guides and learning resources mean that after even an hour or so, you should be able to start setting up simple zaps. And, if you get stuck along the way, Zapier has a world-class support team available 24/7/365 and eager to help.

If you'd like to hand over the work to someone that knows better, you can always enlist the services of a Zapier Certified Expert - which we happen to be! Working with an expert you'll get the benefit of someone who knows exactly how Zapier works, what can be done with it and will be able to translate your businesses' unique problems into zap-based solutions.

Where do I get started?

If you haven't already, sign up to Zapier. You'll get 14 days free before you have to decide which plan is right for you.

The biggest challenge is working out what exactly to automate. Every business is different, but there are some common scenarios that can be done with zaps, and Zapier has produced this handy guide for inspiration.

And, finally, if you want to speak to us about how we can help your business get real value from Zapier, just get in contact.

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