automation interview with wade foster ceo of zapier

Automation Interview with Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier [PMP #115]

When the team at Zapier reached out to me and asked if I'd like to interview the CEO, Wade Foster, I was like: “Um, heck yeah!”.

If you've followed my work for even a short period of time, you'll probably be aware of how much I LOVE to automate my business and life using tools like Zapier. The way I look at it, why waste time on small mundane tasks when a tool like Zapier can handle them for you?

A lot of people get stuck with Zapier because it comes with a bit of a learning curve. But let me tell you; it's well worth putting in some time to learning how to use it. The amount of time it's saved me to date is astronomical and I can't begin to describe the satisfaction I get from having systems set up to do work for me in the background.

I use Zapier to do things like:

  • When I get a new consulting inquiry via my Google Forms or Calendly, Zapier will set up a new contact and Deal in Pipedrive (my sales CRM). It will even schedule activities for me and my assistant to call at the right times.
  • I use Zapier to automate the flow of client information from Pipedrive to Asana, which is where I manage my client work.
  • I use Zapier to help manage bookings and update my calendar availability.
  • I use Zapier to quickly create Asana tasks, update subscribers in Mailchimp, save email receipts to Dropbox and post Instagram images to Twitter.

In this podcast, I was honoured to be able to chat with Wade about how Zapier came to be, their approach to remote work and of course, we geek out about automation.

 

 

What do the lessons cover?

When you purchase, you’ll get access to the following lessons via your customer account. This is a “go at your own pace” program where you’re free to view the lessons whenever you like:

MODULE 1: PLANNING YOUR PIPEDRIVE STRATEGY

  • 1.1: Introduction (4:10)
  • 1.2: Your Pipedrive vision and purpose (4:12)
  • 1.3: Planning your Pipedrive tech stack (8:50)

MODULE 2: SETTING UP YOUR PIPEDRIVE ACCOUNT

  • 2.1: Organisations, contacts, deals & leads (15:01)
  • 2.2: Setting up your pipeline(s) (28:24)
  • 2.3: Labels, data fields and products (42:40)
  • 2.4: Activities and lost reasons (14:01)
  • 2.5: Importing data from a CSV file (10:46)
  • 2.6: Using filters to find information (10:26)
  • 2.7: How to bulk update information (7:11)
  • 2.8: Setting up sales goals (16.02)
  • 2.9: Project management in Pipedrive (30:43)

MODULE 3: TEAM ONBOARDING

  • 3.1: Planning your Pipedrive rollout (10:13)
  • 3.2: Define protocols and best practices (12:53)
  • 3.3: User permissions, visibility and teams (17:17)
  • 3.4: Training your team (recommended agenda) (8:49)

More videos coming soon… (Last Updated: November-2024)

MODULE 4: USING PIPEDRIVE ON A DAILY BASIS

  • 4.1: Using leads, contacts vs. deals (12:28)
  • 4.2: Activities, automation and calendar sync (20:10)
  • 4.3: Scheduling appointments with Pipedrive or Calendly (13:10)
  • 4.4: Email integration, templates, automation and bulk messaging (36:09)
  • 4.5: Calling via JustCall and the Pipedrive mobile app (14:05)
  • 4.6: Insights, dashboards and reports (21:18)
  • 4.7 Revenue forecasting, payment instalments and subscriptions (18:20)
  • 4.8: Creating Smart Documents in Pipedrive (12:17)
  • 4.9: Automating your sales process with Workflow Automation (24:29)
  • 4.10: Sending email campaigns (24:51)

MODULE 5: INTEGRATIONS & AUTOMATION

  • 5.1: Create new contacts and deals with Zapier (18:45)
  • 5.2: Adding contacts to a newsletter or drip campaign (18:42)
  • 5.3: Posting Pipedrive updates to Slack (6:43)
  • 5.4: Auto-generate proposals and quotes with Pandadoc (9:35)
  • 5.5: Auto-generate contracts with Webmerge (13:25)
  • 5.6: Invoicing via Quickbooks or Xero (8:06)
  • 5.7: Using LeadBooster to get more leads (15:28)
  • 5.8: Linking Pipedrive to a project management system (13:23)
  • 5.9: My booking system and email automation explained (23:25)

What do the lessons cover?

When you purchase, you’ll get access to the following lessons via your customer account. This is a “go at your own pace” program where you’re free to view the lessons whenever you like:

MODULE 1: PLANNING YOUR ASANA STRATEGY

  • 1.1: Introduction (4:28)
  • 1.2: Your Asana vision and purpose (13:23)
  • 1.3: Planning your Asana structure (17:31)
  • 1.4: Members vs. Guests (5:39)
  • 1.5: The Pyramid of Clarity (4:39)

MODULE 2: SETTING UP YOUR ASANA ACCOUNT

  • 2.1: Setting up a project (42:00)
  • 2.2: Using workflows, custom fields, rules, tags & forms (44:16)
  • 2.3: Should you use projects or tasks? (e.g. clients, events) (16:10)
  • 2.4: Importing tasks from a CSV (4:38)
  • 2.5: Seeing the big picture with Portfolios & Workload (19:24)
  • 2.6: Creating project and task templates (35:52)
  • 2.7: How to manage meetings (15:10)
  • 2.8: How to move projects between accounts (7:22)
  • 2.9: Planning your goals in Asana (24:40)

MODULE 3: TEAM ONBOARDING

  • 3.1: Planning your Asana rollout (10:23)
  • 3.2: Define protocols and best practices (22:41)
  • 3.3: Training your team (recommended agenda) (8:33)
  • 3.4: Improving the success of adoption (4:37)
  • 3.5: Customize your onboarding process (10:33)

MODULE 4: USING ASANA ON A DAILY BASIS

  • 4.1: Use ‘My Tasks’ to plan your day (17:09)
  • 4.2: How to communicate in Asana (14:00)
  • 4.3: Checking the inbox (9:19)
  • 4.4: Sharing project status updates (7:36)
  • 4.5: How to use Asana and Slack (9:45)
  • 4.6: Keyboard shortcuts (4:16)
  • 4.7: Filtering tasks with advanced search (5:49)
  • 4.8: How to manage approvals in Asana (4:25)
  • 4.9: Best practices for assigning a task to a colleague or VA (8:38)
  • 4.10: Daily habits every Asana user should follow (8:29)

MODULE 5: ADVANCED TRAINING AND AUTOMATION

  • 5.1: How to create projects with subsections (8:37)
  • 5.2: Automating tasks with Zapier (19:12)
  • 5.3: Time tracking options (30:33)
  • 5.4: Creating a client-facing project (5:26)
  • 5.5: Multi-homing tasks into multiple projects (10:41)
  • 5.6: Creating reports in Asana (14:33)
  • 5.7: Creating automated checklists with rules (5:21)

More videos coming soon… (Last updated: June-2024)