Step one: the after-hours leak
Most SMEs lose customers between 9pm and 9am, when enquiries sit unanswered. An auto-reply that answers the top five questions and captures the booking is the highest-ROI automation you can buy, and the cheapest.
Then reminders and follow-ups
No-show reminders protect revenue you already earned. Follow-ups recover "let me think about it" customers who cost you money to attract. Both run on rails once built.
What NOT to automate
Complaints, negotiations, anything clinical or legal, and the moments where a human reply is the product. Good systems keep one-tap human takeover for exactly these.