---
title: Measuring ROI and Scaling Your Automations
summary: How to quantify automation value, find your next build priorities, and scale with a repeatable 90-day framework.
est_minutes: 20
sort: 6
---

#### LESSON 1: Measuring Automation ROI

Most operators build automations and then never measure them. They know in a general sense that they are saving time — but they cannot quantify it. This is a problem. If you cannot quantify the value, you cannot optimize it, justify investing more in it, or identify when it has stopped producing that value.

Measurement takes less time than you think. The framework below takes 15-20 minutes per automation, once, and then 5 minutes per month to update.

**The Three ROI Metrics**

**Metric 1: Time Saved Per Month**

Formula: (Time per manual task in minutes) x (Number of times per month) / 60 = Hours saved per month

Example: Email drafting took 12 minutes per email. You send 40 per month. 12 x 40 / 60 = 8 hours saved per month.

Capture this for each automation:

- Time per manual task (minutes)
- Occurrences per month
- Hours saved per month (Time x Occurrences / 60)

**Metric 2: Cost Avoided Per Month**

Formula: Hours saved per month x Effective hourly rate = Cost avoided per month

Your effective hourly rate: Take your target annual revenue and divide by 2,000 (standard working hours). This is what your time is worth. If you are paying team members, use their loaded hourly cost instead.

Example: 8 hours saved x $150/hour effective rate = $1,200 cost avoided per month.

Capture this for each automation:

- Hours saved per month
- Effective hourly rate ($)
- Cost avoided per month ($)

**Metric 3: Revenue Impact**

This applies to automations that directly affect revenue — lead follow-up speed, client onboarding experience, proposal turnaround time. Calculate the measurable revenue difference the automation created.

Before automation: Lead follow-up average response time was 4 hours. Conversion rate from lead to booked call: 18%.

After automation: Follow-up sends within 60 seconds. Conversion rate from lead to booked call: 26%.

Impact: 8 percentage points improvement on 50 leads per month = 4 additional calls per month. At a 40% close rate and $2,500 average deal: $4,000 additional monthly revenue attributable to this automation.

Not every automation has a direct revenue impact — do not force this calculation if it does not apply. When it does apply, document it.

Capture this for each automation where it applies:

- Revenue metric before automation
- Revenue metric after automation
- Revenue impact calculation
- Estimated monthly revenue impact ($)

**The Automation Performance Dashboard**

Build a simple Google Sheet with one row per automation. Update it monthly. This becomes your operational visibility system.

Column headers for your dashboard:

- Automation Name
- Module it was built in
- Date launched
- Times run this month
- Error rate this month (errors / runs)
- Hours saved this month
- Cost avoided this month ($)
- Revenue impact this month ($)
- Prompt last reviewed (date)
- Status (Active / Drifting / Needs rebuild)

Drift indicator: If error rate exceeds 10% or if you have changed a relevant business process but not updated the automation — mark it Drifting and schedule a review.

**Automation ROI Audit Exercise**

Complete the ROI calculation for every automation you built in this course. For each automation, capture the following.

Automation 1 (Module 4 build):

- Automation name
- Times run this month
- Hours saved this month
- Cost avoided this month ($)
- Revenue impact (if applicable)
- Status: Active, Drifting, or Needs rebuild

Automation 2 (Module 5 multi-step build):

- Automation name
- Times run this month
- Hours saved this month
- Cost avoided this month ($)
- Revenue impact (if applicable)
- Status: Active, Drifting, or Needs rebuild

Automation 3 (Agent use case):

- Automation name
- Times run this month
- Hours saved this month
- Cost avoided this month ($)
- Revenue impact (if applicable)
- Status: Active, Drifting, or Needs rebuild

Total monthly ROI:

- Total hours saved per month
- Total cost avoided per month ($)
- Total revenue impact per month ($)
- Total monthly value ($)
- Annualized value ($)

#### LESSON 2: Identifying Your Next Build Priorities

Your automation stack from this course is the foundation. The next 90 days are about expanding it intelligently — adding automations that compound on what you have already built rather than building in random directions.

**The Four Expansion Signals**

Use these signals to identify what to build next.

**Signal 1: High Time Cost Remaining**

Return to your Module 2 Automation Audit. Any process you scored 25 or above that you have not yet automated is a priority candidate. The audit already ranked them — use that ranking. Capture the highest unbuilt AOS score on your audit and its process name, then the second highest.

**Signal 2: Upstream or Downstream Dependencies**

If an existing automation produces output that is currently handled manually before it reaches the next step — that manual step is your next build priority. Look for places in your existing workflows where a human is acting as a connector between two automations. Capture the current manual hand-off between existing automations and what closing this gap would accomplish.

**Signal 3: Prompt Library Usage**

Look at your prompt library from Module 3. Which prompts do you use most frequently? High-frequency manual prompt use is a clear signal that the process should be automated — the prompt already exists, you just need to wire it into a Make scenario. Capture the most frequently used prompt not yet wired into an automation.

**Signal 4: Error Rate or Drift**

Any automation with a rising error rate or one you have not reviewed in more than 60 days needs attention before you build new automations. Fix what is broken before expanding. A drifting automation costs you trust in the whole system. Capture the automation most in need of review or rebuild.

**The Next 90-Day Build List**

Based on your four expansion signals, list your next five build priorities in order. For each one, capture the build priority, the signal that identified it, and the estimated monthly value.

- Build Priority 1: priority, signal that identified it, estimated monthly value ($)
- Build Priority 2: priority, signal that identified it, estimated monthly value ($)
- Build Priority 3: priority, signal that identified it, estimated monthly value ($)
- Build Priority 4: priority, signal that identified it, estimated monthly value ($)
- Build Priority 5: priority, signal that identified it, estimated monthly value ($)

#### LESSON 3: The 90-Day Scaling Framework

Scaling your automation infrastructure is not about adding as many automations as fast as possible. It is about building compounding systems where each new automation increases the value of the existing ones.

The 90-day framework below is designed to be repeated — each cycle extends your automation coverage, deepens integration between your tools, and increases the portion of your operation that runs without your direct involvement.

**The Three Scaling Phases**

**Phase 1 (Days 1-30): Stabilize and Measure**

Goal: Ensure every automation you have built is stable, documented, and producing measurable value.

Actions:

- Complete the ROI Audit for all existing automations
- Build or update your Automation Performance Dashboard
- Review and update every prompt in your prompt library — flag any that have not been used or reviewed in 60+ days
- Rebuild or fix any automation marked Drifting
- Set up monthly dashboard update as a recurring calendar event

Phase 1 success metric: Every automation has a documented monthly value. Dashboard is live. No automations marked Drifting.

**Phase 2 (Days 31-60): Expand High-Value Areas**

Goal: Build three new automations targeting your highest remaining manual time costs.

Actions:

- Build Priorities 1, 2, and 3 from your next 90-day build list
- Follow the same process as this course: map on paper first, build, test all three stages, error handle, go live
- Add each new automation to your dashboard on launch day
- For any new automation using Claude, create and save the prompt template first

Phase 2 success metric: Three new automations live. Updated monthly value on dashboard.

**Phase 3 (Days 61-90): Integrate and Compound**

Goal: Connect your existing automations to eliminate manual hand-offs and build one multi-automation integration.

Actions:

- Identify every place a human is manually moving data between two automations
- Build the connector automation that eliminates each manual hand-off
- Test each integration as a full end-to-end flow
- Design and launch one agent use case from your agent design worksheet
- Conduct a 90-day review — measure total monthly value versus Day 1 baseline

Phase 3 success metric: No manual hand-offs between existing automations. Agent running on at least one use case. Total monthly automation value documented.

**Your 90-Day Scaling Plan**

Complete this plan before finishing the course.

Phase 1 — Stabilize and Measure (Days 1-30):

- ROI Audit completed for all course automations
- Automation Performance Dashboard built in Google Sheets
- Prompt library reviewed and updated
- Drifting automations identified and scheduled for rebuild
- Set a Phase 1 completion date target

Phase 2 — Expand (Days 31-60):

- New automation build #1
- New automation build #2
- New automation build #3
- Set a Phase 2 completion date target

Phase 3 — Integrate and Compound (Days 61-90):

- Manual hand-off to eliminate
- Agent use case to launch
- Set a Phase 3 completion date target

90-Day success metrics to capture:

- Current monthly automation value before scaling ($)
- Target monthly automation value at Day 90 ($)
- Current number of active automations
- Target number of active automations at Day 90

**The Maintenance Cadence**

The automations you build only remain valuable if you maintain them. Maintenance does not take much time — but it must be scheduled or it will not happen.

Weekly (15 minutes):

- Check Make for scenario errors in the past week
- Review any automation outputs that landed in your review queue
- Note any prompts that produced suboptimal outputs for revision

Monthly (60 minutes):

- Update the Automation Performance Dashboard with this month's numbers
- Review and update any prompt that has not been revised in 60+ days
- Check for Make platform updates that may affect existing scenarios
- Identify any new manual processes that have emerged as build candidates

Quarterly (half day):

- Full automation audit — review every automation for continued relevance
- Rebuild any automation that has drifted significantly from its original purpose
- Plan next quarter's build priorities using the four expansion signals
- Update your 90-day scaling plan with the next cycle's targets

**Module 6 Completion Checklist**

Before taking the Module 6 Test, verify:

- ROI calculation completed for every automation built in this course
- Total monthly value calculated and annualized
- Automation Performance Dashboard built in Google Sheets
- Next 90-day build list defined using the four expansion signals
- 90-Day Scaling Plan completed with Phase 1, 2, and 3 actions and target dates
- Maintenance cadence scheduled in calendar (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
- Course completion — ready to take the final test
