Boutique Design Studio

The studio is a design and branding business that manages client inquiries, project proposals and invoices, and the team handles several steps between a new inquiry and a started paid project. Not every incoming message was a genuine project inquiry, so staff spent time reading spam, general questions and messages unrelated to design work. For a genuine inquiry the client name, email, phone number, company, project type and notes all had to be entered into Airtable by hand. Proposal preparation was the slowest part: each proposal needed the correct company details, project information, budget, GST-inclusive amounts, payment options and timeline, and preparing that manually caused mistakes and inconsistent proposals between clients. The proposal also had to be reviewed before it was sent, then the final proposal link copied into an email and the Airtable record updated after delivery. Once a proposal was accepted the business might need either a 50 percent deposit invoice or a full invoice, and creating the client and invoice manually in Xero added more time at exactly the moment the business most wants to move fast.

Five steps run from inquiry to invoice. New inquiries are checked to identify genuine project leads, and qualified leads are saved with the available client and project information while the studio owner is notified of the new lead. When a project is ready its details are used to create a proposal from the existing business template, so the client information, project details, budget, payment choices and timeline come from stored data rather than being retyped. The completed proposal is saved for review and its status is tracked in Airtable both while generation is in progress and after completion, with a Gamma approval record containing the client details and proposal link, and the studio owner notified that it is ready. After approval the proposal link is emailed to the client and the delivery status is updated to Email Sent. The business can then choose either a 50 percent deposit invoice or a full invoice, and the chosen draft is created in Xero so the studio owner can review it before sending, with the invoice status updated in Airtable and an invoice notification sent.

A genuine project inquiry is identified by AI before any manual work begins, and a qualified lead is saved in Airtable with the available client and project information alongside a new-lead notification to the studio owner. A customized Gamma proposal is created from the existing proposal template, and its status is tracked in Airtable during generation and on completion. A Gamma proposal approval record holds the client details and proposal link, and the studio owner is notified when the proposal is ready for review. Once approved, the proposal link is emailed to the client and the delivery status moves to Email Sent in Airtable. The correct invoice is then prepared, with a 50 percent deposit draft or a full draft created in Xero depending on the option selected, and the invoice status updated in Airtable with a notification to the studio owner. Human review stays in place for both proposals and invoices, so nothing is sent to a client unchecked.

Client retains ownership of the Airtable base and views, the Gamma proposal template, the Xero organization and invoice settings, the studio owner notification address, the AI qualification rules, and every workflow and status definition.