Although Zapier is brilliant at connecting the apps you use every day, it also comes with over 20 inbuilt functions which will help you become an automation superhero in no time!
These functions are a range of helper apps that we’ve listed on our free cheatsheet which you can download here. It’s a quick reference to keep handy for when you’re designing your automations, as they can be used in many different ways. Here are just some examples!
Formatter by Zapier
The most versatile built-in Zapier app has to be Formatter By Zapier. You can perform powerful formatting for dates, times, text, and numbers really easily.
The text formatter allows you to:
- Remove whitespace
- Find and replace text
- Change case
- Pluralize any English word
- Truncate text
- Extract patterns of text such as URLs, phone numbers, or email addresses
The functions for numeric values allow you to perform calculations, format currencies, and change decimal number formats.
You can format dates into a new style and add or subtract a period of time from a DateTime value.
SMS by Zapier and Email by Zapier
Two of the most useful inbuilt Zapier functions allow you to trigger notifications and other automations. Email by Zapier allows you to set up a specific @zapiermail.com email address to send emails to which trigger steps in an automation.
SMS by Zapier is a function that allows you to send text messages to a specific phone number. This allows you to notify yourself when an action has been performed, for example:
- Send yourself a reminder when a meeting is due.
- Send an SMS when an email from a particular address has been received.
- Send a notification when a Pipedrive deal has changed status.
- Send a text message when a Xero invoice has been paid.
- Send a notification when a Woocommerce sale has been made, or a daily total of all sales.
The possibilities are endless!
Email Parser by Zapier
Zapier’s inbuilt email parser allows you to extract data from emails sent to a specific @robot.zapier.com email address that you can use in subsequent action steps. This means you can extract client data, order information or invoice details which you can then use to send to other applications.
Schedule by Zapier
The Schedule by Zapier function is brilliant for running workflows at set times. It could be hourly, daily, weekly or monthly – any time period you like.
Some examples of how you could use this are:
- Schedule a social media post every week.
- Check a spreadsheet daily for new rows.
- Create a weekly set of tasks in your to-do list for regular work you need to do.
- Send a daily notification of sales totals to a Slack channel.
It is extremely powerful and can be connected to any of the 6000+ apps which have pre-built integrations using Zapier.
Get our free cheatsheet
To become an automation superhero using Zapier’s inbuilt helper apps simply download our free cheatsheet below and you’ll supercharge your productivity in no time at all!
Solvaa: Strategy, Solutions, Support, Education
UK-based Solvaa® is a systems, process and automation consultancy specialising in improving business workflows. Solvaa® works with SMEs worldwide to implement digital tools, better processes, use business process automation and generative AI to boost productivity, enhance lead management, and remove unnecessary time, costs and hassles from stretched business owners’ days.
We help you simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient, and automate manual tasks. Our business process automation specialists have extensive experience using multiple cloud-based business tools, including Zapier, Pipedrive CRM, SmartSuite, Xero, Google Suite, ClickUp, Asana, Airtable, Hubspot, Active Campaign, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Quickbooks and many more. We are Zapier Certified Experts, SmartSuite Certified Partners, Pipedrive Certified Partners and Xero Certified Advisors. We also educate teams about using AI in their daily roles, mindset, governance and strategy in our Solvaa AI Academy.
Solvaa® was founded in 2016 by Kelly Goss, a no-code solutions architect, business process automation specialist and author of Automate It with Zapier (first edition) and Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI (second edition).
A thought leader on business process automation and digital adoption, Kelly attended an invite-only Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the UK government at No.10 Downing Street, providing insights and recommendations on how SMEs can benefit from productivity gains by using digital technologies, automation and AI. She has also been invited to speak at the House of Lords and at many other events.
Contact us today to find out how Solvaa can help your business make big savings on operational costs and time, and significantly increase productivity.
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