Business Process Automation for a Small Company in Eltham: From Order to Payment

A process is just a chain

Every business has a handful of chains. An enquiry arrives, someone replies, a price is agreed, a job goes in the diary, the job happens, an invoice goes out, and a late payment gets chased. Each link is simple. The trouble is that each link is somebody's job on top of their real one, so the chain breaks at the same places every week.

Automation here means an AI agent takes over particular links, and passes a case to a person when it is not sure.

One chain, followed through

This directory lists 12 Indian restaurants and takeaways (10 October 2026). Picture one that takes larger orders for parties. This is a hypothetical, not the story of a listed business. The chain might run like this.

1. Enquiry. A message asks about a big order for a Friday. An agent replies within minutes, whatever the hour, and asks the missing details.
2. Quote. A quote goes out. If nobody answers it, the agent chases it, and a quote nobody chases is usually a lost one.
3. Diary. Once agreed, the booking goes into the diary.
4. Confirmation. Updates, confirmations and reminders go to the customer.
5. Invoice. An invoice is raised once the job is done.
6. Late payment. If it is not paid, the agent chases politely, and passes awkward cases to the owner.
7. Details. Customer information is copied between your systems so it is entered once.
8. Weekly report. The owner receives a short report of what came in and what is outstanding.

Every step above is on the list of jobs published on Dean Keating's website. You would not switch all of them on at once.

Where to begin

He starts with the single task that makes the most difference. For this chain the quickest win could be chasing unanswered quotes, or it could be the invoice step. The audit, the second of his four steps, is where you find out which. The others are the free call, the build and install, and training and support.

The ground rules worth agreeing

• Money questions you want to decide yourself go to a person.
• A customer who sounds annoyed goes to a person.
• You read the first week's messages and correct the wording.

What it is not

It is not a course or a phone service, and it is not a software subscription you set up on your own. It is installed for you, in the tools you already use. He does not list named software on his website, so ask on the call whether yours is covered.

See the Indian restaurants and takeaways listed here.

Cost and location

No published price list, and the cost is given after the free call with no obligation. He is based in Horndean, Hampshire, and works with Eltham businesses remotely. For someone in the room, look at south-east London providers too.

Contact

Call or WhatsApp Dean Keating on 07418 627304, or email dean@deankeating.com. See the Dean Keating profile on Eltham.co. Websites: ai-agent.deankeating.com and deankeating.com.

About this guide

Eltham.co is published by Dean Keating, who also runs the service described here. He is based in Horndean, Hampshire, not in Eltham, and works with Eltham and south-east London businesses remotely. If you want someone in the room, say so on the first call and look at Eltham-based providers too. This guide recommends our own service, so compare it with other providers before you decide.