The Zapier-Powered Trash Empire: Building a Business with Automation

In this episode of the AI Automation Podcast, host Michael Greenberg sits down with Spencer Scott, also known as Twitter's Favorite Trash Man, to explore how he built an ultra-efficient, AI-powered trash collection business from the ground up. With nearly everything running through Zapier, ChatGPT, and Google Sheets, Spencer reveals the exact automations and growth strategies that allowed him to scale Lone Star Trash with almost no customer support team.From capturing lost leads via missed-call follow-ups to creating a CRM inside Google Sheets that dynamically pulls Stripe billing data, this episode is a blueprint for automating a small business into a revenue machine. Spencer’s unique combo of blue-collar grit and no-code systems thinking is a masterclass for indie hackers, SaaS founders, and operators alike.Timestamps:(0:00) - Why Zapier replaced customer support (0:20) - The #1 thing your funnel must capture: email (0:45) - Intro to Spencer Scott & Lone Star Trash (1:11) - From Facebook post to $15K in 10 days (2:05) - Operating a trash business: bins, trucks, margins (3:05) - Adding automations early: RingCentral & Zapier (4:00) - Choosing the right phone system via Zapier compatibility (5:15) - How one missed-call text flow drove $50K in revenue (6:40) - Anatomy of the missed-call Zap (7:30) - SMS follow-up converts elderly callers into paid customers (8:15) - Why they use incognito mode for manual signups (9:00) - Building a signup flow with ChatGPT (10:40) - Why capturing email first is the golden rule (11:35) - The full funnel: email → address → bins → merch → notes (12:45) - Stripe Checkout + custom thank you page (13:20) - Referral engine: 60% of growth from viral shares (14:10) - Their CRM: a real-time, Stripe-powered Google Sheet (15:00) - How Apps Script flags active vs. inactive customers (16:00) - Auto-routing & GPS tagging for trash pickups (17:00) - The follow-up flow for abandoned signups (18:20) - Personalized subject lines = sky-high email open rates (19:00) - No dev background? No problem: Spencer's no-code mindset (20:00) - Why Google Sheets is better than most CRMs for small biz (21:00) - Spencer’s software stack: Zapier, ChatGPT, IGPT, Cursor (22:00) - $50K ARR from one missed-call ZapKey Points:Automated Missed Call Follow-Up: Spencer’s Zapier flow catches missed calls, sends an immediate personalized text, and links to a signup page—resulting in 7–15 new customers/month.No-Code Signup Funnel via ChatGPT: Email-first logic, Stripe integration, merch add-ons, and dynamic thank-you pages. Each step saves data for later follow-up if the user bounces.Referral-Driven Growth: A single CTA on the thank-you page drives users to a referral system offering t-shirts and free trash service. This generated over 60% of their customers early on.CRM in Google Sheets: With Apps Script and Stripe APIs, Spencer tracks active billing, flags unpaid users, and triggers routing software—all from a spreadsheet.Email Sequences for Abandoned Signups: Zapier checks if someone signed up within 3 days. If not, it sends a 3-part email drip—complete with personalized subject lines featuring their home address.Routing & GPS Integration: Customer routes are auto-generated via tags in the CRM and sent to drivers. The system also captures GPS timestamps to prove pickups.Notable Quotes:“There’s only one thing you need from a signup form: the email. Everything else is optional. Without the email, you’re empty-handed.” – Spencer Scott“I built this whole thing in Zapier and Google Sheets. We don’t really have support – the automation is the support.”“Google Sheets is the best software ever made. Fight me.”Guest Links:Website:https://www.hellomedian.com/Twitter:https://twitter.com/AKASpencerScottLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott2ssHost Links:Website:https://www.3rdbrain.co/http://gentof.tech/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/gentoftech/

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