What does a Tech & Systems Strategist even do?
After spending 5 years calling myself a Tech VA I have realised I've outgrown that description. A VA follows instructions, they are given tasks and then they carry them out. I do far more than that, I help with strategy, I use initiative, I problem solve and much more. More importantly I foresee and pre-empt problems, I fix them and then let me clients know what I've done and why I've applied the logic I have.
It's music to my ears when clients say "I couldn't run my business without Louise" - I genuinely care about all my clients' businesses and want them to succeed. Moreover I want to feel that I am an invaluable, integral part of that and I'm making a difference. But let's be honest, most small business owners don't wake up one morning thinking, "I need a Tech & Systems Strategist."
They think things like:
Why am I still doing this manually?
Why aren't my leads being followed up?
I've got five different pieces of software and none of them seem to talk to each other.
I know my CRM can probably do this, but I have absolutely no idea how.
I've built a complicated mess and I'm scared to touch anything in case I break it.
I need someone who understands my business, not just someone who knows how to click the buttons.
And that's where a Tech & Systems Strategist comes in.
So, what actually is a Tech & Systems Strategist?
In simple terms, a Tech & Systems Strategist looks at how your business operates, identifies where your technology, processes and systems are creating friction, and then works out how they could work better.
That might involve your CRM, GoHighLevel, workflows, automations, forms, funnels, email marketing, calendars, pipelines, integrations, onboarding processes or customer journey.
But it isn't simply about knowing how to use the software.
The important bit is understanding the business behind the technology.
Before deciding what to automate or which tool to use, a Tech & Systems Strategist should be asking questions such as:
How does a lead currently become a client?
What happens when someone fills in a form?
Where is their information stored?
Who follows up with them?
What happens if they don't respond?
How are appointments booked?
What happens after someone becomes a client?
Which tasks are being repeated manually?
Where are things falling through the cracks?
And perhaps most importantly, what does the business actually need?
Because sometimes the answer isn't another piece of software.
Sometimes the answer is to simplify what you already have.
So what does a Tech & Systems Strategist actually do?
There are usually several stages to the process.
1. Understand the business
Before touching the technology, you need to understand the business itself.
That means looking at things such as your business model, customer journey, sales process, marketing, lead management, client onboarding, delivery, communication and administration.
Technology should support the way your business works, not dictate it.
2. Find the friction
Next, you identify where time, money or opportunities are being lost.
Maybe you're copying information from one system into another.
Maybe you're manually sending emails that could be automated.
Maybe leads are sitting in an inbox because nobody has a clear follow-up process.
Maybe you're using a spreadsheet to manage something your CRM could handle.
Maybe you have subscriptions to six different tools because nobody has ever stopped to work out whether you actually need them all.
These are systems problems, not necessarily "tech problems".
3. Design the system
Once you understand the problem, you can work out what the process should actually look like.
Which system should hold the information?
What should happen automatically?
Where does a human need to be involved?
What needs to happen first, second and third?
Which tools need to communicate with each other?
What should happen when something doesn't go according to plan?
This is where systems thinking and systems architecture become important.
4. Build and implement it
Once the process has been designed, the technical implementation can begin.
Depending on the business, that might involve setting up or restructuring a CRM, creating pipelines, building GoHighLevel workflows, connecting forms, setting up automations, integrating different platforms, creating funnels, configuring email sequences or improving client onboarding.
This is the part where technical knowledge really matters.
But the technical build should always serve the strategy.
5. Make sure the human experience works
A system isn't successful just because an automation fires at the right time.
It needs to make sense for the business owner, the team and the customer.
The customer should have a smooth experience.
The business owner should know what's happening.
The team should know what they need to do.
And the technology should make life easier rather than creating another layer of complexity.
What's the difference between a Tech VA and a Tech & Systems Strategist?
This is where things can get a little blurry because there is a lot of overlap between the roles.
A traditional VA will generally focus on completing tasks for you.
"Tell me what needs doing and I'll do it."
A Tech VA is usually more technically focused and may help you set up, manage and troubleshoot the technology your business uses.
A Tech & Systems Strategist starts one level higher.
Rather than simply asking, "How do I do this?", the question becomes:
"Why are we doing this, what should the process look like, and how can technology make it work better?"
There's nothing wrong with any of these roles. They simply solve different problems. In fact, my own background is: I've been a Tech VA for 5 years, that solid real life experience is a big part of what allows me to approach systems strategically today. I've seen first-hand how small businesses actually use technology, where things go wrong and how quickly a system can become unnecessarily complicated.
A key phrase I often quote is 'simplicity before scale' clients absolutely need help with making things simpler and not overcomplicating everything for no benefit.
What's the difference between a Systems Strategist and an Automation Specialist?
Another common misconception is that systems strategy simply means automation.
Automation is an important part of a good business system, but it isn't the whole thing.
An automation specialist might build something like:
Form submitted → contact added to CRM → email sent → task created.
A Tech & Systems Strategist asks:
Why is the person filling in that form?
Where should that lead go?
What information does the business actually need?
What should happen next?
What happens if they don't respond?
Who needs to know?
What happens when they become a client?
What happens after that?
In other words, automation is a tool within the system. It isn't the system itself.
And sometimes the best systems decision is not to automate something at all.
If a task happens once a month, requires judgement and takes five minutes, building a complicated automation to save those five minutes might actually make your business more complicated, not less.
Good systems strategy isn't about automating everything. It's about making the right things happen in the right way.
What does this look like in a real business?
"I've got leads coming in, but I'm managing everything manually."
A typical process might look like this:
Someone fills in a form.
You receive an email.
You copy their details into your CRM.
You send them a reply.
You make a note in a spreadsheet or on a calendar (or both) to follow up.
You try to remember when you last contacted them, you kick yourself for not completing the spreadsheet entry.
Then you wonder why running a business feels like a full-time admin job.
The problem isn't necessarily that you need more staff.
The problem might be that there isn't a connected system.
A better process could connect the form directly to your CRM, place the contact into the appropriate pipeline, send an immediate (automated) acknowledgement, create the relevant task or follow-up and trigger appropriate communication based on what the person does next.
The result isn't simply "more automation".
It's a more reliable customer journey, less manual administration and fewer opportunities falling through the cracks.
"I've got a CRM, but I still don't know what's happening."
Having a CRM doesn't automatically mean you have a good CRM system. In fact when I onboard a new client my first task is to complete an audit and the only time I don't find problems is when they've done nothing with it yet.
If your contacts are poorly organised, you don't know what half your tags mean, your pipeline stages don't reflect the actual customer journey and nobody knows what they are supposed to do next, the CRM can become little more than an expensive address book.
A systems strategist looks at how the business actually works and designs the CRM around that process.
The technology should reflect the customer journey, rather than forcing the business to work around the software.
"I've bought loads of software and nothing talks to anything else."
This is incredibly common. A lot of clients don't know what their sorfware does and might even have 2 platforms doing different jobs when 1 could do both and half a dozen more besides.
You might have one platform for your website, another for forms, another for email marketing, another for appointments, another for payments and another for your CRM.
And you're the person sitting in the middle trying to make them all work together.
Sometimes the answer is integrations.
Sometimes the answer is better automation.
But sometimes the answer is getting rid of half the software.
One of the most useful things a Tech & Systems Strategist can do is look at the whole technology stack rather than simply fixing one isolated problem.
The aim isn't to give you more technology.
It's to make the technology you already have work harder for your business and to get it all to talk to each other properly.
"I want to automate everything."
I hear this one a lot.
And I completely understand why.
Who wouldn't want to hand over all those repetitive tasks to technology?
But automation isn't automatically better.
Before automating something, I'd want to know:
Does this happen frequently?
Is it predictable?
Does it require human judgement?
Will automation genuinely improve the customer experience?
Will it save enough time to justify the complexity?
What happens when something goes wrong?
Sometimes the best solution is a simple process rather than a complicated automation.
"My business has grown and my old systems can't cope anymore."
This is another point where a business can benefit from looking at its systems strategically.
The way you ran your business when you had a handful of clients may have worked perfectly well.
But what worked at one stage of your business may become inefficient as you grow.
You might suddenly find yourself:
Managing leads in spreadsheets
Manually onboarding clients
Copying information between systems
Chasing people for information
Trying to remember which stage every client is at
Paying for software you're barely using
Spending more time managing your business systems than actually running the business
The technology hasn't necessarily "broken".
Your business has simply outgrown the way it was operating.
That's often the point where stepping back and looking at the whole system makes much more sense than fixing one problem at a time.
When should you consider working with a Tech & Systems Strategist?
You might benefit from a systems review if:
You're using several pieces of software that don't communicate with each other.
You're spending hours every week doing repetitive administration.
Leads are falling through the cracks.
You don't have a clear CRM process.
You know something could be automated but don't know how.
You're paying for software you're barely using.
Your business has grown and your old processes no longer work.
You're constantly asking someone to "just fix this one thing".
You're about to launch a new service, programme or product and need the systems behind it.
You want your business to run more efficiently without simply working more hours.
You don't necessarily need a Tech & Systems Strategist just because you have a business.
If your systems are simple and working well, brilliant.
But if you're spending more time managing your technology than using it to run your business, that's a pretty good sign that something needs looking at.
What can a Tech & Systems Strategist help with?
Every business is different, but depending on what you need, this could include:
CRM setup and optimisation
GoHighLevel / HighLevel setup
CRM pipelines
Workflow automation
Lead management
Email marketing systems
Forms and funnels
Appointment booking systems
Client onboarding
Customer journeys
Software integrations
Business process design
Systems architecture
Automation strategy
Technology stack reviews
Troubleshooting and optimisation
Training and implementation
The technology itself is only part of the picture.
The real goal is to create systems that support the way you want your business to operate.
So why do I call myself a Tech & Systems Strategist?
I started out as a Tech VA, helping small businesses with the practical side of technology and systems.
Over time, I realised that the part I enjoyed most wasn't simply carrying out the technical task.
It was understanding why the business needed it in the first place.
I wanted to understand the whole journey.
How does someone discover the business?
What happens when they enquire?
How are they followed up?
How do they become a client?
What happens when they buy?
How is the client onboarded?
What can be automated?
What still needs a human?
And how can all of those pieces work together without creating a technology monster that nobody understands?
That shift is what led me towards the Tech & Systems Strategist role.
I've also been recognised as a finalist for VA of the Year and as a finalist in the Best Business Enabler Awards as an Automations Architect with Configure Me This Team.
My background isn't purely technical either. I have a commercial background, so I understand that technology isn't the objective.
The objective is a better-running business.
And because I run my own business remotely from a small sailboat in the Mediterranean, I have a particular interest in creating systems that reduce unnecessary work and give business owners more flexibility and freedom.
I don't believe you should build a business and then hope it eventually gives you the life you want.
The systems you put in place should support the business and the life you actually want to run.
Do you need a Tech & Systems Strategist?
Maybe.
If your technology is working, your processes are clear and you're happy with the way everything fits together, you probably don't need one.
But if you're constantly patching things together, doing repetitive work, losing track of leads, struggling with your CRM or wondering why you need so many different tools just to run a relatively simple business, it might be time to step back and look at the bigger picture.
That's the difference between fixing a technical problem and solving a systems problem.
And that's really what a Tech & Systems Strategist is there to do.
Look at the whole picture, work out what isn't working, and create a simpler, smarter way for your business to operate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Tech & Systems Strategist?
A Tech & Systems Strategist helps small businesses understand, design and improve the technology, processes and systems they use to run their business. This can include CRM systems, automation, GoHighLevel, workflows, integrations, customer journeys and business processes.
What is the difference between a Tech VA and a Tech & Systems Strategist?
A Tech VA will generally provide technical support and complete technology-related tasks. A Tech & Systems Strategist looks more broadly at how the business operates and how technology, processes and systems can work together more effectively.
What is the difference between a Systems Strategist and an Automation Specialist?
An Automation Specialist focuses primarily on automating processes. A Systems Strategist considers the wider business process, customer journey, technology stack and human involvement before deciding whether automation is the appropriate solution.
What does all of this mean in the real world?
To help you understand the subtle difference I want to give you two examples from the last week. Example A - An actual client of mine, she suddenly notices strange tags appearing on her CRM and asks me about it, I investigate and found they were created on the saturday afternoon, I know it's not me as I was at the airport without my laptop at the time, but I also know it is unlikely to be here as she doesn't work weekends. I email support for the platform to ask for the more detailed audit logs. Client then mentions it might be related to her linking her website to WooCommerce, she also mentions she's away and has limited internet access. (Unfortunately she hadn't asked me to handle the integration, otherwise I might have spotted the issue sooner.)
I look more closely and see there are hundreds of email addresses that have been added by WooCommerce, importantly a lot of those have then bounced and caused a major headache with her sender repuation. I want to stop any further damage but can't speak to the client. So I go ahead and quickly find the newly created contacts and put them through an automation that marks them as DND (do not disturb) for email and holds them there for 2 weeks - that way it's easy to reverse the action taken if needed.
I then go a step further and create a simple workflow that says, 'when a new contact is created by WooCommerce - mark as DND for email' - again with a 2 week wait step to buy us time until my client is back in the land of internet again. I am not sure when she is back but I am already thinking ahead to how we can resolve what is now a severely damaged email sender reputation.
Example B - not a client of mine, I signed up for something online, I get an email which asks me a few questions - knowing the industry I know this is a tactic to drive email engagement. I have no issue with that I use it myself, it's also automated, again no issue with that. I've left out identifying features but see if you can spot the issue which leapt out to me in the image below?
If you can't see it look again at the email content and the time it was delivered! I replied to help with engagement because I try to be supportive but I also very nicely pointed out the issue and that it's a very easy fix. Either change morning to 'daily' OR add in a wait step that waits until the following morning before sending - simple. However if this was my client there's no way tthat would have slipped through the net.
In the midst of a trust recession, where it only takes the slightest thing to turn a potential client from a 'maybe' to a 'hard no' it's important to take note of these small errors that can erode confidence - even before someone has has the opportunity to know, like and trust you.
Can a Tech & Systems Strategist help with GoHighLevel?
Yes. GoHighLevel can be used for CRM management, pipelines, forms, funnels, workflows, email marketing, appointment booking and automation. A Tech & Systems Strategist can help determine how GoHighLevel should fit into the wider business system rather than simply setting up individual features.
When should a small business hire a Systems Strategist?
A systems strategist can be particularly useful when a business is experiencing repetitive administration, disconnected software, inefficient processes, poor lead management, CRM problems or growth-related systems issues.
Can a Tech & Systems Strategist help simplify my tech stack?
Yes. Systems strategy isn't about adding more software. Part of the process can involve reviewing the tools you already use, identifying duplication and deciding which systems are actually necessary for the way your business operates.
What does a Tech & Systems Strategist do for a small business?
They look at the business as a whole, identify where technology and processes are creating friction, design improved systems and, depending on the service, implement or train the business owner to use them.
Do I need a Tech & Systems Strategist if I already have a VA?
Not necessarily. A VA and a Tech & Systems Strategist can work very well together. A strategist can design or improve the systems, while a VA can manage the ongoing tasks and processes within them.
