Epics and User Stories Examples: 8 Practical B2B Automation Use Cases

In the world of B2B and SaaS, the difference between market leadership and falling behind often comes down to one thing: execution. But how do you translate a grand vision, like 'automate our entire sales pipeline', into actionable, manageable steps that your team can actually build? The answer lies in mastering the Agile framework of epics and user stories.

Epics define the high-level goal, while user stories break it down into bite-sized, value-driven tasks. This guide isn't just a theoretical overview; it's a practical playbook filled with detailed B2B-specific epics and user stories examples. We will dissect eight critical automation epics, covering everything from AI-powered lead generation and seamless customer onboarding to streamlining recruitment and talent acquisition. To truly transform your business processes, dive into our comprehensive guide on B2B Marketing Automation for more foundational strategies.

Inside this article, you will find the exact user stories, acceptance criteria, example tasks, and strategic insights needed to implement these powerful workflows. This is your blueprint for transforming complex business challenges into automated systems that drive real growth. Consider this a tactical guide for turning ambitious ideas into completed projects that boost ROI and give your team back its most valuable resource: time.

1. Lead Generation & CRM Automation Epic

This foundational epic is designed to automate the entire top-of-funnel journey, from initial lead capture to sales-ready qualification. It transforms manual, time-consuming sales processes into an efficient, intelligent system. By connecting your lead sources (website forms, ads, social media) directly to your CRM, this epic ensures no lead is left behind and that sales teams can focus on high-intent prospects rather than administrative tasks.

This approach is crucial for any B2B or SaaS company aiming for scalable growth. It moves your team from reactive lead management to a proactive, data-driven strategy. For instance, a MakeAutomation client, a B2B software company, implemented this epic and achieved a 40% reduction in lead response time, significantly boosting their conversion rates.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• Lead Scoring: As a sales manager, I want to automatically score incoming leads based on firmographic data (company size, industry) and behavioral data (website pages visited, content downloaded) so that my team can prioritize the most promising prospects.
• Automated Nurturing: As a marketing specialist, I want to enroll new leads from our webinar into a 5-part educational email sequence so they are nurtured with relevant content before a sales handoff.
• Real-time Routing: As a sales operations director, I want to instantly assign new leads to the correct sales representative based on territory or industry so that follow-up is immediate and relevant.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

Successfully implementing this epic involves more than just connecting apps; it requires a strategic blueprint. Many teams encounter roadblocks during this process. Understanding these common CRM implementation challenges is the first step toward building a robust and effective system.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Start Small, Scale Smart: Begin by automating your highest-value lead source first. Perfect that workflow before expanding to other channels.
• Define Clear Scoring Rules: Your lead scoring criteria should be based on historical data. Analyze your best customers and identify the common attributes and behaviors that led to a sale.
• Align Automation with Your Sales Cycle: Ensure your automated lifecycle stages (e.g., MQL, SQL) in the CRM mirror your actual sales process for seamless reporting and team alignment.

2. AI-Powered Outbound Call & Voice Agent Epic

This advanced epic leverages Voice AI agents to automate high-volume outbound prospecting, follow-ups, and lead qualification calls. It moves beyond traditional dialers by deploying intelligent, conversational agents that can handle hundreds of calls daily without human intervention. By integrating directly with your CRM and lead lists, this epic transforms a resource-intensive sales activity into a scalable, data-driven engine.

This strategy is a game-changer for B2B companies with a high-volume outbound model, allowing them to dramatically increase their reach and appointment-setting capacity. For example, a MakeAutomation client leveraged AI agents to prospect a list of 20,000 cold leads, successfully generating over 5,000 qualified meetings in just 30 days, a task that would have required a large sales team months to complete.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• Dynamic Call Scripting: As a sales manager, I want the AI voice agent to use dynamic, personalized scripts based on the lead's industry and job title so that the conversation feels relevant and contextual.
• Automated Qualification & Handoff: As a sales development representative (SDR), I want the AI agent to qualify leads by asking 3-4 key questions and, upon positive confirmation, trigger an automated SMS with my calendar link so that I only engage with high-intent prospects.
• Objection Handling & Analysis: As a sales operations director, I want the AI to log and categorize call outcomes and objections (e.g., "bad timing," "not interested," "send info") in the CRM so we can analyze patterns and refine our scripts.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

Deploying voice AI effectively requires more than a good script; it demands a deep understanding of conversational design and compliance. The most successful implementations feel natural and seamlessly integrate human handoff triggers. Understanding the nuances between the best AI voice agents is crucial for selecting a tool that matches your technical and strategic needs.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Start with Warm Lists: Before targeting cold lists, test your AI agents on warmer leads (e.g., past webinar attendees) to refine scripts and qualification logic in a lower-risk environment.
• Craft Conversational Scripts: Avoid robotic, monolithic scripts. Build in pauses, use natural language, and create branching logic that allows the AI to respond dynamically to user queries.
• Implement Clear Handoff Triggers: Define the exact point a lead is considered qualified. At that moment, the AI should disengage and trigger a real-time notification or automated booking sequence for a human salesperson.

3. Project Management & Team Collaboration Automation Epic

This epic streamlines the entire project lifecycle, automating everything from task creation and progress tracking to team notifications and final deliverable handoffs. It is engineered to eliminate manual overhead and enhance visibility for teams juggling multiple complex projects. By integrating project management platforms with communication tools and file storage, this epic creates a single source of truth, reducing errors and ensuring deadlines are met.

This automation is indispensable for digital agencies, software development teams, and service-based B2B companies. It shifts project management from a manual, administrative chore to a strategic, automated system that proactively identifies bottlenecks. For example, a MakeAutomation client, a 15-person creative agency, implemented this epic and achieved a 50% reduction in project management time, freeing up their team to focus on client strategy and creative execution.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• Automated Task Generation: As a project manager, I want to automatically create a standardized set of tasks in Asana when a new client project is marked as "won" in our CRM, so that project setup is instant and consistent.
• Proactive Bottleneck Alerts: As a team lead, I want to receive a daily Slack notification listing all tasks that have been "in progress" for more than three days, so I can identify potential roadblocks and support my team.
• Automated Status Reporting: As an account executive, I want to generate a weekly client-facing status report by pulling completed tasks and key milestones from Monday.com into a Google Docs template, so I can provide updates efficiently without manual data entry.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

Building an effective project automation system requires a deep understanding of your current workflows before you begin connecting tools. Many teams fail by automating a flawed or inefficient process. Mapping your entire project lifecycle, from kickoff to close, is a critical first step to identifying the most impactful automation opportunities.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Standardize with Templates: Create project templates for different service types (e.g., "Website Build," "SEO Campaign"). This ensures every new project starts with a consistent structure, making automation rules easier to apply.
• Focus on Communication Hubs: Integrate your project management tool with the platforms your team already lives in, like Slack or Microsoft Teams. Automate notifications for task assignments, comments, and deadline reminders to keep everyone in sync.
• Build in Approval Gates: For critical stages like design approval or content sign-off, build automated approval workflows. This ensures quality control is maintained and stakeholders are automatically notified when their input is required.

4. Recruitment & Talent Acquisition Automation Epic

This comprehensive epic is engineered to streamline the entire hiring process, from initial job posting to the final offer acceptance. It automates critical, high-volume tasks like resume screening, interview scheduling, and candidate communication, transforming a traditionally manual workflow into a highly efficient talent acquisition machine. For rapidly scaling B2B and SaaS companies, this is a game-changer.

By automating the hiring funnel, teams can drastically reduce time-to-hire and focus their efforts on what truly matters: engaging with top-tier candidates. For example, a MakeAutomation client, a fast-growing SaaS firm, leveraged this epic to slash their average time-to-hire from a sluggish 60 days to an impressive 14 days, all while improving the quality of their hires.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• AI Resume Screening: As a talent acquisition manager, I want to automatically screen incoming resumes against predefined job criteria (like skills, experience, and keywords) to instantly surface the top 10% of applicants for human review.
• Automated Interview Scheduling: As a recruiter, I want candidates who pass the initial screening to receive an automated email with a link to my calendar so they can self-schedule an interview slot, eliminating back-and-forth communication.
• Skills Assessment Trigger: As a hiring manager, I want to automatically send a role-specific skills assessment to candidates who advance past the first interview so I can objectively evaluate their technical capabilities before the final round.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

Building an effective recruitment automation system requires a clear definition of what "quality" means for each role. Simply turning on the technology without this strategic groundwork can lead to filtering out excellent but non-traditional candidates. It's crucial to balance efficiency with human oversight to ensure fairness and effectiveness.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Define Core Competencies First: Before implementing any automation, clearly document the essential skills, traits, and qualifications for each role. This becomes the foundation for your screening algorithms.
• Keep a Human in the Loop: Use automation to filter and prioritize, but always have a human review the top candidates. This prevents qualified individuals from being missed by an overly rigid algorithm.
• Monitor for Bias: Regularly audit your automated screening results to ensure they are not inadvertently favoring certain demographics. Adjust algorithms and criteria to maintain fair and equitable hiring practices.

5. SOP Documentation & Knowledge Management Automation Epic

This epic automates the creation, distribution, and maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and organizational knowledge. It’s designed to capture process knowledge as it happens, auto-generate documentation, and ensure all team members have access to the most current procedures. This transforms scattered internal knowledge into a centralized, searchable, and scalable asset.

This approach is critical for B2B service companies, agencies, and SaaS businesses looking to scale operations without sacrificing quality or consistency. It moves teams from relying on institutional memory to having a structured, living knowledge base. For example, a MakeAutomation client, an 8-person startup, used this epic to create over 200 detailed SOPs in just 60 days, establishing a solid foundation for rapid team expansion.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• Process Capture: As an operations manager, I want to automatically record the steps an employee takes to complete a specific task in our CRM so that a draft SOP is generated without manual transcription.
• Knowledge Base Sync: As a team lead, I want any approved updates to an SOP in our process management tool to automatically sync with our Notion knowledge base so that documentation is never out of date.
• SOP Review Reminders: As a department head, I want to receive an automated notification every 90 days to review and re-certify key operational SOPs so that our procedures evolve with our business needs.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

Successfully implementing this epic requires thinking of documentation not as a one-time project, but as a continuous, automated workflow. Many businesses struggle because they treat SOPs as static documents that quickly become obsolete. A guide on how to write standard operating procedures can provide a foundational framework for creating effective, long-lasting documentation that integrates with your automation strategy.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Capture in Real-Time: Use tools like Scribe to record processes as they are being executed. This is far more accurate and efficient than trying to recall steps retrospectively.
• Standardize with Templates: Create consistent templates for all SOPs. Include sections for purpose, scope, responsibilities, step-by-step instructions, and related documents to ensure clarity.
• Assign Clear Ownership: Every SOP should have a designated owner responsible for its accuracy and periodic review. Automate reminders to these owners to prevent documentation from becoming stale.

6. Email Marketing & Drip Campaign Automation Epic

This epic focuses on creating sophisticated, multi-channel email campaigns triggered by user behavior, lifecycle stage, and engagement patterns. It moves beyond simple email blasts to build intelligent, automated conversations that guide prospects through the buyer's journey. By automating segmentation, personalization, and A/B testing, this system delivers the right message to the right person at the right time, at scale.

This is a non-negotiable strategy for any SaaS or B2B company with a considered purchase cycle. It automates the crucial middle-of-the-funnel nurturing that turns warm leads into sales-qualified opportunities. For instance, a MakeAutomation client, a B2B SaaS platform, implemented this epic and saw a 35% increase in email-driven deals by personalizing follow-up based on user trial activity.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• Behavior-Based Nurturing: As a product marketer, I want to automatically enroll trial users who haven't activated a key feature into a 3-part educational email sequence so that I can drive feature adoption and increase conversion rates.
• Dynamic Segmentation: As a demand generation manager, I want to create a dynamic list of contacts who have downloaded our "Ultimate Guide" ebook but haven't attended a demo so that I can target them with a specific demo-focused campaign.
• Re-engagement Campaign: As an email marketing specialist, I want to identify subscribers who haven't opened an email in 90 days and send them a "win-back" campaign so that I can either re-engage them or clean my email list to improve deliverability.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

Building a successful email automation engine requires a deep understanding of the customer journey, not just the technology. A common mistake is building complex workflows without a clear goal. The key is to map out specific conversion paths and design your sequences to guide users along those paths.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Map the Journey First: Before writing a single email, visually map out your entire buyer journey, from awareness to purchase. Identify key decision points where an automated email sequence can provide value and guide the next step.
• Start Simple, Add Complexity: Begin with a single, high-impact workflow, like a welcome series for new subscribers or a lead magnet follow-up. Master this before adding more advanced conditional logic and branching paths.
• Test Relentlessly: Continuously A/B test subject lines, send times, calls-to-action, and content. Track which sequences generate the most engagement and conversions, then double down on what works.
• Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly remove inactive or unengaged subscribers from your lists. This improves deliverability, reduces costs, and ensures your metrics accurately reflect the engagement of interested prospects.

7. Customer Onboarding & Success Automation Epic

This critical epic automates the entire post-sale journey, from the moment a contract is signed to the point where a customer achieves their desired outcomes. It systematizes account setup, user activation, feature adoption, and proactive health monitoring. By creating an automated, yet personalized, onboarding experience, this epic tackles the root causes of early customer churn and sets the stage for long-term retention and expansion revenue.

This approach is indispensable for SaaS companies where the first 90 days determine the fate of a customer relationship. It transforms a reactive, manual onboarding process into a scalable, data-driven success engine. For example, a MakeAutomation client, a growing SaaS provider, implemented this epic and successfully reduced their monthly churn from 8% to just 4% by automating key onboarding milestones and proactively identifying at-risk accounts.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• Welcome & Setup: As a customer success manager, I want to automatically trigger a personalized welcome email sequence and create a setup checklist in our project management tool when a deal is marked "Closed-Won" in the CRM, so that every new customer receives a consistent and immediate onboarding experience.
• Adoption Monitoring: As a product manager, I want to receive an alert when a new user has not activated a key feature (e.g., "Create First Project") within 7 days of signing up, so that the success team can proactively offer targeted assistance.
• Health Scoring: As a Head of Customer Success, I want to automatically calculate a customer health score based on product usage frequency, support ticket volume, and recent feature adoption, so I can identify accounts at risk of churning before they disengage.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

A successful onboarding epic is built on a deep understanding of what "success" means for your customer. It requires a clear definition of key milestones and the data points that indicate a customer is on the right track. Simply automating a welcome email is not enough; the goal is to guide users to their first "aha!" moment as quickly as possible.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Map Critical Milestones: Identify the 3-5 key actions a new user must take to realize your product's core value. Build your automation around driving them to complete these steps.
• Automate Tasks, Humanize Relationships: Use automation to handle repetitive tasks like sending setup guides or reminders, freeing up your success team to focus on strategic conversations and building strong relationships.
• Develop a Predictive Health Score: Don't rely solely on lagging indicators like login frequency. Incorporate leading indicators like the number of integrations enabled or the completion of advanced tutorials to create a more accurate and predictive health score.

8. Sales Proposal & Contract Automation Epic

This epic is designed to dramatically accelerate the sales cycle by automating the creation, customization, and execution of proposals and contracts. It replaces manual document creation with an intelligent, streamlined system that pulls data directly from your CRM to generate error-free documents in minutes. By integrating dynamic templates, approval workflows, and e-signatures, this epic frees up sales teams to focus on selling rather than paperwork.

This process is critical for any B2B company looking to shorten its deal-to-close time and improve sales velocity. It brings consistency and compliance to a traditionally chaotic stage of the sales process. For example, a MakeAutomation client, an enterprise software company, implemented this epic and reduced their average sales cycle by an incredible 35%, directly impacting revenue recognition.

Example User Stories for this Epic

• Dynamic Proposal Generation: As a sales representative, I want to generate a customized proposal using pre-approved templates that automatically pull opportunity details (products, pricing, client info) from our CRM so I can send accurate proposals in under 5 minutes.
• Tiered Approval Workflow: As a sales director, I want to implement an automated approval workflow that routes contracts over $50,000 to the legal team for review so that high-value deals receive proper oversight without delaying smaller ones.
• E-Signature & Notification: As an account executive, I want to send a contract for e-signature directly from the CRM and receive an instant notification when the document is viewed and signed so I can follow up immediately.

Strategic Implementation & Actionable Tips

Successfully automating your contract lifecycle goes beyond just picking a tool like PandaDoc or Proposify; it requires a deep understanding of your sales and legal processes. Mapping out each step, from initial draft to final execution and obligation tracking, is essential to building a system that accelerates deals instead of creating bottlenecks.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Create Modular Templates: Don't build one-size-fits-all documents. Develop a library of modular content blocks (e.g., specific service terms, case studies, pricing tables) that reps can assemble into a customized, yet compliant, proposal.
• Map Approval Triggers: Define clear, automated rules for when a contract requires legal or managerial approval. Base these triggers on deal value, non-standard terms, or geographic location to ensure efficiency and control.
• Integrate CRM Data Tightly: Ensure a two-way sync between your document platform and CRM. Proposal generation should pull data from the CRM, and once a contract is signed, its status and key terms should be pushed back to the opportunity record.

8 Epics & User Stories Comparison

Epic	Implementation complexity	Resource requirements	Expected outcomes	Ideal use cases	Key advantages
Lead Generation & CRM Automation Epic	Medium — 4–8 weeks; needs API integrations and data cleanup	CRM platform, data pipelines, AI scoring models, email automation	25–50% higher conversions; reduces manual entry 80%+; 3:1–5:1 ROI in 6 months	B2B/SaaS sales teams managing prospect pipelines	Faster response times; scalable qualification; actionable sales intelligence
AI-Powered Outbound Call & Voice Agent Epic	High — 6–12 weeks; requires script training and compliance setup	Voice AI models, telephony infrastructure, recording/storage, legal/compliance	10–50x outreach capacity; lowers cost-per-call by ~70–80%; 5:1–8:1 ROI in 90 days	High-volume outbound prospecting and appointment setting	Massive scale for outreach; consistent messaging; 24/7 calling
Project Management & Team Collaboration Automation Epic	Medium — 6–10 weeks; needs workflow mapping and tool integrations	PM tools (Asana/Jira/Monday), time tracking, templates, training	Reduces PM overhead 60–70%; improves on-time delivery 40%+; 2.5:1–4:1 ROI	Digital agencies and service-based B2B managing multiple projects	Eliminates status meetings; real-time visibility; data-driven resource allocation
Recruitment & Talent Acquisition Automation Epic	High — 8–12 weeks; requires HR integrations and bias monitoring	ATS/HRIS, AI screening, assessment platforms, legal/compliance support	Time-to-hire reduced 60–70% (to 7–14 days); lowers recruiter workload 40–50%; 2:1–3.5:1 ROI	Scaling B2B/SaaS companies hiring at volume	Faster hiring at scale; objective evaluations; improved candidate experience
SOP Documentation & Knowledge Management Automation Epic	Medium–High — 8–16 weeks; needs process mapping and governance	Knowledge platforms (Notion/Confluence), capture/video tools, owners	Cuts documentation time 75–85%; onboarding 30–40% faster; 2.5:1–4:1 ROI	Service companies and startups standardizing operations	Keeps SOPs current; reduces onboarding time; audit-ready knowledge base
Email Marketing & Drip Campaign Automation Epic	Low–Medium — 4–8 weeks; requires list hygiene and sequence design	Email automation platform, content, segmentation data, analytics	20–40% higher open rates; improved CTRs; 4:1–7:1 ROI within 6 months	B2B nurture campaigns across long sales cycles	Personalization at scale; automated optimization; clear campaign ROI
Customer Onboarding & Success Automation Epic	High — 10–16 weeks; needs product analytics and cross-team coordination	Product analytics, CSM tools (Gainsight/Totango), CRM integrations	Time-to-value improves 30–50%; churn reduced 15–25%; 3:1–5:1 ROI	SaaS companies focused on retention and expansion revenue	Early churn detection; increases LTV; proactive customer interventions
Sales Proposal & Contract Automation Epic	Medium — 6–10 weeks; requires legal templates and approval workflows	Document automation, e-signature APIs, CRM and contract systems	Sales cycle shortened 20–30%; faster proposal turnaround; 2.5:1–4:1 ROI	Sales teams needing fast, compliant proposals and contracts	Reduces errors; standardizes terms; improves revenue and obligation tracking

Your Next Move: Turn These Examples into Reality

We've explored a comprehensive suite of eight distinct automation epics, journeying from the initial spark of lead generation to the crucial stages of customer onboarding and sales contract execution. Each set of epics and user stories examples was designed not just as a template, but as a strategic blueprint for transforming core business functions. These are not theoretical exercises; they are practical, actionable frameworks that demonstrate how complex business challenges can be systematically deconstructed and solved with automation.

The most critical insight from this deep dive is the power of structure. By framing a broad goal like "Improve Recruitment Efficiency" as an epic, you create a strategic container. Breaking that epic down into user stories like "As a recruiter, I want to automatically filter inbound applications" provides the granular, manageable tasks your team can execute. This methodology transforms overwhelming projects into a clear, sequential roadmap, eliminating ambiguity and paving the way for tangible results.

From Blueprint to Business Impact

The true value of mastering epics and user stories lies in their ability to bridge the gap between your high-level business objectives and the day-to-day work required to achieve them. It’s about more than just writing tasks on a board; it's about instilling a mindset of continuous, incremental improvement across your organization.

Consider the common threads running through our examples:

• Clarity of Purpose: Every user story has a defined user, a specific need, and a clear benefit. This ensures every piece of work is directly tied to value creation.
• Measurable Outcomes: The acceptance criteria are not arbitrary checklists. They are concrete, testable conditions that define "done" and ensure the final solution meets the business requirement.
• Strategic Prioritization: By estimating effort and understanding dependencies, you can strategically sequence your user stories. This allows you to deliver high-impact features first, generating momentum and early wins.

This structured approach is the secret to building complex, powerful automation systems without getting lost in the complexity. It ensures that every action taken is deliberate, purposeful, and aligned with your overarching growth strategy.

Your First Step Towards Systematized Growth

Feeling inspired by these epics and user stories examples is the first step. The next is turning that inspiration into implementation. Don't let the potential scope of a project lead to paralysis. The beauty of this framework is that you can start small.

Here’s your action plan:

1. Identify One Core Bottleneck: Look across your business, from sales and marketing to HR and operations. Where is the most manual work happening? What single process, if automated, would free up the most time or unlock the most revenue?
2. Define Your First Epic: Frame that bottleneck as a high-level epic. For example, "Streamline the Sales Proposal Creation and Delivery Process."
3. Write Three User Stories: Don't try to map out the entire project. Just write the first three user stories. What are the most immediate pain points you can solve? Focus on delivering a small, tangible piece of value quickly.

This iterative process builds confidence and demonstrates the immediate ROI of a structured approach to automation. You're not just building workflows; you are engineering a more efficient, scalable, and profitable business. This is how you transition from being a manager of daily tasks to an architect of automated systems that drive your company toward its most ambitious goals.

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Ready to move beyond theory and implement powerful automation frameworks tailored to your unique B2B goals? At MakeAutomation, we specialize in transforming these exact epics and user stories examples into reality, building the scalable systems that power 7-figure growth. Let us help you define your first epic and build the automated future of your business.

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