Automation is a liberating resource for all businesses. It relieves you from the often laborious and tedious tasks of running a business, giving you a greater sense of control and allowing you to direct your time and resources to more valuable areas.
McKinsey suggests that around ⅓ workday activities can and should be automated in around 60% of businesses. However, further studies show that not all companies that can automate do or don’t automate nearly as many tasks as they can benefit from.
Automation has multiple benefits, from improved processes to freeing wasted hours in the workweek, improved record keeping, and improved customer service.
But suppose you are on the fence over automation, or you’re not entirely sure where you can utilize this technology for maximum benefits. In that case, this post is going to run through other areas of your business to automate.
Emails
If the thought of tackling your inbox makes you groan or you find that employees are having their day eaten up by sending through emails, then it’s time to get automation on your side to help make life easier.
You can set up email sequences that can help you reply to your emails more easily; from follow ups for leads that are automatically fired off as soon as a lead comes in; it might be a standard template, but potential prospects will appreciate knowing their query as received and knowing when to expect you to follow personally can be a helpful tip for not losing the sale because you didn’t respond immediately, to emails to fire out FAQs for commonly asked questions, send reminders, and even automate the creation and sending of the newsletter or important emails can be a great way to free up time and make the task of going through your inbox much easier.
Data Collection
How long do you spend sifting through data, collecting customer information, and wanting your record to be up to date? The same goes for purchase orders, query invites, etc. The more information you need to organize and compile correctly, the longer it can take to put the right information in the right places. Automation in data collection can significantly reduce this time, making you feel more efficient and productive.
There are likely multiple tools you can utilize to help you efficiently collect data, improve accuracy, and ensure nothing is missed.
Tools like Netsuite OCR can automatically extrapolate data without human intervention and use it correctly to the customer. It can integrate with an email for added efficiency and flag unmatched data so it can be handled quickly and assigned to appreciate the place.
Choosing the right data collection and analysis tools is crucial for your business. These tools should enable you to extract and analyze the right data, ensuring seamless integration and improved efficiency across your business operations.
Social Media
If you spend hours every day posting, replying, and commenting on social media, then you are missing a trick. Sure, you need to create and edit the content, but you can use tools that can help you with scheduling posting and automatic replies for customers and even reusing existing content in new and creative ways. Thus reducing the need for constant new content.
You can even use tools to share social proof, which is essentially leveraging positive feedback or endorsements from customers to build trust and credibility. These tools can help you find all instances of your brand being discussed on social media and suggest and share related content that is beneficial to your brand. There’s no need to post to social media all the time manually. Simply create your content and then automate the rest.
Fleet Management
If you have a fleet of any size, then you need to automate all aspects of fleet management. Software is available for the management of fleets to help you uncover data such as driver behaviour, fuel efficiency, maintenance, repairs, time on the road, etc. Having all of this information to hand in an easy-to-view format means you can make better decisions in relation to deploying your fleet, arranging for services, routine maintenance, determining routes, driver hours and schedules, and much more. Automation in fleet management puts you in the driver’s seat, allowing you to make strategic decisions with confidence.
Accounting and Finances
At the very least, you need to automate your finances, and accounting software can be instrumental in supporting your business’s accounting. Pretty much no one enjoys sitting down and crunching the numbers, and if you’re nodding in agreement at this, then you need to find the right type of software to help you track your finances to stay out of the red and understand your cash flow and financial position. Automation in accounting can relieve you from financial stress, making you feel more secure and in control of your finances.
Apps like Quickbooks, Xero, and Freshbooks can handle tasks such as sending and receiving invoices, tracking payments, chasing late payers, and more. This can take a load off your mind and allow you to stay on top of the money side of things more easily.
Customer Support
Not to be confused with customer service, Supporting the customer means using tools such as chatbots that can handle frequently asked questions or assist customers when you are not around to help, i.e., if you operate a website online and need to rely on people in different time zones or outside of your hours of operation.
Chatbots can answer commonly asked questions such as ‘What are your business hours?’, ‘How can I return a product?’ or ‘Do you offer a warranty?’ and point customers toward further support; they can use queries to the proper departments and more. You can use this on a website or social media for added impact, and it allows you to jump in where you need rather than getting tied up with queries for which you can have automated replies.
Don’t worry about losing the human touch. Customers want answers to questions immediately, and if you can offer this via automated tools, they will appreciate it. For anything more complex, you can send a message to let them know when to expect to hear back from you or have them directed to a human point of contact immediately.
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