Contrary to the fears of many, the phrase “business automation” doesn’t mean replacing human employees with robots. Nowadays, we all use automation tools. For example, maybe you use applications such as GSuite and Zendesk to get more done in less time. That being the case, you already know the power of automation.
Similarly, companies that incorporate automation optimize costs, boost productivity, increase agility, minimize errors, reduce delays, and improve customer satisfaction. Automation software allows organizations to systematically apply the right tools to boost their bottom lines. Thanks to technological advancements, more and more companies are automating their businesses.
Recently, a study carried out by McKinsey on 1500 business executives showed that most executives (66%) felt that addressing potential skill gaps linked to automation was a priority. As a result, the range of possibilities in automating workflows is dynamically expanding. Today, the market keeps developing more modern and comprehensive solutions. As a result, every department in an organization can benefit from a workflow management system.
Listed below are six departments that would benefit most from automation.
1. Human Resources (HR)
A human resources department handles many tasks. They’re responsible for candidate screenings, job postings, employee onboarding, performance tracking, company benefits, employee offboarding, and more.
However, for large companies with multiple locations or those that are fully remote-performing, manual HR processes can be very challenging. In these instances, HR automation software can automate recurring HR processes. Additionally, it can also streamline document-heavy tasks. Automation significantly reduces the time spent on various HR processes without sacrificing quality.
Automated software can handle many vital administrative tasks. These include creating files and shared documents, payroll processing, selecting candidates with specific job skills, feeding data, pre-filling forms, employee onboarding/offboarding, and more. When these tasks are done manually, they take hours.
When employee data is centralized, it enhances the efficiency of screening, hiring, and training. As a result, HR staff are more engaged when they focus on critical tasks that help drive the company’s objectives.
2. Finance
The finance department is a vital part of any organization. However, most people in finance spend time on manual, laborious processes that cause a dramatic decline in productivity. Nobody wants to spend their day’s copy-pasting data between Excel sheets.
Companies should automate core processes. A partial list might include accounts payable, reimbursements, loan processing, bookkeeping, accounts receivable, tax compliance, invoicing, expense management, and payroll. This saves the finance team a lot of time and stress. Automation also helps ensure that financial information is accurate and consistent.
Instead of manually entering figures in Excel cells, your finance team can spend time analyzing and interpreting financial information and trends. The department can collaborate and work with the other departments to help the company grow.
3. Marketing
Marketing automation means using software to automate marketing activities.
Many marketing activities can be automated. Examples include email marketing, content marketing, ad campaigns, social media posting. And these processes shouldn’t just be automated for the sake of efficiency, either. Automation also helps create a more personalized experience for customers.
Marketing automation results in more leads, more conversions, more sales and enables the team to perform more work in less time. Businesses that have adopted automation get more leads and sales. For example, 80% of marketers get more leads due to automation, while 77% of marketers see more conversions.
Automation offers many exciting opportunities to marketing professionals. These include cost reduction, greater efficiency, and enhanced customer experiences.
4. Sales
Selling anything takes time and effort. Most salespeople close a single deal after talking to 8-15 leads.
But once the deal is closed, it takes countless hours to manage customer relationships. Salespeople have to keep communicating to ensure customers stay happy. This may include calling them, scheduling meetings, sending emails, and even sending text messages.
Salespeople spend a lot of time getting to know customers, understanding their needs, logging data, and following up. And as the list of prospects and customers grows, managing them becomes even more challenging. Sales automation helps companies reduce the time spent on tedious sales tasks.
Automation boosts productivity increases sales and improves revenue. It eliminates tedious and time-consuming tasks, like email, lead prioritization, lead distribution, creating sales incentives and discounts, and report generation. Accordingly, salespeople are free to focus on what they do best, namely generating leads and selling.
5. Customer Support
It’s impossible to run a business well without an efficient customer support system. In addition, customers have become tech-savvy and are more demanding than ever. One minor issue can drive them away.
Just one public complaint can be very damaging to an organization. That being true, it’s important to provide top-notch customer support.
But customer support isn’t always easy. Workloads can get heavy and humans can get overwhelmed. That’s where automated customer service comes in.
Automated customer service uses artificial intelligence to carry out customer support tasks. These include routing queries to the right customer support teams, tagging tickets, and responding to issues automatically. 30% of U.S. consumers say they find chatbots “very effective” at dealing with customer service issues. And over 60% of consumers prefer an automated service.
Automation is revolutionizing customer service, making it more convenient and personal. It automates high-quality resolutions on customers’ terms and helps humans to work smarter.
6. Reports and Analytics
Data, information, and insights are all around us. But if a company doesn’t use this information well, there’s no way it will succeed. To realize its full potential and succeed in a competitive marketplace, it must leverage business plans, business strategies, and business reports.
Different platforms generate massive amounts of data every second, and organizations must have data analysis tools that make processes easier, faster, and more effective.
An automated reporting and analytics software automatically fetches data from different platforms and integrates it into the system. After that, this information is then accessed by specific teams and acted upon. Teams can access updated reports and analytics, act upon them, and achieve company goals.
Summing Up
Organizations have always sought to simplify the routine tasks they perform with great frequency. Automation is the key. The more automatic the processes are, the lower the chances of making mistakes. Above all, companies that make fewer mistakes appear more professional.
In conclusion, the benefits of business automation for monotonous processes are immense. Investing in automation has become a necessity. And companies that want to gain a competitive edge should adopt leverage this technology ASAP.
