As you grow your business, you have to find ways to serve more customers in the same amount of time. This can be tough, especially if you don’t have the revenue to scale your team right away. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to improve your productivity and keep that forward motion.
One of these things is automating workflows. When you use technology to automate certain business processes, you take that burden off of your team and create more efficiencies in your operations. Let’s take a closer look at how you automate parts of your business to help you grow.
What is Automation?
Before we dive into all the benefits of workflow automation, it’s important to understand exactly what it is. It’s not replacing team members with a computer or software program. It’s using your workplace technology to support your teams’ processes.
Automating workflows can be simple or complex, depending on your needs. Email marketing is a common area where automation can take on the brunt of labor. You can set up triggers on your website that automatically enroll visitors in a nurture series.
For example, someone who downloads a form will receive that form in their inbox and also start getting emails about the product every few days. The best part is your CRM can do all this for you. You don’t need a team member to keep track of when to send emails and to who. This allows for more timely delivery and ensures people will go through the entire series.
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Benefits of Automation
Now that you know exactly what automation is and how it works, we can turn to the many benefits it offers businesses.
1.) Streamlined communication
This is perhaps one of the most valuable benefits of automating your processes, especially if you have a remote team or team members. With automation, you never have to wonder if a customer received the information they need. Just set up the triggers with corresponding emails and you’re off to the races!
It’s often helpful to assign a team to oversee this aspect of your CRM, just so they’re updated on customers’ questions and ensure your system is working properly.
2.) Save Money
There are significant expenses associated with growing your business. As we mentioned before, automation can fill the gaps in your staff until you’re ready to hire more people. This means you don’t have to invest in salaries and benefits over marketing.
Automation also significantly increases your digital marketing game, which saves you money on costly print campaigns. You can do more in-house without having to pay for expensive services to help you with your efforts.
3.) Efficiency
Automations are, by nature, more efficient than humans. You can time everything precisely, it will happen no matter what and you can view the results in a nice analytics dashboard. This keeps you from constantly monitoring your marketing or communication channels and doesn’t restrict business to business hours.
4.) Productivity
Efficiency and productivity are connected in any good business model. As automation makes your processes more efficient, you’ll also become more productive. Your team will have more time to focus on leads and tasks that are guaranteed to boost revenue while your systems continue nurturing leads in the background.
Automation Systems
With all these great benefits, you’re likely wondering what software you need to start using automation in your business. There are a few technologies to look into:
- CRM portal (customer relationship management)
- Project management platform
- Sales pipeline system
- Customer data platform
Each of these offers automation to different sections of your business or to your entire team. There are countless brands and options out there, so you can find one that perfectly fits your needs and budget.
Automation is a must-have in today’s digital marketplace. Now that you know how it works and how it can help your business, choose the platforms that make sense and start automating your workflows!