Business automation allows small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to focus on high-priority tasks. It's the difference between spending minutes to hours each week entering data and using that time to develop strategies to increase sales or generate new revenue streams. Additionally, 29% of small business owners surveyed by Incfile said they automate business processes as much as possible because it helps them avoid burnout.
Automation tools exist in every department, from marketing and customer success to recruiting and human resources. Learn what business process automation is, how it works, and understand potential use cases for your company. Next, explore the benefits and examples that drive your automation efforts.
Business automation: what it is and how it works
Business automation uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and rule-based software programs to perform specific tasks with minimal human intervention. Basic business automation can be as simple as scheduling social media posts or setting up email autoresponders for lead generation forms. However, automation comes in many forms.
Robotic process automation (RPA) is a software program that uses scripts to perform actions throughout a system. RPA is typically not data-driven. In other words, RPA does not rely on natural language processing, AI, or ML. Instead, RPA performs rule-based tasks.
Business Process Automation (BPA) goes beyond the basics and allows companies to automate more complex, multi-step workflows. BPA allows small businesses to automate most activities necessary to achieve company goals, including employee and customer onboarding. However, deeper integration between software platforms is required to support cross-functional workflows.
Intelligent automation (IA) combines AI and RPA technologies to automate processes, generate insights, and learn from datasets. Many business software tools use a type of IA to respond to customers, use historical data to improve chat quality, and software such as conversational chatbots to predict product purchase or return intent. Enhance functionality.
[Read more: Automation Is the Future of Sales (Even for Small Business)]
Any repetitive or routine process can be automated, so think about activities that your company processes a lot, such as work orders, expense claims, and time off requests.
Automation opportunities for small businesses
Each step you automate is one less thing your employees need to do manually. Instead, you can focus on meaningful work that adds value to your business. For example, when software proactively detects and corrects timesheet errors, HR teams can spend more time on high-level goals. A simple digital onboarding process allows new employees to enter the system before they even walk into the office.
There are several ways to implement business automation:
- Employee onboarding: Most of the initial onboarding process can be completed without human intervention. Your system can send a welcome email to new employees inviting them to view and electronically sign documents. Once a form is completed, the platform routes it to the appropriate department, reducing manual data entry, paper filing, and email back and forth.
- customer service: Many customer support activities can be improved through automation. Help desk software routes tickets to the appropriate department, and chatbots answer refund questions and automatically initiate the return process.
- Marketing activities: You can automate many marketing tasks and workflows, including targeted emails, text messaging, and social media campaigns. Customer relationship management (CRM) programs capture interaction data, and integrated systems can send responses at the right time and route qualified leads to your sales team.
- Talent acquisition: Applicant tracking systems use intelligent automation and AI to post jobs, source and filter candidates, and process applications. Our integrated platform makes it easy to schedule interviews and check references.
- Sales process: Many sales CRMs and lead management tools can automatically identify leads, assign prospects to sales reps, and record deal-related interactions.
- Accounting and Finance: Automated data capture and receipt matching capabilities reduce errors, and trigger-based approval processes streamline financial workflows. Most software platforms also offer report automation capabilities.
These are just a few examples of how automation can be used in your business. The possibilities are endless. Any repetitive or routine process can be automated, so think about activities that your company processes a lot, such as work orders, expense claims, and time off requests.
How business process automation can benefit small and medium-sized businesses
Automation helps companies optimize resource usage while improving customer and employee experiences. According to a report from WorkMarket, “70% of business leaders believe that anywhere from 10% to nearly 40% of their time is spent on tasks that are mundane and not core to their job description; That's about 45 minutes to more than 3 hours per job.'' 8-hour workday. ” Employees estimate that automation “saves approximately 240 hours per year,” and leaders say it saves approximately 360 hours per year.
Benefits of business automation include:
- Reduced errors: Reduce errors by using AI and automation to automatically fill out forms (accounts payable, payroll, inventory, customer service, etc.) and automatically route them to the appropriate department.
- Increased productivity: Automation tools reduce task switching, email back and forth, and manual data entry. Each employee receives timely role-based alerts and reports.
- Additional cost savings: Your staff will spend less time updating multiple software programs, fixing errors, and other routine tasks, so they can focus on their core business. Further cost savings can be realized by preventing mistakes and improving operations.
- Enhance customer experience: Automation improves operations, reduces product and delivery failures, and improves response times. This allows his customer success team to dedicate more resources to his clients. As a result, customer satisfaction increases.
- Improving employee satisfaction: Your staff will be more engaged when they focus on purposeful work rather than boring data entry. Higher engagement levels lead to higher retention rates.
- Sales expansion: Software platforms that automate follow-up activities (cart abandonment, lead form responses) win customers before they fail.
Examples of business automation software
Many platforms offer automation features to assist payroll, marketing, and customer success departments. In fact, Visa's Global Back to Business Study found that “91% of small businesses will use available automation and AI services, such as ChatGPT, in the next 12 months to improve their business relative to their competitors. “The respondents said they were at least somewhat likely to consider it.”
Consider business automation tools such as:
- make: Automate your marketing, IT, sales, and HR processes using a drag-and-drop visual interface and pre-designed workflow templates. We offer free and paid plans.
- Brevo: Target leads at the moments that matter using email, text messaging, chat, and WhatsApp marketing automation. Brevo has several free and paid options.
- According to the calendar: Improve your booking and booking process with Calendly. It integrates with your CRM to send reminders and follow-ups, and route forms to the right employees.
- Spend: Expensify automates expense approval workflows, automatically detects duplicate receipts, and syncs transactions to your accounting program.
CO— aims to provide inspiration from leading and respected experts. However, before making any business decisions, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your personal circumstances.
CO – is committed to helping small businesses start, operate and grow. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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