Business Automation and Its Role in Customer Success

Running a company means tens and sometimes even hundreds of processes happening at the same time. Each and every one plays its part in achieving defined goals. However, if you want to be successful, you must stay at the same level as your competitors, if not better.

When you are a big company, hiring new staff members might not even be a problem. At the same time, to keep your entire organization afloat, progress and digital transformation must always be a part of your strategy.

If you are a small business owner, business process automation should be one of your priorities. With limited resources and budget, automating repetitive tasks can save you from a lot of stress and burnout.

In this article, you will learn what process automation and business process automation (BPA) are, what the benefits are, and how to automate business processes efficiently. Let's dive into the topic and also discover the best software to help you with the process.

The Definition of Process Automation

Process automation is referred to as the use of modern technology and software when completing manual tasks to achieve the defined goals and increase efficiency. The set of goals is usually related to:

• building customer relationships;

• establishing customer care system;

• HR processes;

• product creation;

• routine tasks.

The Definition of Business Process Automation (BPA)

Business process automation (BPA), or simply business automation, is the implementation of technologies to automate processes and time-consuming repetitive tasks in the company. It can lead to increased efficiency and reduce costs by transforming mostly manual processes into automated processes with the help of numerous automation tools.

Business process automation helps take a high volume of time, which the human resources team could have spent on monotonous tasks and put into more important and creative assignments. The main goals are to standardize processes, improve operational efficiency, and minimize human error.

Business Automation and Business Process Management

Sometimes, the terms business process automation and business process management (BPM) are confused with each other. However, these have a difference in BPM being a much broader operation that has other compliance standards and organizes more high-level processes with the use of numerous methodologies.

When it was established, business process automation was only a part of business process management. BPA had the purpose of improving team productivity by reducing the number of time-consuming redundant tasks. With time, the role of business process automation has changed.

Business Automation and Digital Transformation

Nowadays, business process automation is not just a part of BPM. Its role has transformed into the central focus of the company's digital transformation. Digital transformation heavily relies on the latest technological advances, like artificial intelligence, which provides no limit to the potential of business automation.

Automating business processes can be done by integration with back-end as well as front-end apps. This allows business leaders to update processes like resource supply, financial tasks, customer experience and service, and much more.

Examples of Business Automation

Before diving into examples, we should clarify what business operations should become a focus of business process automation. Single, non repetitive activities are not going to be the best fit.

Instead, new processes will work better for repetitive, rule-based tasks. Automation is needed to speed up decision-making and ensure that each business process is completed correctly at every repetition.

Every task should involve the right employees; resources must be supplied at the right time and in the right order, and the right technology must be used. Surely, the processes will differ for big enterprises and small business owners. However, there is a set of areas that can be equally improved with the help of business process automation.

Employee Onboarding

Hiring a new employee is only half of a hustle. Next comes numerous organizational tasks required for a person to become a part of the team. You must fill out forms, provide instructions, set training dates, create all necessary accounts, choose a mentor, and many other processes.

Automation tools can provide easy transitions from one task to another. Progress status will be available for all involved parties and will not require endless paperwork with the right software to supervise employee onboarding.

Customer Experience

Business process automation allows you to implement a single platform to manage all your client communications and provide operational excellence. You can provide high-quality customer support via multiple channels. Your team will also have access to all valuable data and can get real-time insights while talking to the potential lead.

Integrated systems also include inside collaboration tools. This way, support teams can share customer information with the other departments in case of an issue to provide timely solutions.

Scheduling and Workload Distribution

When you have multiple projects and your sales team is scattered all across the globe, distributing the workload can be difficult. Having an automated process will allow you to instantly allocate tasks based on the data in your systems.

There is usually an installed calendar with the special software. Automated processes will analyze everyone's availability and create the schedule. There is no need to go around the departments, and if necessary, you can always edit the final results.

Invoicing Process

Invoices are the responsibility of your accounting departments. However, without business process automation, related tasks can take hours, especially if you have to go through piles of paperwork or have several separate systems.

After you unify data, your accountant can instantly generate invoices. Everything can be accessed through the special platform that stores all company and customer data.

Payment Processing

In the modern day, payment process automation is a necessity for any company. On the one hand, keeping track of online and offline purchases is impossible without a proper system.

On the other hand, more and more employees tend to work from home. Calculating the right payment amount for your employees and 3rd party contractors efficiently can not be accomplished without process automation.

HR and Recruitment

Business process automation features provide you with numerous recruitment-related channels. You can create an online form with a job description and employee responsibilities and then upload all the resumes.

Your HR department can easily contact the candidate and send necessary follow-ups. Automate processes like rejection replies to spend more time looking into more suitable personas.

Compliance and Regulatory

There are a number of business processes that require compliance and regulatory requirements. Process automation software can help you make sure that all the necessary documentation is acknowledged and there are no violations.

Managers can view all logs and activities. Before using any machinery that can cause damage, it can easily be checked whether all necessary verification was completed and complimentary files are intact.

Sales Processes

Business process automation software like CRM provides numerous features for efficient lead generation management. The entire process, starting from searching for prospects and finishing with post-sale support, can be streamlined within the system.

A high-quality CRM includes tools to collect, store, and process data on the potential customers. Analytics can provide valuable insights into choosing the best strategies.

Marketing Strategies

Any task that is part of a marketing activity can undergo process automation. You can improve the process design of the campaigns, create new business models as well as automatic email and social media campaigns, collect feedback, and much more.

A business process automation software will collect and analyze various marketing information. The results will allow you to create targeted data-driven strategies.

Inventory Management

Business process automation within inventory management allows companies to keep track of all supplier communications and deliveries. Specialists can constantly monitor all processes and provide necessary changes in case of collapses.

Benefits of Implementing Business Process Automation

There are countless ways customers, employees, and other stakeholders can benefit from the automation of business processes. When your team shifts focus from mundane tasks to more creative and important activities, workflow changes can be groundbreaking.

Increased Sales Rates

You must constantly monitor customer activity throughout the sales cycle. There are multiple touchpoints where you can lose customers without additional actions.

Automation of follow-ups, feedback collection, and timely support can help keep the lead on track. This led to higher sales rates and increased customer success.

Reduced Error Rates

We are all humans, and we make mistakes. Business tasks are not safe from such flaws, just like any other tasks.

When you automate payment processing, email sending, customer service, and inventory, you are saving your company from dozens of mistakes. Some miscalculations can be easily fixed, while others can ruin the reputation and lead to additional costs.

Increased Efficiency

Though lots of manual tasks are very repetitive, they still take up hours of your work time. Going from one email to another, creating a document with customer and lead listings, checking the inventory - all of these you can easily automate.

Such automation allows your team to have enough time for essential processes. They can also complete more within one work day.

Improved Customer and Employee Satisfaction

Your team, free of repetitive tasks, can shift focus to more meaningful operations. Feeling that what you do does have an impact can be a game changer for your organization. Additionally, you save your employees from burnout.

When it comes to your customers, automation of processes provides several benefits. These include timely responses, fast problem-solving, personalized services, and more.

Monetary Savings

This benefit of automation of business processes comes as a result of all other ones listed. By spending less time on repetitive tasks, your team can complete more of other duties and put more hours into project competition.

When there are fewer errors, you do not have to waste time and money on fixing them. Automaton helps prevent many issues as well.

Main Business Automation Technologies

If you want to automate business processes, there are 2 main solutions that are the focus of digital transformation.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic process automation, or RPA, does not involve any actual robots. However, it is still the core component of business process automation since its purpose is task automation and simplification.

RPA technologies include any software or a bot that has the purpose of copying human activities and actions to perform a repetitive workload. It can process and enter data, complete rule-based tasks, and provide guidance within systems.

Workflow Automation

The term workflow automation can also be confused with RPA, yet these 2 are very different. Workflow automation is defined as creating a flow of tasks, data, and documentation within the organization.

It is performed separately but is also defined by the rules. The term refers to the separate tasks within the company processes.

Business Process Automation Techniques

There is a list of techniques primarily used in modern business process automation. The development of specific technologies shifted the focus to new software that influenced the company's approach.

Artificial Inelegance

Artificial intelligence is not only about creating texts anymore. This technology is widely used in creating marketing campaigns as well as document processing and analytics.

It is widely used to create a task manual with sum-ups and lists for easy completion by your employees. Another purpose - meeting preparation. It helps you highlight the most vital data and analytics for you to create a professional and persuasive presentation.

Intelligent Automation

Intelligent process automation, at its core, is a combination of process design and robotic process automation (RPA) technologies. Basically, it proved to be a better improvement in business automation.

You are not only using new software, but it can also evolve based on your precious actions. This way, you receive fewer errors, higher productivity, and improved customer lifecycle and sales strategies.

Natural Language Processing

Natural language processing is widely used in chatbots and customer support replies. The technology analyzes human speech patterns, including nuances like tone, context, and phrasing.

This allows them to construct comprehensive answers to the most common questions. It is also a great aid when creating marketing campaigns. The software assembles compelling texts for emails and captions for social media posts.

What to look for in a Business Automation Software

There are plenty of options on the market that can help you improve your processes, whether you are the owner of a small, medium, or large business. However, it is better to choose one software that provides you with all the necessary features than to spend lots of money on numerous tools and not have a unified database.

A high-quality CRM is a platform that gives you access to everything you need for business process automation. The options might have differences in the features, yet this is what you should look into when looking for software:

• Templates: the program should provide you with templates for marketing campaigns and workflow automation.

• Charts and board: providing visibility and clarity on the data and project status is impossible without charts.

• Analytics: your CRM must be able to provide detailed data analysis of the information within the system to help you with decision-making.

• Calendar: this feature is necessary for workload distribution and scheduling.

• Communication tools: your team must have a way to share vital information and files with each other as well as other departments.