One of the top goals of any business, regardless of industry, is to increase efficiency. The more efficiently you can use your available resources, the more value they can generate – thus generating more revenue in return.
An element of efficiency that is often overlooked is that it is not something you “do once and forget about”—or at least, that’s not how most celebrated entrepreneurs look at things. When you think you’ve improved things “enough,” you stop looking for opportunities to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize errors.
That is why automation has become such a boost to so many. It almost immediately unlocks ways that a business can improve itself and does so repeatedly over the long term. It’s like having an employee who is only tasked with increasing efficiency and never eats, sleeps, or needs to take a vacation. Imagine what you could do with such an arrangement.
Overall, there are several distinct processes that you should consider automating if you haven’t already.
1. Streamlining Repetitive Tasks
To begin to get a sense of how invaluable automation can be, start by looking at all those repetitive tasks like data entry and invoicing that are both A) important and B) time-consuming.
For example, you needed to send out a paper form for employees to fill out with their availability and preferences before an upcoming holiday party so you could schedule it. You obviously want to ensure you’re picking a date and time when most people can attend.
Even this becomes an uphill battle, as you must wait for people to fill out the form and send it in. They might use different formats when it comes to the date. You need to review the forms a few times to ensure you’re not missing anything. You have to hope that nothing gets lost in transit.
Or, you could send out a digital form and collect the same information in a fraction of the time. People don’t have to worry about losing and returning a paper form – they can fill it out and get you the results quickly. That way, you can get the holiday party as soon as possible. If anyone has objections, they can raise them, and things can be addressed without issue.
A holiday party is a relatively straightforward example, but consider the major impact this process would have on something like invoicing. The sooner invoices go out, the sooner they get paid. The sooner they get paid, the more money a business has coming in to pay expenses and capitalize on fast-moving opportunities. Not only does automation make the process of invoicing faster and less error-prone, but it also has a larger benefit on the financial stability of the business as well.
2. Enhancing Customer Service
Another one of the processes you should consider automating has to do with customer service.
Keep in mind that this advice is easy to misinterpret if you approach it from the wrong perspective. A business depends on its customer relationship to thrive, and you cannot automate that relationship. However, you can use AI-powered chatbots to quickly and accurately provide certain information to customers who don’t necessarily require a human touch.
They can quickly get the information they need and avoid placing a phone call to a live employee who is again free to work on more important matters. It truly is a “win-win” situation in every sense of the term.
3. Employee Onboarding
The ” paint-by-numbers” employee onboarding process is another perfect candidate for automation. Onboarding is all about getting someone acclimated to the specific ways in which a business works. So long as they know there are always human employees to go to if they need them or have any specific questions, there’s no reason why the rest of the process can’t or shouldn’t be automated as much as possible.
4. Inventory Management
Inventory management is another excellent example of a process that can easily be automated. Not only that, but it could lead to far more accurate results as well. You wouldn’t have to wait for a human employee to stumble upon the fact that you’re out of something. The automation system would know automatically, alerting those who need that information to take appropriate action.
5. Marketing Campaigns
Finally, any marketing campaign is a great candidate for automation due to its uniform nature. Getting the right message in front of the right person at the right time is an exact, repetitive process. Once you create that message, the rest can be handled via automation so that marketers can focus on the more creative parts of their jobs.
Automation Can Enhance Repetitive Task Efficiency
Ultimately, remember that automation isn’t necessarily about replacing human employees. Instead, it’s about supporting and empowering them. It’s about taking the types of tasks that formerly took a lot of time and improving the speed and accuracy at which they can be completed. More than that, it’s about freeing up those human employees’ valuable time so they can focus on higher-value work.
For years, some have feared the impending arrival of automation because of what it will mean to workers. Yes, some jobs won’t need to be completed anymore in the same way we’re used to – but all that means is that they probably shouldn’t have monopolized so much of our time in the first place.
Savvy entrepreneurs know that if you can automate tasks and free up the time of a human employee to focus on things that truly need their attention, you do more than just boost productivity. You’re increasing the value that your entire business is capable of generating daily. You’re creating an environment where workers are no longer spinning their wheels – they’re free to think outside the box, and innovation can thrive. That’s a big part of how many organizations can stay competitive in today’s fast-paced environment.
All this is why, if you haven’t already started to consider how to bring automation into your own enterprise, now would be an excellent time to do so. Make no mistake: your competitors are thinking the same way.