Lots of people waste lots of time doing things that don’t add value to their jobs or the business. You’ve dipped your toe into automating some of them. Time to dive in and see what’s possible.
Why it matters
Business leaders are prioritizing technology investments that drive efficiency and productivity, and business automation is at the top of that list. Companies that take a broad view of automation (beyond simple, task-based desktop automations) have saved hundreds of millions of dollars and increased productivity.
What your company can do
- Apply automation anywhere, and everywhere
- Finance and accounting. Frees up time for more strategic things like analysis, strategy, and collaboration. One example, automated invoicing and approval routing.
- Marketing. Helps you target customers with automated messages across channels. Identify audiences, design relevant content and automatically trigger actions.
- Customer service. Next generation service automation, using AI, augmented reality and the Internet of Things (IoT) can predict service events and automatically resolve them through digital channels.
- Human resources. Automate job application processing, response tracking and interview scheduling, onboarding and offboarding, payroll management and benefits administration.
- Sales. A third of sales tasks, including strategy, planning, lead identification, qualification, configuration, pricing, and order management, can be automated. Those who do report efficiency improvements up to 15%.
Want to learn more? Here’s a deeper look
Automating tasks makes workers happier and more productive
Many knowledge workers waste a lot of time manually entering and retrieving information between multiple systems as part of a multi-step, manual process. This is not the best use of a person’s time, and could erode morale and employee engagement. “Automating rote tasks gives workers empowerment to focus on the more strategic things they want to do, the reason they took the job,” said Joe Surprenant, sales leader across Deloitte’s artificial intelligence (AI) and data ops practices. “Leveraging automation keeps up the energy and the enthusiasm of the workforce, which is a huge imperative given the talent crunch. Automation is playing a major role in workforce engagement.”
He said it even starts before someone is hired. When HR processes are automated, it sends a positive signal to prospective employees that the company is digital-first.
How can companies identify opportunities for automation? Matt McLarty, global field chief technology officer and vice president of the digital transformation office at Mulesoft, said one large financial services firm did it by asking employees a simple question: What’s the dumbest thing you have to do every day?
“They made it into a contest, with prizes,” he said. “People were so frustrated about wasting their time on this stuff that they volunteered all this information, which created a groundswell for the company to automate those things.”
Business automation can be applied anywhere, and everywhere
You don’t need to understand how automation works. You just need to understand its impact and how powerful it can be. Here’s how different departments can use automation to reduce manual processes, cut costs, reduce inefficiencies, and serve customers and employees better:
Finance and accounting
Automating financial planning and accounting functions frees up time for more strategically important things like analysis, strategy, and collaboration with stakeholders. One example, accounts payable. Data capture is automated (no more digging through miles of spreadsheets), invoices are automatically matched to relevant documents, and approvals are routed. This is not only more efficient, it reduces the risk of errors.
Marketing
There is no value in having to press “send” on every email, campaign, or social-media post you create. By automating marketing, you can target customers with automated messages across multiple channels. The best tools help you identify your audience, design the most relevant content, and automatically trigger actions like offers based on schedules and customer behavior. These efforts can then be aligned with a customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Customer service
It doesn’t take a human to answer basic questions like “How do I reset my password?” or “Where’s my order?” Chat bots, voice bots, and self-service are already in wide use, freeing up agents to help customers navigate more complex service situations. Next-generation service automation, using AI, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT), can predict service events and resolve them through digital channels. And it can give customers a total view of service activity for self-service support and automated monitoring.
Human resources
HR systems can automate a wide range of tasks, from job application processing, response tracking and interview scheduling to job offers, onboarding and offboarding, payroll management, and benefits administration. Using analytics, these systems can also provide insights into workforce sentiment, productivity, and engagement.
Sales
One management consultancy estimated about one-third of all sales tasks can be automated, yet many business decision makers don’t take advantage of the capability. Sales strategy and planning, lead identification and qualification, configuration, pricing and quotation, order management, and post sales are all areas ripe for automation. Early adopters, the firm noted, consistently report increased customer-facing time, higher customer satisfaction, and efficiency improvements of up to 15 percent.
“A bot can sell a product or service,” said Tim Cortinovis, author of several books on automation. “A higher-value salesperson is selling and forging a connection between the customer and the business, which is more valuable.”
Leaders need to consider business automation a strategic asset
Like other digital transformations, the success of end-to-end automation relies on cultural changes driven from the top and executed in each function. Training, incentives, and key performance indicators are all essential.
Spending on the two primary types of business automation, robotic process automation and intelligent process automation, is expected to hit $19.3 billion this year, up from $13.6 billion two years ago. The impact is profound, affecting the way we work, compete, innovate, and serve customers.
“It takes a strong leader and strong head of the functional area to have the vision to say, ‘I know it’s tough and it’s going to be disruptive to our business to change the way we work, but if we don’t, we are going to lose talent, we’re going to lose to our competition, and we’re going to be left behind,’” Surprenant said.
Blog sourced from Salesforce.
