(Hint: The answer is “yes.”)
So how do we know that business process automation is right for you? Put simply, business process automation (BPA) is the automation of routine business processes and functions using an automation platform. Every business owner has a list of processes that they wish could be done by a robot — and therefore, every business could benefit from automation in one way or another.
In fact, business process automation can be applied to almost every facet of business, including:
- Sales
- Procurement
- Finance
- Human resources (HR) and onboarding
- Product development
- Inventory tracking
- Logistics and delivery
- Education and training
- I.T.
- …And more!
The ROI of Business Process Automation
Business process automation goes beyond basic data manipulation and record-keeping. Using advanced automation software, BPA focuses on automation efforts that actually help run the business, often dealing with mission-critical, core processes.
And that’s why business process automation has some of the highest numbers in terms of ROI. BPA ROIs differ from business to business, of course, because no business processes are the same. But, acording to VentureBeat, it’s becoming more common for business process automation ROIs to reach heights of over 400%! For 2022 alone, the IBM Institute for Business Value estimated that BPA would generate billions of dollars in labor value.
What About Small Businesses Automation? Is That a Thing?
You betcha! Small business automation can have just as big of a financial impact on a company as automated workflows for larger corporations. As a small business, your employees’ time is your most important resource, and as the saying goes, “time is money.” Deployed correctly, workflow automation for small businesses can save more than 40 hours a month in labor (just ask our past clients)!
And it's not just for financial reasons that we automate — let’s take a look at some of the other key benefits of automation.
9 Benefits of Business Process Automation
- Increased Efficiency: BPA streamlines and automates various tasks and processes, eliminating manual and repetitive work. This leads to increased efficiency by reducing human error, eliminating bottlenecks, and expediting processes.
- Minimized Risk: With human error out of the picture, automated workflows can ensure that processes are standardized and consistently followed, reducing the risk of errors, omissions, and compliance breaches.
- Increased Client Retention: Automated processes can create faster response times, improved accuracy, and enhanced customer experience. This results in higher client satisfaction, leading to increased client retention rates.
- Strengthened Client Relationships: BPA can also help strengthen client relationships by providing better visibility into client interactions, enabling personalized and timely communication. This can lead to improved client engagement, better understanding of their needs, and enhanced client relationships.
- Increased Credibility: Implementing BPA ensures that tasks are completed accurately and consistently, leading to improved quality of work. This can enhance your business's reputation as being reliable and trustworthy.
- Positive Reputation: The consistency afforded by process automation can lead to improved service delivery, reduced errors, and increased customer satisfaction. This contributes to a positive reputation for your business in the long run.
- Guarantee of Process Adherence: With BPA, you can rest easy knowing that your businesses standard processes are followed according to predefined workflows and business rules.
- Easy KPI Tracking and Analysis: Automated processes allow for more data-driven decision making by generating real-time data for things like email marketing KPIs, social media KPIs, website KPIs, and more. This data can then be analyzed to measure process performance, identify areas for improvement, and track progress towards business goals.
- (HUGE) Time Savings: With BPA, business owners save countless hours for both themselves and their staff, allowing everyone to spend time actually focusing on high-level aspects of the business!
Business Process Automation Wears Many Hats
In this day and age, it’s pretty common to automate our email or social media campaigns. But businesses big and small often forget about other kinds of business processes that could free up even more time and cut unnecessary costs. To get the most out of your automation platform, you’ll want to leverage all of its capabilities, including (but not limited to):
Sales Process Automation
- Deliver time-sensitive communication throughout the sales process.
- Create a standardized to-do list for prospective client meetings.
- Send automated text messages to provide basic information for a critical sales call.
- Automatically send appointment reminders to clients AND salespeople.
- Ensure your sales team never misses another opportunity to follow up with a lead.
- Meet your prospects where they are in the sales process by delineating the right information at the perfect time, every time.
Lead Scoring & Lead Tracking
- Get engagement alerts with automated lead tracking.
- Let your automation software gauge how interested or active your lead is and perform the appropriate action.
- Immediately follow-up with prospects who open your emails and click on your links most often.
Digital Marketing Automation
- Automate your email campaigns (duh!).
- Automate monthly newsletters to your clients to promote sales.
- Use automation to create a landing page and track engagement/other KPIs.
- Automate text campaigns for contests and sponsored events.
- Keep important KPIs like open rate and client involvement at the ready so you can keep your email list clean.
Internal Automation
- Create and automate a standardized process for on-boarding new clients, including sending forms, requesting signatures, and filing documents.
- Automate your payroll prep, easily collecting hours and pre-approving them for your payroll company.
- No HR department? No problem! Automate processes for time off requests, tax document updates, online training programs, etc.
Payment Automation
- Process monthly subscription payments and invoices automatically.
- Avoiding transaction failures by building a credit card expiration reminder email sequence.
- Automate the sale of products and provide single point fulfillment orders for processing and delivery.
Can I Automate That?
Need help deciding which processes you can automate? Whether you’re considering small business automation or large-scale automation of business processes, ask yourself the following questions:
Is It Repeatable?
In order to automate a practice, you need to have a set of well-defined steps that are followed each time the function is performed. (If the process is different every time, it will be much harder to automate.)
Can It Be Documented?
You should be able to document the process you want to automate, from start to finish. For processes that involve many variables or heavy human intervention, documenting the process and automating the main portions of that process can account/leave space for human intervention with delayed steps and/or task management.
Is Automating It More Effort Than It’s Worth?
Don’t make the mistake of over-automation! For example, if the process you want to automate is a one-time, 2 hour process and yet it takes 4 hours to build automation, then it’s not a good fit for automation.
Are You Ready To Take Your Time (and Money) Back?
At Wild Fig Marketing, we love helping businesses leverage automation! We know that the more you can automate, the more time you get back for running your business at a higher level.
If you’re ready to take that next step to find out how business process automation can save your time, increase your leads, and deepen your client relationships, then contact us today or schedule a 15 minute exploratory call. Together, we’ll help you master automation so you can spend more time doing what matters most — growing your business!