Era of automation: where to start and how to implement

WHY AND WHEN TO AUTOMATE

For a business owner, automation is an additional cost that significantly affects the company’s core processes. Therefore, he wants to be confident in what to do and when it is the best time for that.

Automation is applied when the manager feels that you are spending your money and time not in the best way. Start automating small areas where you can quickly make a profit. For example, the process of sales or interaction with the client. Look for cyclic processes that are repeated on a regular basis in one scenario – to automate them most easily.

Before starting work analyze all internal processes, find bottlenecks in business, look at the usual rhythm of work at a different angle and find the best solution to improve its efficiency.

Remember, thinking about automation is necessary when the basic business processes of the company are more or less stable. Otherwise, untimely automation can lead to undesirable consequences.

WHAT CAN BE AUTOMATED

Sales

• Automatic updating of product information or delivery. For example, when a truck equipped with a special geolocation program approaches the warehouse at a certain distance, the printer automatically prints the documents required for shipment. This saves time for finding and storing required papers since employees spend 20 to 40% of their time searching for these documents manually;
• Interaction with customers. For example, if you have a call center, you can automatically divide orders among managers and limit the processing time of each order. In this way, you optimize the work of managers, you can control the effectiveness of the center and reasonably motivate employees. Be attentive! Do not allow your client to feel that it is not important if it is serviced by robots.

Human Capital

• Training the newcomers. Create a checklist containing all the information and instructions you need to teach newcomers. This greatly reduces the time and cost of training and helps new team members start the work process as soon as possible;
• Preventing Mistakes. Properly integrated automation significantly reduces data distortion, since some processes are corrected in such a way that they do not require human intervention. This relates to multiple repetitive tasks that can be solved by specialized programs;
• Improvement of personnel qualification. Efficiently trained staff provides good service and guarantees a personal approach to each client, thereby increasing the credibility of your company and forming loyal defenders of the company’s brand.

Big Data

• Reporting and invoicing. They can be collected and sent using programs such as Invoicely. You can also automate the monitoring of KPI and Profit and Loss Statement (P&L);
• Correspondence tracking. You can automate and schedule emails and social media publications, which will greatly improve the performance of the PR department and SMM.

Program Infrastructure

• You can automate more or less standard projects (for example, on Node.js) by pre-installing a standard bundle of infrastructure, which can be set next 10 minutes instead of 10 hours. You can have such automatic packages for several individual projects.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE AUTOMATION

There is a running algorithm tested over the years. First, select and verify which processes need automation. After that, inform the staff about the planned changes. Then carefully explain to employees when and why automation will be done so that they understand your motives. Then, choose an automated workflow tool, which will make it easier and as clear as possible.

You can automate the chosen process by developing, fine-tuning and integrating some systems. Sometimes it does not even apply to the software. For example, for call centers it is possible to set up the correct telephony with tracking and automatic integration of all conversations in CRM.

Alternatively, you can hire a business analyst who monitors the implementation of automating your processes and take responsibility for the outcome.

It is important to adhere to a certain order of integration: starting with smaller tasks, and then proceeding to larger ones. All of the above will greatly reduce human error and business risks. As a result, this will ensure the expansion of your business and its further development.

MISTAKES, POSSIBLE DURING THE AUTOMATION

Never try to automate everything at once, do it in parts, because:

• With a small amount you will see the results faster;
• Your team will rejoice in small victories, and, consequently, will be more motivated;
• Do not use automation just because it’s fashionable, and someone else has also decided to implement it. You need to clearly understand why you are doing it and what impact your business expects.
• Do not forget to effectively teach the staff a new approach to work after the upgrade.

WHAT CANNOT BE AUTOMATED

You cannot automate:

• Communication with clients as it requires a personal approach. You need to know the needs of your client in order to personalize your mutual experience and transform your customer into a loyal follower and brand attorney;
• Exclusive or individual product that requires high experience. There are some common cases when you already know what you can offer for automation. Sometimes you come across a non-standard product that is new to the market. It contains many variables that can not be automated, because it needs to be deeply analyzed, divided into parts and handled accordingly. In this case, you need to carefully select the tools to develop a successful business model for her.

Remember, nothing is a waste of time if you use it wisely. But even if your business is based on day-by-day work, now is the time to focus on being productive. Do not be afraid of automation, optimize processes until you find the perfect combination of individual service and productive production.