Business process automation or BPA is very effective and helpful in the growth and expansion of businesses and marketers. 29% of marketers use the automation process to personalize customer engagement, and marketers’ overall acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI) mechanisms has increased by about 44% since 2017.
When marketers use business process automation or BPA, they will have more time to be creative and high-level. In fact, without the need for manual tasks, your team can handle more tasks. In the continuation of this article, after a comprehensive review of the concept of business process automation, we have provided you with benefits and examples on how to use it. We will introduce some of the best business automation tools to you.
What is business process automation?
Business process automation means that a company uses technology to perform its daily and important tasks. This process is quite cost-effective and efficient in simplifying the company’s processes. Automation also gives employees more time to do high-level tasks. You can use business process automation in various departments such as marketing, human resources, sales, and customer service.
For example, online chatbots are an example of business process automation. In addition, you can automate sales contract management. You may be wondering which activities can be automated? The answer is that if a process is reproducible, it needs stability and must be free from any human error, so automation must be considered. Before reviewing examples of business process automation, let’s look at some of its important benefits.
Benefits of business process automation
Business process automation helps strengthen your customer relationship, build project report dashboards, and standardize processes. In general, BPA brings the following benefits to your company:.’
1- Save time
Everyday tasks are more time-consuming than you think. Although very necessary and can not be ignored, doing such things does not necessarily require human intervention. In other words, business process automation can prevent employees from wasting time by doing daily tasks such as office work.
Business process automation does everyday tasks without wasting time and instantly. In addition, it gives the company’s employees more time to do high-level tasks such as doing research projects or communicating with customers. In other words, employees can increase the value of their work and bring more income to the company through the automation of business processes.
2- Reducing human error
As you know, there is a possibility of human error in anything. Making a mistake in critical situations leads to a disastrous failure in an organization. You will no longer have to worry about a human error with business process automation. You can easily do office work, transfer documents, and collect signatures through it. In addition, automation tools can send reminder messages to employees to prevent them from forgetting their tasks.
3- Employee satisfaction
People are usually not interested in doing everyday tasks, but employees will not have to do routine tasks thanks to automation technology. It creates a sense of satisfaction in the employees to continue to work with more power.
4- Easy distribution of information
Business process automation distributes all company data and tasks. For example, automation software can record all the business process steps so that information about the project stages will be available to all team members. It makes it easier for team members to prepare work reports and make decisions. In addition, automated processes lead to transparent responsiveness, valuable insight, and increased potential project speed.
Another advantage of business process automation is customizing information and notifications. You can send emails about a specific project to your team members.
5- Increasing customer satisfaction
When business processes are well-distributed, you can launch successful marketing campaigns and easily connect with customers. Business process automation tools can help you always have the best and happiest customers.
6- Compliance with the rules
Many marketing campaign processes must comply with certain standards and regulations. For example, you must follow GDPR or CAN-SPAM regulations when sending emails. You can use business process automation tools to ensure the consistency of your business campaigns. You can set up systems to follow the rules and control this once you implement the information.
Examples of business process automation
As we said before, you can use business process automation in different company departments such as marketing, customer service, human resources, and sales.
1- Project management
A marketer usually manages several projects or campaigns at the same time. So he can digitally record his workflow using business process automation. In addition, he will be able to automate the logistics part of the campaign fully. For example, task management tools tell you who is doing what and when the deadline expires. When one employee completes an activity, the system automatically notifies the next employee of the workflow.
In addition, project managers can be informed about the work process of each employee through the dashboard. So that if one of the employees has a delay or delay in doing the work, the managers will be informed about it immediately.
2- Customer service
The customer service department is the best part of applying automation. If a specific keyword is in a customer chat or email, the department staff can automate the response process. In addition, if your application or website has a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, you can also mechanize the process of answering those questions by using virtual network chatbots or your website. Some automation tools also send support tickets to the relevant persons or departments after analyzing and classifying them.
3- Social network
Posting daily posts on social media is tedious and time-consuming. You can use social media automation tools to schedule the release of your content on cyberspace platforms, so you no longer have to upload your content manually. Some social media tools will also help you generate content and are the best place to implement your ideas.
4- Confirmation
If your business is in product orders, automation software will facilitate the order verification process. Managing requests is also a time-consuming and tedious process, but you will no longer have to follow multiple team members to get approval with automation tools. You can send confirmation notifications to team members and ask them to do it online.
5- Office work
Office work is also part of everyday processes. In other words, the process of collecting signatures, or verifying tax documents, is always present in the business. By mechanizing the business process, employees will no longer have to do such office work manually. Instead, they can submit their requests online and view their status in automation software.
6- Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is one of the most important parts for marketers. For example, you have to be very careful when sending emails to lead customers. So using the available tools, you can see all your interactions with contacts in one place.
In addition, customer relationship management programs help you build leads and strengthen your workflow. You can also see how Marketing Leading Leads (MQL) move to Sell Leads (SQL) through automated Lead Scoring.
7- Sales
Creating and tracking invoices is one of the most important tasks of sales representatives. Using business process automation software saves valuable time for sellers because all invoices will be generated and tracked by the software together. In addition, some tools such as Sales Hub will help sellers manage contracts, create follow-up emails, and automate all sellers’ work.
The best business process automation tools
Buying an automation tool depends on the process you want to automate, so you need to understand the process activities before you buy thoroughly. In addition, you need to set a goal for yourself and make sure you have enough time to teach new software to your employees. You can also choose a team leader or leader to take on the responsibility of assisting team members during this period.
Purchasing automation software and making it available to team members to understand how it works is by no means the right thing to do. In other words, for how to use the software and determine the responsibility of team members in it. You should consider planned plans and training classes.
Conclusion
Automating the business process will ultimately make your work life easier so that you will be able to do your daily work without human error. In addition, it gives you more free time to improve the company by doing high-level work.