Look at you. Sitting at your computer for another entire evening organizing and assigning leads and scheduling appointments when you could be sitting on your couch aimlessly scrolling through Netflix instead.
It’s necessary, you try to justify, otherwise, this wouldn’t get done. And of course, you’d be right if there wasn’t software available to automate repetitive tasks.
Software to automate repetitive tasks is important for businesses of all stripes, as it often leads to significant efficiency and productivity gains, which of course translates into cost-savings.
In this article, we explore more about the importance of automation and why you should invest in sales software that supports it.
Why You Should Automate Manual Tasks at Your Business
The question is not whether to automate but rather, why not? In this section, we delve into the reasons why businesses should consider automating manual tasks. From boosting efficiency and productivity to redefining the employee experience, the benefits of automation extend across your organization.
Here are some more ways that automating manual tasks can improve your business:
Boosted Efficiency
With software to automate repetitive tasks, your business will quickly become more efficient. This is because instead of having to wait for someone to take action when let’s say a new lead enters your system, automation can take care of that first touch for you and even more nuanced tasks like scheduling an appointment with the appropriate sales rep based on their availability.
There are countless other ways that your business can enjoy efficiency increases with automation, including:
- Generating invoices and payment requests to be sent to customers at specific times based on their billing cycle
- In the insurance industry, automatically scheduling an appointment with an underwriter for certain policies based on the underwriter's availability
- Automatically sending emails to customers at the right time based on their actions within an application or program, like a welcome email when they sign up, an email with additional content or information when they activate a specific feature in your software, and more
Increased Productivity
When you automate manual tasks at your business, you’re not only reducing the amount of time and effort put into managing various administrative duties, but you’re also allowing your staff to focus their attention on more pressing matters that actually take advantage of their skills and abilities, rather than them focusing hours of their time on tedious and repetitive tasks.
For instance, with Ringy, you can use the AI Tools add-on to significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to craft emails, whether it be welcome emails or follow-ups. Start by writing a rough draft of your email, and hit the button to get suggestions and recommendations to improve the clarity and tone.
Better Accuracy
Human error is, well, a natural part of being human. Accidentally entering a client’s name wrong in the system or sending an email with a typo is inevitable in business, but automation can help significantly reduce the likelihood of human errors. This is because when you set up automation in your system, the computer does it exactly the way you told it to, meaning that there is zero chance of an error occurring.
Allows You to Scale Your Business
When some tasks are handled by automation, it’s easier to scale your business using fewer resources. This allows you to do more with less and continue to grow some aspects of your business without needing to worry as much about how resources will be allocated to handle the increased workload.
Improves the Customer Experience
Automation can also help improve the customer experience by allowing them to receive faster service. For example, a chatbot on your website allows customers to get answers to simple questions immediately, no matter the time of day. Automated processes like password resets and account changes mean that your customer’s productivity is maintained and your staff's workload is reduced.
How to Automate Repetitive Tasks
Task automation is usually a relatively easy process, depending on the task(s) that you want to automate and what sales and marketing tools are available to you. Here are some general guidelines on how to automate repetitive tasks:
- Identify the tasks that you want to automate. The first step is to identify what tasks your business would be able to automate. These could be things like sending marketing emails, scheduling social media posts, sending out invoices, or organizing leads. To be successful, the tasks should have a clearly defined input and output (clear path from point A to B).
- Choose the appropriate tool for automation. This could be a script, a specific tool like a CRM automation integration, or an application like Zapier.
- Define how the task will be automated. Depending on the task, you might be able to automate the entire or a portion of it. The automation process might involve configuring specific settings or setting up triggers.
- Evaluate the results. Testing, 1,2,3. It’s important to test your automation to ensure that you’re getting the desired result before you launch it. You might have to make a few adjustments here and there to get the results that you’re looking for.
Using AI to Automate Tasks
You’ve probably heard a lot about artificial intelligence (AI) before, but how does it actually work with automating tasks? Well, the first thing you have to understand is that typical task automation doesn’t need AI involvement; a simple process with a “trigger” (if this happens, do this) is simple enough that a computer can complete it without needing any sort of “intelligence” behind it.
But with AI, more complex tasks that go beyond a simple trigger and resulting action can be completed. The table below shows several examples:
|
Using AI to Automate Tasks Example |
Description |
|
An AI-powered chatbot on your website can answer customer questions dynamically. |
AI chatbots can help provide technical support and troubleshooting and even determine when an issue is complex enough that it needs to be escalated to an agent. This takes the pressure off of your customer service team by allowing customers to get quick answers to common questions while allowing your team to help customers with more complex issues. |
|
AI can handle qualifying leads based on criteria that you set. |
New leads coming in? No problem! AI can handle qualifying leads (based on criteria that you set), scheduling meetings with those leads, and triggering a welcome email or follow-up email to send as appropriate. In other words, AI handles that first point of contact so that you can easily stay within the 5-minute lead response rule. |
|
Back-end processes can be handled by AI. |
Back-end processes like managing inventory, processing invoices, and keeping track of customer actions (e.g., support ticket statuses, booking information, etc.) can all be managed with AI, reducing the need to set aside large chunks of time for administrative duties. |
|
Use AI to help you develop effective reports. |
AI is also useful for helping you develop effective reports. Analytics software combined with AI can process large amounts of data and glean insights from it, like patterns and trends that you should pay attention to. For example, customer purchasing habits over time. Using this information, you can make better, more educated business decisions. |
Conclusion
Whether streamlining customer interactions with AI-powered chatbots or optimizing back-end processes, the integration of automation, especially with AI, ensures businesses stay agile and competitive in today's dynamic landscape. As we navigate the future, the role of automation, guided by intelligence, continues to be a cornerstone in shaping efficient, productive, and customer-centric business environments.
Get started on your automation journey today by checking out Ringy. Sign up for a free trial now.