The new digital era and especially the accelerated change that companies had to implement with the crisis that COVID-19 caused in 2020, have turned data into one of the most important resources to achieve their goals, ensure their growth, increase the productivity of their employees , continue innovating and, of course, have greater sales.
Even so, there is no point in having access to the information obtained from clicks, interactions or forms obtained online if it is not possible to collect, classify, store and analyze it.
Automation remains a challenge for most companies
Due to the amount of data and the speed at which it arrives, it is impossible to do it manually, on obsolete platforms that only give the impression of saving investment, when in reality they absorb a lot of people’s work time that could be used to something much more important.
This is when automation becomes involved in business areas, not only in production processes. That is, marketing, sales and customer service departments can benefit from the use of tools that take care of those repetitive tasks that can be delegated to software.
Does this mean that machines will soon replace human jobs? Not at all. Rather, it means that the profiles of the positions occupied by collaborators will be transformed into ones with greater emphasis on skills such as empathy, creativity, communication and others that cannot be delegated to artificial intelligence.
There are already companies that understand it and implement it. According to a survey we recently applied, these are the strategies that use automation:
- Content automation: 50.70% of respondents
- Task management: 51.70% of respondents
- Lead review notifications: 35% of respondents
Which means that it is still not being used to its full potential for other tasks, such as lead nurturing (11.80% of those surveyed), lead rotation (20.30%) or even chatbots to make service more efficient. of clients (26.60%). Or that there are entire sections of the company that have not yet taken the step towards automation, such as support (only 35.50% said they use it), human resources (30.20%) or engineering (21%).
Where to start?
Improving data reliability: one of the priorities for 2023
One of the concerns of team coordinators is to ensure that they have access to quality data and that it comes from real sources. Otherwise, making decisions based on poor information will not bring improvements to the business.
When we asked our respondents how sure they were that their team is accessing relevant data, just 39.40% said they were very sure, and 46.30% said they were only sure.
How to change those numbers to one closer to 100%?
Because each company is different and its different areas will need a particular type of information, it is a bit complicated to standardize what is reliable data for all occasions. Therefore, the organization must qualify the information it receives according to the conclusions it provides, depending on the context. Even so, it could be said that reliable data meets the following :
- They are exact and measurable
- They come from real sources and comply with certain standards for the protection of sensitive information (that is, they are legal)
- They are updated
- They are relevant
- They have coherence
- They are accessible
Reliable data creates successful automation, and it is just the beginning of a strategy that will have a positive effect on your business. Do you want to know how to make sure of that?
How to guarantee the automation of processes comprehensively in your company
1. Identify what can be automated
It takes a deep understanding of the business to understand which tasks and processes have the potential to be automated. It is also a good opportunity to audit those activities that are duplicated or take too much time , and that will need to be adjusted to new strategies.
A review of the workflow, the review of how the work teams are made up and the results they obtain on average help to separate what can be automated from what should receive greater attention from workers. That is why we recommend that you also listen to the suggestions of your staff.
2. Establish automation goals
What automation achieves will be linked to the company’s business goals. From capturing a contact email to creating performance reports on your social media campaigns, the results obtained from artificial intelligence have to serve a purpose in the growth of the organization.
That is why it is important that you do not underestimate the effectiveness of the process, because just as it will help save time for the people who work in your company, it will promote a reconfiguration in your work teams thanks to optimized time and increased productivity. So include in these objectives the way in which the talent of your collaborators can be best used.
3. Choose tools that allow information sharing and data integration
When you already know why and for what purpose you will use automation processes in your business areas, then it is time to analyze which tool has the best results, according to your plans.
Some aspects that should be taken into account are:
- It must be scalable so that it grows at the same rate as the needs of your company. That way you don’t have to change platforms or risk losing information or having to learn another working interface.
- If you already have other digital platforms in your work strategies, make sure that your new tool can integrate with them , that it is compatible with others that help you obtain valuable data from your leads and clients, and that it updates it in real time so as not to lose sight of the behavior of the people who are interested in your company.
- It must make the complex simple. Sometimes it sounds easy, but it has been one of the challenges of many companies that design CRM for clients who want to customize functions and make the management of information between various departments of their organization more efficient.
We know this and we try to make improvements in this regard, so that a CRM is not only focused on a goal, but, as Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot , said : «A CRM is no longer just a tool for sales, it is the heart of scalable companies. As such, a CRM platform must be easy to adopt, align and adapt; “It must be flexible enough to unite teams and unlock insights about customers, empowering businesses to grow bigger, faster and stronger, no matter the challenges they face.”
4. Have good security and storage practices
Information is a very valuable resource, and therefore the company must have good practices to ensure that it will not be used maliciously, and that prospects and clients know how it is used by the organization.
In addition, it is essential to have a way to integrate the different tools securely. The CRM that is chosen should promote a series of measures in this regard, so we recommend that you ask how it works before hiring it and implementing it in your company.
On the other hand, if you store your information in a cloud service, check that access profiles and permissions are configured to ensure that only authorized people will be able to enter, review or edit the data.
5. Direct automation efforts for customer benefit
Automation will increase customer satisfaction, because thanks to the agility of certain processes it will be faster to respond to their requests, follow up on their orders, better identify which needs you want your company to satisfy and which content will help you make smarter decisions. buys.
Your marketing, sales and customer service departments will be able to choose more efficient strategies, because the information they receive is real, updated and valuable; That is, they will understand customers better, regardless of whether it is the first time they interact with your business or if they are already a regular. And people appreciate that companies know them so well, because they feel appreciated and valued among so many business opportunities that exist.
This will also be reflected in other areas, such as human resources, finances, technical support and others, so automation is no longer an option, but the next strategy that you must adopt to not be left behind.