In the modern world, automation is practically everywhere. Now that almost everyone has a computer in their pocket at all times, it’s impossible to escape the creature comforts of modern technology. Plus, advancements like artificial intelligence push the envelope further so people can achieve more with less infrastructure.
But with all this talk about automation, how does it impact a company’s bottom line? Yes, automation promises many things, but does it deliver? Let’s note how innovative technology reduces costs and improves efficiency, regardless of the business or industry.
A Brief Overview of Smart Technology in Business
“smart technology” covers a wide umbrella of devices and programs. Broadly speaking, for a piece of tech to be “smart,” it must have internet connectivity and can be programmed to handle various tasks without input from a person (i.e., automation). Here’s a quick rundown of different types of smart tech and how they’re deployed in the field.
- Industrial Tech – The entire supply chain relies on innovative technology, from harvesting raw materials to processing, distributing, and refining them. Field devices allow workers to find materials, diagnose equipment problems, and communicate with other people across vast distances. Automation can also help manage the supply chain, such as delivery schedules, vendor agreements, etc.
- Commercial Tech – Most companies use innovative technology to help them with various tasks. For example, field service management may use high-tech devices and software to manage onsite workers, communicate with customers, and handle paperwork from a single device.
- Online Software – These days, more companies exist 100 percent online than ever. Automation is crucial for handling customer communications, order management, marketing campaigns, and on-page SEO.
How Automation Helps Improve a Brand’s Bottom Line
If you’re still not convinced about how automation and innovative technology can help your business, here’s an overview of all the tangible benefits you can expect.
Handles Repetitive Tasks
What tasks do you have to do on a daily or semi-daily basis? Upload documents? Touch base with clients? Review and send emails? Whatever these tasks, you can outsource all or almost all of them to automation.
One of the best reasons to invest in innovative software is that you can link and integrate multiple programs in a single chain. For example, you could use one program for email, another for customer order management, and another for invoicing and payments. With intelligent automation, you can integrate all three platforms to work in sync. This way, everything happens when it’s supposed to, and you don’t have to handle each step personally.
Reduces Human Error
How often has human error caused a problem within your organization? Someone didn’t file a document correctly or forgot to follow up with a client. Automation and innovative technology add redundancy, so these mistakes won’t hurt your bottom line. Not only can these systems be programmed to handle specific tasks accurately every time, but they can also check for and notify you of errors.
For example, you can set up automation to flag any missing information from an invoice or proposal. This way, the person filling out the paperwork doesn’t forget to add specific details. The same program can also notify clients of where to sign and what to pay attention to the most so that everyone is on the same page.
Streamlines Operations
As a rule, the more tasks you automate, the more efficient your operations will be. So, having programs and high-tech devices handle the smaller details of your business ensures that everything flows as smoothly as possible.
Examining organizational bottlenecks is one of the best ways to determine where automation can have the most impact. For example, your sales team may take a long to draft proposals and work on sales calls. The more time they spend on the back end, the less time they can spend with clients closing deals.
In this case, you can automate the drafting process and create a self-guided system for clients to learn more about your company and its services. This way, you can reach more customers in the same amount of time without hiring more salespeople.
Allows Workers to Focus on High-Value Tasks
Using the same example from above, the main value of automation is that it frees workers from back-end tasks. Your salespeople’s most valuable contribution to your company is closing deals. So, by using smart technology to handle the detailed work, your sales team can connect with more prospects and boost your conversion rate.
Similarly, if your marketing team struggles to cast a wider net because they’re spending too much time scheduling and managing posts, you can automate those tasks instead. Then, your marketing team can focus on creating more high-value content that will reach more leads and boost brand recognition.
Overall, automation allows employees to focus more time and energy on high-value tasks that boost the company’s bottom line. Leave busy work to the machines and let your workers focus on what matters most.
Manages Customer Interactions
One of the main problems with scaling a business is that it can become too challenging to manage a more significant influx of customers. For example, let’s say you grow from 100 sales a week to 200 sales per day. While that kind of revenue stream can strengthen your business, it can also lead to long customer service wait times, longer shipping times, and more headaches.
Fortunately, automation can help fix these gaps and connect with customers when you and your employees can’t. For example, you can use automated chatbots to answer simple questions or provide a boilerplate response when someone messages your business. This way, customers feel like they’re being served, and you don’t have to pay employees to manage phone lines and message systems.
Similarly, you can use automation to send emails and follow-up messages to leads, prospects, and new customers. These messages can enhance the business-consumer relationship, and when they’re automated, they’re never accidentally left in an email outbox.
