Business process automation (BPA) is an essential tool to organize repeatable daily tasks. In this ultimate guide to business process management, we offer tips that will help to scale your business.
What does automation mean?
The advantage of automation in business is the use of technology to replace manual work as much as possible, minimizing costs and increasing productivity. First of all, most repeatable processes can be automated, tasks that require consistency across the organization, need to be error-proof and transparent.
What BPA offers?
- Increase in income. Automated business processes will allow you to serve more customers with fewer employees.
- Time-saving. You can reduce the number of errors due to human mistakes. For example, during the distribution of orders among employees.
- Improved accuracy and efficiency of work. Some processes are impossible to perform manually, e.g. if you need to call a few hundred clients or sent the notification.
- Customer satisfaction. High-standard customer service can make you recognizable within your target group.
Which processes should I automate?
The most common business spheres that can be automated:
- HR department.
- Call center processes
- Sales department.
- Accounting.
- Finance department.
- Marketing.
We will focus on examples of automation. An ad campaign without business automation means putting up billboards, making calls without understanding your target audience, and creating client databases manually. After automation, the seller can use personalized ads and mailing lists, keep all data in a digital form and easily modify it.
The following companies need to implement a business process automation:
- Industrial enterprises. Purchasing, packaging, sometimes the production process itself can be automated.
- IT companies. Technical support.
- Banks. Customer database, online banking.
- Research companies. Data analyses, statistics.
Types of business processes
Managing: business-processes that manage the functioning of a system (e.g. solving current issues, monitoring, and motivating staff).
Operating: business-processes that directly affect the company’s profit (marketing).
Auxiliary. These processes do not directly affect the company’s profit, but at the same time ensure its continuous operation (e.g. accounting, reporting, and document management).
Automation phases
1) Set a goal
You need to clearly understand why you want to automate a particular business process. There can be the following examples of goals:
- Increase the accuracy of calculations;
- Cut costs;
- To establish cooperation between departments;
- Improve customer service;
- Increase sales.
2) Choose a business process
Which business processes need to be automated depends on your goal. While choosing a process, try to analyze the sequence and necessity of each action.
3) Business automation tools
1C software products
1C can be used for automation in almost all areas of the business: accounting, salary and personnel management, document flow, etc.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Automated business systems provide the best experience for business owners. A tool that is used for contact management, sales management, productivity, and more. CRM software saves and organizes customer contact information such as email, telephone, website, social media profile, and more.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
It is another type of software that organizes accounting, procurement, project management, risk management, and supply chain operations.
PM systems
Project management software helps to organize schedules, cost control and budget management, risk and quality management.
Hiring a professional team or launching by yourself?
BPA is a responsible task, and if it is performed incorrectly, there can be no improvement at all.
Development team:
- Experience and efficiency. Hiring a reliable team will definitely optimize your business.
- No need to distract your employees from their current activities.
- The only disadvantage is a serious investment in BPA.
By yourself:
- No extra costs, you just need to pay for the system itself.
- A better understanding of the business. A development team will need time to analyze your business in order to choose the best BPA.
- There are two big disadvantages of implementing the BPA system by yourself. Duration and lack of experience that can put your business in danger if it takes too long and you don’t have professionals in your team.
What should you keep in mind during the automation process?
You need to constantly analyze the effectiveness of BPA, comparing results, and collecting feedback from your colleagues. Then, let’s discuss possible errors and problems that may occur and how to avoid them:
- There is no work plan. BPA should be divided into stages with clear deadlines.
- There is no understanding of which processes should be automated. Therefore it is necessary to specify all stages and then consult with experienced specialists.
- You don’t know how to evaluate automation. To avoid this mistake calculate the run time of an automated process.
Automation doesn’t mean hiring more engineers, buying robots, or expensive software. Though it means continuous transformation and increasing income.
We hope this guide has taken away your doubts about the fact that BPA is expensive and difficult. Evercode Lab can offer you CRM solutions (implementation and integration of CRM with external and internal services of the company). Additional services include custom sales methodologies, managing contacts, payments control, email marketing. Our company can provide you with a full-time development team and business automation software to take you to the next level. We guarantee fix price and terms for your business, more than 7 years of experience and multiple projects. Our company can also improve the existing CRM system!
There are multiple benefits of automation processes and it is necessary for every business because competition has increased. If you have any additional qustions or you want to consult with our team, leave a request on our website.