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4 Processes Every Business Should Automate

Larger businesses are going all in on automating routine processes, but did you know that automation can be affordable for smaller businesses too?

Small businesses and sole proprietorships can grow in two ways: either by delegation (and potentially hiring) or by automation. With the availability of automation-as-a-service, automation tools are almost always the less expensive option. In addition, business process automation removes the risk of employees leaving and taking business knowledge with them.

Here are 4 processes every business can (and should!) automate:

1. Sales Leads/CRM Process

Every business has a system to keep track of leads as part of the sales process. Most companies use a customer relationship management (CRM) software. Often, a human resource employee needs to transfer information from the CRM system to other systems (project management services or financial ones). This can easily be automated.

Robotic process automation (RPA) bots can easily interact with the user interface of almost any software to make data entry or data transfer a simple task. Bots can complete tasks correctly every time, which prevents human error. Allow your employees to focus on larger company goals and let the bots handle the timely, repetitive tasks.

2. Employee Onboarding

There may be steps of a complex process that require human interaction, but you can still automate it by using process enforcement. For example, consider a simple onboarding process that might include:

  • Scheduling the new employee’s first day
  • Making sure the new employee has needed equipment
  • Selecting a mentor for the new employee and communicating with them 
  • Getting the new employee signed up for needed software systems
  • Explaining benefits to the new employee and getting them signed up as needed

Some of these steps cannot easily be automated. But process enforcement could “automate” the process in the following way:

  • Use robotic process automation to schedule the first day with the new employee, then:
  • Automatically send an email to the IT department, alerting them to the equipment needed and which day it is needed by. They push a button to show that they are done with the task. 
  • At the same time, the automation alerts the head of the new employee’s department to select a mentor. Then, the system sends an automated message to the chosen mentor explaining duties. 
  • At the same time, the automation alerts the HR department to schedule time with the new employee to talk about benefits and get selections made. When those are complete, HR pushes a button indicating that benefits have been chosen.
  • And finally, the person who initiated the process is sent a notification that everything has been completed.

When completing onboarding with process enforcement, employees aren’t allowed to forget to complete their parts of the process. You can even choose to keep reminding employees of their parts until the needed tasks are complete.

3. Expense Approvals

Almost every company needs to approve expenses from time to time. And it can take a decent amount of manual work on the part of the approver. 

Trying to keep track of expenses on a spreadsheet can be a headache, plus you run the risk of the file getting corrupted. By using automation, you can do things like specify specific conditions for approvals, keep numbers within a given budget, or approve multiple expenses all at once. 

4. Invoicing

All companies send and/or receive invoices. If you’re still processing them by hand, you’re wasting valuable time. With automated invoicing, invoices can be sent and/or received within seconds, then stored in the cloud or on a server.  

Automation can take care of tasks like data entry, sending out invoices, recording invoice information, sending payment reminders, and collection of payments. Because automations can be configured to work in real-time, invoices are sent out more quickly, meaning they are paid more quickly – which leads directly to cash. 

Contact RoboSource to Learn about Automating Business Processes

Small business owners – as well as medium-sized and large businesses – can benefit from automation software. Interested in automating one of these processes in your business? Sign up for a free consultation today to see how RoboSource can help improve your business operations by automating processes.