6 Step Automation Process for Small Businesses

Automation is now a necessity for marketing and bigger business, credit goes to a new variety of full-grown technology that is available for each one to use. As of now, all sorts of brands can generate automated processes of their own to convert their businesses into a more efficient, productive, and – most importantly – profitable enterprise.

Business leaders wear many hats now. From reporting to external stockholders, settling internal processes, and taking care of customer expectations, it usually feels as if there isn’t much time in a day to get all the things done correctly. Owing to technology, business operation automation might help to reduce the list of items of action that comes with administering a business. 

Here are 6 step automation process for your business:

1. Select the Tasks you want to Automate

Did it sound simple and obvious! Think again. It is very crucial to select the appropriate tasks you want to automate as this is where maximum businesses experience an incorrect beginning with automation. Try never to make this mistake.

The most important thing is to understand the way automation works and about its true capability since the majority of tasks that can be automated by you, probably shouldn’t. A large number of tools are available for content writing, automating translation, web design, and everything else that can be done by you as a business owner or marketer – but a maximum of them fail to meet the mark.

So, now the question is that what type of tasks must be automated by you?

Well, you need to automate the tasks which are time-consuming, repetitive, and simple for algorithms to operate 100% precisely without your inputs. Tasks such as:

  • Sending invoices after tasks are finished.
  • Marking leads built on user actions
  • Analytics reports
  • Bulk image rescaling and optimization
  • Reaching out to the customers who are already existing
  • Automating email results for various lead scores

What you need not automate are the tasks that need creative thinking as well as a good number of human input like design processes, problem-solving or content creation. Give it a simple start by joining platforms with tools like IFTTT and Zapier and target to remove as many repetitive and time-consuming tasks from your system as possible.

2. Select Automation Tools

Once you are aware of the tasks automated, it’s time to select the tools you are going to make use of to make things happen. So many automation platforms are accessible now that it is tough to understand where to begin from. So here we are with some directions for the most usual business automation tasks:

a) Sales Automation: SALESmanago

It is a marketing automation tool that also provides the characteristics of a sales tool (like lead generation and contact management). There is also a feature termed social proof which permits eCommerce businesses to exhibit social feedback about their commodities to raise audience interest. The tool also offers an integrated foretelling lead scoring characteristic that gives points to various lead behavior and features.

b) Lead Scoring: Leadformly

Not only does Leadformly removes friction and boosts conversion rates, but its multistep forms permit you to mark your leads built on the information they furnish and subsequently automate your additional messages. This has permitted us to produce completely automated marketing strategies – like proposals automation and our webinar.

c) Social Media: Edgar and Buffer

One of the foremost marketing tasks you need to automate is social media posting and the only tool you require are Buffer and Edgar to take care of most of your activities on social media. We are not advising you to automate each and everything – like one-to-one interactions – however, tasks like scheduling, reposting, and publishing posts must all be automated.

d) Recruiting: Breezy

It is always a challenge to find great staff but Breezy will aid you to manage and organize contenders for every position, across various stages of the interview procedure – more or less in the same manner sales automation tools function.

e) Basic Automations: Zapier

Zapier is a simply wonderful automation tool that produces mini automations among your preferred business tools. You will be able to update or add ActiveCampaigns contacts from Facebook, automate entries in Google Calendar from Trello cards, and MailChimp leads, and furnish all types of time-saving automation.

3. Define Automation Goals

It’s useless to spend money on the automation tools and invest time in producing fresh workflows if they do not profit your business. So, before creating any workflow, remember to set specific goals that can be used by you to refine your procedure and gauge success. In certain cases, your target could be to just match your team’s performance and then make use of that time somewhere else.

Now the question which arises is: what will you be doing with this time which adds to the worth to your business? The automation aim is to permit you to perform some other function. Define your aim and confirm that it’s measurable so that you are in a position to see the effect of even the slightest of automation.

For more workflows, the setting of the targets will take place naturally. For instance, when you are producing an automated lead generation process, you will fix a goal number of leads and several other KPIs whereas in sales automation, you will be setting targets for retaining more clients and closing more leads. Be precise, set goals for every quarter, and make use of these as a standard to gauge success.

4. Trace Results and Perfect your Processes

Without setting goals and selecting the apt KPIs, you will find it difficult to calculate the amount of positive effect automation has on your business. Even more important is the fact that you would be unable to pinpoint chances to perfect your automation and boost results. When you are permitted by automation to multiply tasks practically infinitely, a plain tweak to your workflow might add thousands to your business’s profit margins.

5. Develop an Automated Workplace

Once you become familiar with automation and get hold of it, you will understand that it is a mindset as much as a technology. You will be looking at everything and thinking about the possibilities of its automation, and you will be looking at every automation you are running currently and thinking about the ways of its improvement.

This is the type of automation environment you need to develop in your workplace, covering your entire team. This state of mind is all about fully utilizing your resources, maximizing the results with what you have in possession, and above all about efficiency.

You need your teammates to know when they are performing the same tasks again i.e. repetition, tasks that might be automated and lead to freeing up of more time for the tasks that can’t.

6. Begin Small and Grow from there

As already mentioned, the essential thing you need to know for automation is to begin small and gradually build your workflows. Apply your first procedures, trace results, and perfect your workflows for improved performance before you begin to add too many or some complex automation into the mix.

Mamta Sharma

1

Leave a Comment