Contemporary businesses are demanding more process automation solutions, especially considering the percentage of growth of companies pursuing automation.
A survey conducted in 2020 found that 66% of global business leaders of multiple industries piloted automation software solutions, while 31% of companies have fully automated at least one business process—and the figures have only grown over the last 2 years.
So why are more and more companies adopting process automation into their businesses?
Every business wants to maximise the use of its resources. In addition to making more profit, companies are trying to reduce the overall cost of operations.
Technology has been able to step in and solve some difficult issues where human power isn’t enough. For every problem that’s solved using technology, several other minor problems are also solved.
Contemporary businesses need to efficiently use the resources available to them and take the necessary strategic decisions. To do this, they depend on process automation solutions.
Business process automation has emerged as a way to carry out tasks without having to resort to manual processes and with that, there are several benefits of process automation that businesses should consider when making the transition.
Improve employee morale
You may think that employee morale isn’t a compelling enough reason to adopt process automation, but hear us out.
The main purpose of any industry is to maximise output and attain those expected high levels of productivity. To achieve this, businesses can lengthen the shifts of their employees to increase output, but it can have serious effects on employee morale.
A recent study has revealed that customer disengagement costs U.S. businesses around $300 billion each year and this is in large part due to employees being disengaged and not putting in their best efforts.
A lot of employees today are disengaged because there’s no sense of purpose in their work as they do menial and repetitive tasks that don’t add value to the organisation. The benefits of process automation on employee morale cannot be denied, especially with reports showing that 69% of employees believe that automation will reduce the wastage of time and 59% believed they would have at least 6 spare hours per week if repetitive tasks were automated.
Once employees have time to focus on valuable tasks, they can be made aware of the strategic goals of the company and contribute to the overall success of the company.
Enforce governance
Automation is a great way to implement governance, but it’s rarely considered. Tasks that are completed via automation are always documented and you have clear logs about what was done, when it was done, and by whom it was done.
By now, we’re all aware that automation reduces the number of human errors and can speed up repetitive tasks.
There is no denying that automation is adding to an organisation’s success, but irrespective of how automation is being used, it’s important to consider information governance.
In the past, expensive installation and licensing were required when setting up on-site automation solutions. Many businesses, therefore, had no choice but to refrain from using it since they didn’t have the resources to implement it.
Today, with the emergence of cloud automation and the benefits it offers, like a minimal footprint and lower up-front commitment and set-up time, businesses are opting to implement it.
Deliver superior customer service
With technology advancements, the way businesses provide customer service has changed, and perhaps, more importantly, the type of experience that customers expect from their favourite brands has also changed.
Experts predict that by 2025, 95% of customer interactions will be powered by AI without the need for human intervention. Automated customer service means that you can provide faster and more accurate assistance to customers while reducing the costs needed to maintain a support team.
By using automation, businesses can create great customer service that will answer customer queries directly and provide the backend team with the information and resources they need.
Automated customer service can greatly improve the response time, and limitations, such as public holidays and different time zones, will no longer impact your customer service operations. Chatbots help to respond to customer queries instantly—a benefit that human support simply cannot offer.
Considering the strides made in technology, virtual assistants will soon be able to predict what customers want by tracking their actions and understanding what they need. Once these customer issues are identified, you can use chatbots to provide customers with real-time support.
One of the biggest challenges that businesses face is purchase abandonment, and if automation is capable of providing information about the issues that customers face, not only will you be able to reduce customer complaints but you’ll also be able to improve customer satisfaction and reduce the abandonment rate.
The cost of hiring staff and training them is going to increase. One of the benefits of process automation is that it can provide your employees with the information they need to close a sale or be more successful in general.
The main goal here is to get the right process automation tool so that you can customise your solutions for your business and get the most out of your employees and systems.
The bottom line when it comes to the benefits of process automation
If implemented correctly, process automation can be a total game-changer for your business by increasing efficiency and the overall accuracy of your business operations.
The key is to find the right solution that fits your unique business and work with a business and marketing automation solutions provider that can help you implement automation strategies in the best and most cost-efficient way possible. Schedule a consultation today and get the support you need.