What is interesting is that when one buzzword hits the industry, it’s not just one word – there are so many others that come along like workflow automation, process automation, etc
But automation isn’t really something new – what if I told you that it has been around since more than 8 decades?
To add more to your surprise, here’s another fact – did you know that sometime around 1771, an automated spinning mill was invented by Mr. Richard Arkwright?
So, if automation can be traced back to centuries ago, then why has it become a buzzword now?
The answer is simple – the full capability of automation has been realized only now. The automation in IT has been a game-changer of businesses out there
People for ages have imagined automation to be something related to factories and manufacturing sector. But, that’s mechanization
But how is it a game-changer?
Imagine that you are a class teacher in a school – where the student attendance is marked on a sheet of paper
After each month, you prepare reports manually for the attendance of each student and then e-mail those reports to parents, one by one
As soon as you submit the attendance – it is automatically fed into the excel sheet, without you having to enter the data again. Wow!
What’s more? A report is created everytime you submit the data. All you have to do is just click to fetch attendance reports
Now, this is just one example of what workflow automation software can do for you -it can be more complex too
Enterprises are using a variety of workflow software to automate routine tasks
It could be sales teams collecting data while filling up customer feedback forms, inspection teams recording data while carrying routine inspection, market research companies filling up surveys and questionnaires on mobile apps, the list of possibilities is probably endless
And mind you, this isn’t just about making work easier – what comes along is more productivity, more efficiency, and more importantly – new profit avenues!
Without further preamble, let’s look at how workflow automation software can streamline your processes
No way! Automation will not make sense to your every process right in the beginning. Processes that are repetitive and manual can be targetted first
Some of your processes will be paper-based – meaning that they are vulnerable to manual errors. Such processes have a great scope for automation
Manual data collection invites loads of errors – you can avoid this by introducing simple mobile apps to collect data
Platforms like Axonator allow creating workflows using workflow builder – which lead to automation
Let’s say your inspection team is collecting data on the field. As soon as they submit the data through their mobile app, the manager receives a notification – who then clicks ‘approved.’
After which, a next task is automatically created and sent to the next person for further completion of the task
When the task is completed, a report is created automatically and sent to the intended user/manager/customer, etc
This is streamlining processes through automation. So many of the internal processes can be automated to save 100s of manhours each week
But is it just for the internal processes?
Automation can also be leveraged to streamline the sales processes. If you are wondering how a workflow software can do this – here are some numbers that will leave you baffled!
A study was conducted by Forbes to understand the sales process and how salespeople utilize or spend their time
It was found that on an average, salespeople spend JUST 35% of their time in selling a product or a service
Salespeople spend the rest of their time, or rather a major 65% of their time in data entry, other insignificant repeatable and non-revenue generating tasks
But you might even argue that should other tasks be a problem if salespeople are achieving their targets?
The question is – if they can achieve sales target in 35% of their time – what if they utilize their complete time in just selling and nothing else?
But then, what about data entry and other administrative tasks which is consuming their time?
How do you deal with it?
The answer is simple – automate all the repetitive tasks and paperwork through a workflow automation software
As a matter of fact, enterprises using Axonator mobile app are able to save a lot of time of their salesforce
Once the sales rep enters the data in the mobile app, the same data flows to Google sheet and CRM – this allows them to save the time, which would have spent on multiple entries on multiple platforms
Using Axonator, managers are able to fetch reports, and also use an analytics dashboard to identify problem areas – and then make decisions based on the data collected
What does this result into? More sales, and reduced overheads since you are effectively utilizing your salesforce into selling, and freeing up them from repetitive tasks
Many enterprises are automating their sales processes for managing the sales funnel, trigger-based email messaging, and rule-based lead qualification with the help of a workflow automation solution – this is also known as marketing automation
Workflow software are used by businesses to streamline the HR processes as well. Simple digital forms (e-forms/mobile forms) are designed for various HR processes
Let’s say there are 5 new hires each week in your company who need to fill multiple forms – and most of which have the same fields like name, age, birth date, address, etc
With a mobile app, hires can fill the mobile form. When the data is submitted, the same data is automatically fed into different forms – without the need to fill the same details
The in-charge HR will be notified when the form is filled and submitted, upon which she can allocate the next tasks required
Other HR processes like leave application can be automated too. You submit a simple form – that reaches the manager for approval through email
Not just that, the manager gets a notification on his/her mobile app as a reminder to approve the leave. If he approves it, you get notified on the app and email too. If he denies it, you still get the notification – don’t worry!
Leave management, travel management, travel reimbursement can be taken care of by the workflow automation software
– data submitted through mobile forms can be sent for multiple levels of approval. Once approved, the orders are released and directed to the vendors automatically
Since everything is digital, it can be easily tracked and the status can be known in a matter of clicks
But if you are thinking you already have too many mobile applications or software in your business for your internal processes, then would adding another software make sense?
The bitter truth is that if they are working in isolation without complementing each other – it doesn’t make sense to add another workflow software
Remember the sales example that we discussed above in this blog?
Entering data a multiple number of times in different software or applications consume time, and another application will do nothing good – if such is the scenario
No doubt why decision-makers love having a workflow automation software that can easily integrate with their current legacy systems
Would you want to know how a workflow automation software can help your business processes?
Get in touch with us at [email protected]
Axonator is one of the best workflow automation software available. Axonator is a platform that allows creating workflows and digital forms just by dragging and dropping of widgets
Mobile apps can be created and made functional in a matter of a week. All of this at an affordable cost!
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