Modern customer relationship management (CRM) workflow automation has provided both small and enterprise-level businesses to operate at scale. Today the software as a service (SaaS) driven CRM market is a $35 billion industry.
CRM workflow automation options allow businesses to run manual tasks, activities, and processes through a centralized system with less human involvement. Companies are able to achieve more with fewer resources using workflow automation.
CRM workflow automation requires maturity of business processes. If the business processes are inefficient or wasteful, the automation might worsen the situation. So, businesses should first evaluate that their processes are optimized before trying to automate them. However, automating mature and optimized processes can help organizations gain speed and cost advantages over their competitors.
When businesses start investigating CRM workflow automation, they are often wondering about where to begin their journey. Here are some key areas:
Sales and Marketing Automation: Every day sales and marketing departments have to deal with large amounts of data. They need to analyze the information, find possible leads. and follow up on those leads with email or phone contacts. They have to align their media campaigns. The data analysis, lead generation, and follow-ups can become quite chaotic.
CRM workflow automation can help in multiple ways. Automated data monitoring can trigger reminders to sales and marketing teams to complete certain tasks. It can keep track of leads statuses. For example, if a lead status changes, it can automatically update the databases. The automations can lead to faster turnaround times.
Customer Service Automation: Customer support can take a lot of time from an organization. Companies have to answer the same questions again and again. They have to keep track of complaints submitted to the ticketing system to ensure high-quality customer service.
Companies can use CRM systems to automate manual support processes. They can send customers automatically to certain pages for known problems. The notification process can be automated to alert salespeople or the IT support staff. Such CRM workflow automation can lead to higher customer satisfaction.
Document and Process Automation: Account managers have to deal with a lot of mundane tasks like updating client addresses, rates, payment methods, expiration dates and other customer information. Some of these documentation processes don’t need human intervention.
CRM workflow automation allows account managers to set up reminders and processes to let clients know about payment due dates or service expirations. It can create automated renewal and address update processes and save time for both the account managers and the clients.
Benefits of CRM Workflow Automation
Organizations have to put in conscious effort to automate their workflows. It requires planning and time commitment. However, companies are investing their time and resources because CRM workflow automation is quite beneficial. Here are some workflow automation benefits:
Eliminates Human Errors: Human beings are not good at repetitive tasks. Tasks like data entry or migration, reminders, and keeping track of assets can fall prey to human errors. CRM workflow automation can decrease the errors in these tasks.
Improves Work Satisfaction: Cumbersome and monotonous tasks produce stress. When employees don’t have to perform these duties due to CRM software automation, they are more likely to have a more satisfactory work experience. They can be more productive and concentrate on creative work. It can reduce employee attrition.
Increases Productivity through Integration: As organizations grow larger, teams and departments get isolated from each other and start working in their own bubbles. CRM workflow automation can create bridges that keep the organizations running smoothly by keeping data and systems integrated between different teams and departments.
Reduces Costs: CRM sales workflow automation can save businesses in labor costs. Companies can reduce the time-to-market of products and run sales and marketing more efficiently. It can also automate product support tasks.
Improves Scalability: Hiring new employees was the proven method to scale a business. But companies are realizing that CRM workflow automation can provide them with a low-cost alternative.
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