5 Ways Businesses Can Cut Costs Through Automation
Photo by Sheryl Wright
These days, staying in business is a struggle. Many companies are having a hard time just staying afloat. With so much economic uncertainty, you may be looking for ways to lower costs just to ensure that your business survives into the next year. While you may not be thinking about adopting more technology, new tech might actually be the answer. That is especially true for automation. Automation has been proven to cut costs for businesses of any size.
Scheduling
Traditionally, one task that took up a lot of a manager’s time was preparing work schedules for the upcoming weeks. If you have a lot of employees, this can be quite difficult and time-consuming. Some employees may be full-time. Others may be part-time. There can also be a wide variety of labor laws and rules that you have to abide by when assigning employees their hours. Thankfully, this entire process can be automated through the use of scheduling software. No more will managers have to focus so much time on the complicated math it takes to schedule employees. The software will do it for them automatically while adhering to all the appropriate rules and guidelines.
Asset Tracking
Many businesses have a lot invested in physical assets. Whether this is machinery, materials, parts, or products, maintaining those assets is crucial to the success of the business. As such, the tracking of those assets should be very important to any serious business owner or manager. One way to make asset tracking cheaper and more efficient is through the use of RFID implementation services. RFID stands for radio frequency identification. This refers to technology that allows radio frequencies to transmit data from tagged items to a device known as a reader. This way, real-time information regarding assets in terms of things like location, temperature, humidity, and light can be transmitted from the tagged items wirelessly. This can automate the process of asset tracking and related activities like inventory control.
Customer Service
Customer service doesn’t seem like a business process that could be automated easily. However, this ignores the fact that customer concerns regarding products and services are sometimes extremely similar. Due to this fact, a live person doesn’t necessarily need to answer frequent questions. Instead, this part of the process can be automated by website scripts and tools like chat-bots. The chatbot will answer the customer’s questions. Only when it fails, will that customer be forwarded to an actual live service rep. This can save a lot of time, money, and resources for a customer service department. 87.2 percent of those surveyed found their experiences with chat-bots to range from neutral to positive.
Sales
Similarly, sales would seem to be difficult to automate as well. However, there are different ways that automation can slash costs for a sales department. For one, lead generation can be automated through the use of software that does things like automatically send emails to consumers regarding products they are likely interested in due to past interactions with the company. Even cold calling can be partly automated through the use of dialer software. This software can be used to weed out phone numbers in which a person cannot be reached so that sales reps are only forwarded calls in which an actual person is on the line. This can increase lead conversions and make your sales department far more efficient.
Accounting
Unless you’re an accountant, you probably don’t find bookkeeping to be that exciting. Plugging a seemingly endless amount of numbers into a spreadsheet can be tedious. There’s also the chance, of course, that you could make serious errors. Thankfully, you don’t have to hire a full-time accountant to avoid completing some of the traditional business accounting tasks on your own. Instead, you can automate the process using accounting software. This software can work in tandem with other software such as your POS system to help ensure that every dime you receive and spend is recorded and properly accounted for. As a result, you’ll be able to spend more time on more important business tasks.
Automation is amazing. It can increase efficiency and slash expenses for your business. Consider the different ways you can implement automation throughout your company with the adoption of specific kinds of software. Doing so can lessen the strain on your business and give you more flexibility to spend time taking your company to the next level instead of struggling just to stay afloat.
About the Author: Sheryl Wright is a freelance writer who specializes in digital marketing, inclusive business, and interior design. If she is not at home reading, she is at a farmer’s market or climbing in the Rockies. She currently lives in Nashville, TN.
