Category: KPI Dashboards

Understanding the Difference

Spreasheets

Spreadsheets like Excel and Google Sheets are popular due to their ease of use and flexibility. They arrange data in rows and columns, making it easy for users to enter, analyze, and represent information. Think of spreadsheets as a digital record, a collection of data. Spreadsheets are great for handling small to medium-sized data sets, but they have constraints in terms of scalability and relational functionality.

Databases

An organized collection of data, called a database, is created to allow the information to be utilized in various methods. Databases serve as a means to manage and arrange information in a versatile format.

Databases have a key characteristic of being relational, as they establish connections between records. If you use a CRM, you are likely familiar with databases as CRMs link contact information to the respective business information, as well as any associated opportunities or products. This post focuses on database applications such as Airtable, SmartSuite, and Notion, which enable users to construct their own data collections with customizable templates and relational capabilities. These applications allow users to create intricate data models tailored to their unique requirements, making databases highly effective for managing projects, customer relationships, and inventory tracking.

Pros and Cons

It’s crucial to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each data management tool whether a small business or a larger-scale operation.

Spreasheets

Pros:

• Navigating spreadsheets is simple, allowing users of all skill levels to easily use them
• Creating a spreadsheet is quite easy; you can include rows for your items and columns for the data related to each item
• Spreadsheets enable quick data analysis with their pre-installed features and graphical representations
• Most professionals have already mastered the use of spreadsheet software, which decreases the time needed for learning

Cons:

• Dealing with sizable datasets can cause performance problems and result in unwieldy file sizes
• Using manual input raises the chance of making errors in data entry and formulas
• Collaborating in real-time can be difficult, which can result in problems with version control

Databases

Pros:

• Vast amounts of data can be managed by databases without sacrificing performance
• Databases ensure accuracy and consistency of your data through organized schemas and validation rules

• Apps such as Airtable and SmartSuite include features like automations, forms, data interfaces, and project management tools

• Database tools typically have good integration with other applications and can connect with other no-code tools, such as Zapier

• Although you can use spreadsheets to store text, dates, and numbers, databases enable you to store various file types such as images and documents
• Customizing access to specific parts of your datasets is made easier with database apps

Pros:

• Understanding data types and relationships between fields is essential for working with databases. Fewer individuals have experience using platforms such as Airtable, SmartSuite, and Notion
• Setting up databases often requires extra time to ensure that data is properly linked and to fully leverage features such as analysis and dashboards
• Some database solutions come with free tiers, but using advanced features and getting more storage may result in extra costs

Choosing the right tool for your business

1. What type of data do I want to store? If you only have text and numbers, a spreadsheet might be the right choice, but if you’d like to store files and images, a database could be better.
2. Is this data part of a bigger project? If you find yourself creating multiple spreadsheets for a project (e.g. one for volunteers, one for venues, one for events), there’s a good chance that a database would suit you better. A database allows you to consolidate all of that information in one place, as well as linking the information across tables.
3. How much time do you have? As more people are familiar with spreadsheets, and they are generally quick to set up, they can be a good choice if you need a fast and easy way to store data and perform calculations on it.
4. How important is data integrity? By default, spreadsheets allow you to type anything into a field. This gives you a lot of flexibility but can lead to errors if something is entered in the wrong format.
5. How many people need access? If you need teammates and/or external stakeholders to be able to view the data, then a database is likely going to be a better option. Databases offer more flexibility in permissions and who can view which parts of your dataset.

If you’re still unsure which tool is right, here are some tips…

When to Use Spreadsheets:

• Spreadsheets provide a simple solution for basic data tracking or simple calculations—they are useful for managing small datasets.
• Spreadsheets offer flexibility and ease of use when working alone or with a small team on separate projects
• Spreadsheets are useful for quickly manipulating and visualizing data when immediate insights are needed due to time constraints

When to Use Databases:

• Databases provide scalability and efficiency for handling large datasets with many relationships and dependencies
• Databases offer centralized management and enable real-time collaboration when multiple users require simultaneous access and data updates
• Databases allow for strong data modeling and automation when dealing with complex business processes or personalized data structures

Summary

To sum up, although spreadsheets are still commonly used for basic data management activities, databases are becoming the top choice for companies that require scalability, data accuracy, and advanced analytics features. Having a good grasp of the advantages and disadvantages of both tools will enable you to make well-informed decisions that enhance your workflow and contribute to business growth.

If you are ready to learn more about spreadsheets with automation or dive into databases, give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-508-5100!

One of the most important things you can do for your business is to implement solid business systems. When properly researched, designed, and applied, they will provide your company with many benefits. If you want a successful business, you need to build strong systems that allow the business to run without you—you will gain the following benefits:

Meet and Exceed Customer Expectations

Systematically managing your marketing efforts will enable you to track clients’ expectations and satisfaction. The subsystems you set up will analyze, measure, and compare and give you the data you need to make an informed decision about what your clients want and don’t want. This will give you ongoing insight into when and how to improve.

Produce Consistent Results

Systemization will allow you to repeatedly produce the same and better results every time. When you implement business systems, you will provide quality and can ensure that your employees will complete each task with consistent results.

Improve Employee Performance

Business systems will allow your employees to complete the same job in less time. This will also increase their productivity. And as their productivity increases, so will their performance. The goal of business systems is to allow for the proper education and opportunities for all employees so that they can complete their work more efficiently and effectively.

Reduce Costs

When you don’t have to repeat activities several times to complete them, you will dramatically reduce your costs. Documented systems help to reduce costly mistakes and improve the quality of work that your employees accomplish.

Increase Profitability

With documented systems in place, you will see improvement in your productivity and performance. Successively, this will help to reduce the costs associated with running your business, increasing its profitability. Meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customers will help to build customer loyalty and increase referral rates, which have a direct impact on your company’s profitability.

In order to set up documented systems within your business, it’s important to spend some time determining the repetitive tasks that can benefit from being systemized. The benefits you’ll gain by establishing your business systems are much greater than the time and energy you’ll need to invest to get them up and running.

If you are ready to learn more about setting up solid business systems or are ready and need guidance, give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-508-5100!

Let’s play a quick game of “would you rather.” Would you rather manually sift through 6,000 rows of data in a spreadsheet to guide your next business strategy or have software do it for you?

If you prefer the former, you may be a data scientist (or a masochist). If you’re anything like me, you cringe at the sight of uncategorized data and would much rather see an organized report or a series of data visualizations. Either way—we both need business intelligence.

So what is business intelligence, and how can you use it to make business decisions easier? In this guide, I unpack why you should implement a business intelligence strategy and what that may look like.

What is business intelligence?

Business intelligence (BI) refers to the processes and tools used to collect, organize, and analyze data to determine how a business is doing and how it can improve from there.

Don’t panic—BI doesn’t mean your job as a business executive or data analyst is being taken over by robots. Organizing data into reports is only half the battle. Your job is to pull insights from that data and to make sound, human decisions. BI just automates the otherwise tedious process of data extraction and analysis, making your job a whole lot easier—and more effective.

How business intelligence works

Think of business intelligence as your company’s data whisperer—it takes the loud cacophony of raw numbers and harmonizes them into a symphony of actionable insights. Just…a little less thrilling. Let’s break down this not-at-all-magical but genuinely practical process:

1. Gather data: BI tools seek out data from various sources—your sales figures, customer feedback, market trends, and operational stats.

2. Integrate data: In this step, BI tools take center stage by seamlessly merging data from disparate sources into a unified system. They’re adept at harmonizing information from various departments and IT systems, creating a comprehensive and cohesive view. This integration capability is crucial, as it ensures all relevant data is pooled together, allowing for a holistic analysis that reflects the full spectrum of the business’s operations.

3. Manage data: Here, BI tools play a critical role in ensuring data quality and integrity. They automate the process of cleaning and sorting data, removing inaccuracies or duplications that can skew analysis results. These tools also implement robust security measures to safeguard sensitive information.

4. Analyze data: This is where data starts to tell its story. Through rigorous analysis, BI tools examine the intricacies and interactions within your data, identifying patterns, trends, and anomalies.

5. Visualize data: Visualization is about presenting the data in a format that is easy to understand, often as charts, graphs, or dashboards. This helps to communicate the data analysis findings clearly and effectively.

6. Take action: Whether it’s pivoting your marketing strategy, streamlining your supply chain, or enhancing customer experiences, BI arms you with the intelligence to make informed moves that propel your business forward.

Business intelligence vs. data analytics

Data analytics and business intelligence are used together to develop strategic insights for businesses.

• Data analytics uncovers what data means and what might happen next.

• Business intelligence breaks results down into more concrete and actionable language.

Typically, data science professionals will interpret the results of business data analytics before BI makes the language less technical. Essentially, BI simplifies insights from data analytics to easier-to-parse business terms.

Think of it like the difference between a study conducted about a technical health topic and an article published about the study. The study’s results may feel like a foreign language, but the article explains its implications and provides recommendations for readers to take home.

Here’s another example:

• As a digital marketer at an agency, I generate reports for my clients that summarize their performance using clear and actionable language. This part of my job parallels business intelligence.

• To generate those reports, I first need to pull and analyze raw performance data. For example, I’ll look at metrics like pageviews, bounce rates, CTR, and keyword movements as well as external factors that may play a role in their performance. This is where data analytics comes into play.

Benefits of business intelligence

Let’s assume you aren’t thrilled about the prospect of manual data analysis and interpreting results. Here are some reasons BI can make your systems work better.

• Improved efficiency: It takes a lot longer to know what’s going on in a spreadsheet than in a report filled with charts and graphs. BI converts the results of data analysis into data visualizations and other digestible formats that make it easier to make business strategy decisions. Plus, automating this step can save endless hours of sifting through data and minimize the chances of human error.

• Improved decision-making: BI is data-driven, which helps to ensure you’re making sound decisions. For example, business intelligence tools can generate dashboards and reports based on sales data that communicate what products are selling poorly and should either be discontinued or modified.

• Improved employee impact: BI makes data analysis more accessible, freeing up time that IT teams and data analysts would have spent responding to user requests. With BI, employees are empowered to conduct their own analyses and pull insights from them.

• Improved customer satisfaction: The last group to feel the effects of BI is arguably the most important: your customers and clients. Data-driven decisions make it far easier to meet your customers’ needs.

How to build a business intelligence strategy

1. Set your goals for business intelligence

BI’s uses are virtually unlimited. The first step to implementing it is deciding what business objective you want to accomplish. Do you want to compare the performance of your sales channels, use data from past marketing campaigns to inform your next one, or create a new HR dashboard with employee utilization data?

Example: A clothing company’s goal may be to reduce the quantity of returns customers make.

2. Choose the datasets you’ll need to solve your problem

For many uses of BI, you can rely entirely on trusted internal data, but some issues require external data. For example, you may want to take data published in a trade journal into consideration when implementing BI.

Example: That same clothing company may collect additional data from customers based on their buying patterns to identify what styles they like best and better market those styles to them.

3. Select the right tools to gather and organize it

Once you have all of your data sources collected, you’re ready to choose the tools to transform, analyze, and learn from the data. The platform(s) you use will depend on your goals for BI, which is why determining those in Step 1 is vital.

Look for tools with the following functionalities to best accomplish your goals:

• Automated data modeling and analytics

• Ability to manipulate data to draw additional insights

• Interactivity with data visualizations

• Cross-team collaboration

Example: The clothing company may use a BI solution with powerful analytics capabilities to break down what customer data means about their interests and buying habits.

4. Uncover trends in your data

Leave it to the robots to identify patterns and create predictions from data. Most BI tools are built to execute descriptive and predictive analysis, which can shed light on where your business stands. For example, your BI platform might look at employee turnover history and make predictions about which departments need the most aggressive recruiting efforts and when.

Example: The clothing company’s BI software may identify that customers are consistently returning a certain type of romper due to issues with fit, suggesting the company should reassess the item’s design.

5. Generate data visualizations to present your findings

We’ve established that (almost) everyone prefers a colorful chart, graph, or map to a data-heavy spreadsheet. Data visualizations are especially useful when sharing findings with an entire team—they’re easier to digest and are therefore better for motivating action toward a goal.

Example: The clothing company may use BI-generated charts to uncover how much profitability could increase by better targeting customers with personalized marketing efforts.

6. Act on your learnings

BI tools help show you where action can be taken, but they can’t take action for you. Develop short- and long-term strategies based on your findings to tackle your problem areas, whether those be internal inefficiencies, supply/demand problems, or customer service shortcomings.

Example: The clothing company may initially phase out generally unpopular styles while collecting more customer data, then proceed to adjust its marketing strategy a few months down the line.

Business intelligence applications and examples

Consider using BI to help with the following:

• Data mining: Data mining takes data from existing refined datasets and turns it into actionable information. For example, a company may use data mining to pull historical data on customer bounce rate. This could help the company identify which pages it should modify to better lead customers down the buyer funnel.

• Visualizations: Maybe all of your data is organized and consolidated, but you have to present your findings to a large audience. Use BI to generate clear and aesthetically pleasing data visualizations. For example, a company executive might use BI to generate a series of charts illustrating their company’s new strategy and present them at a conference.

• Reporting: Another practical way to present data findings is through report generation. An agency may, for example, use BI to turn data from several successful case studies into a presentation for a prospective client who’s skeptical about the agency’s services.

• Benchmarking: BI can pull and analyze data from competitors to help a business set benchmarks for its metrics. For example, if BI identifies that equally-sized competitors are averaging 15% more units sold per month, company leadership may tweak its benchmark to approach this number.

• Online analytical processing (OLAP): OLAP is a powerful BI capability that allows for the swift analysis of data from multiple database systems at once. It’s particularly useful for complex calculations, trend analysis over time, and data modeling. For instance, a financial analyst might use OLAP to perform a multidimensional analysis of financial data to identify spending trends across different departments.

• Predictive analysis: Predictive analysis uses historical data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning to identify the likelihood of future outcomes. For example, a retail company could employ predictive analysis to forecast future sales, inventory needs, or customer buying behaviors, using these insights to make informed stocking and marketing decisions.

• Operational intelligence: This form of BI provides real-time monitoring of business operations. An operational dashboard might display up-to-the-minute supply chain information, enabling logistics managers to immediately adjust delivery routes or schedules in response to unexpected delays.

• Locational intelligence: Combining geographic data with traditional BI data to gain insights based on location, locational intelligence can be vital for businesses. A common application is in retail site selection, where a business may use locational intelligence to analyze a region’s demographic and economic data to decide where to open new stores or how to optimize its supply chain.

How to choose a business intelligence solution

If you are ready to learn more about business intelligence or need some guidance, give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-508-5100!

Source: Zapier

People often talk about improving business productivity with automation but don’t explain exactly how to do it.  Solvaa’s  founder and Zapier Certified Expert, Kelly Goss, appeared as a guest on the Habitz podcast to suggest ways that business owners and members of staff can remove inefficiencies and streamline their tasks.

Habitz is a community that helps small businesses and has a YouTube channel as well as a regular podcast. When Kelly spoke to Lauren she recommended three habits that will transform productivity in every area of the business.  These habits simplify, connect and automate business processes to make the business more efficient.

Where do businesses go wrong?

Businesses go wrong when they constantly deal with manual and repetitive tasks inefficiently.  For example, if they have an e-commerce system then they might be copying the data manually into their invoicing platform.  This manual task is slow and is prone to human error.

Businesses don’t take time to look at how things are done on a granular level to try and make their processes more efficient.  If they looked at them regularly then they would notice the inefficiencies and streamline them.

When changes happen in the business, rather than taking time to evaluate how best to implement them what often happens is that existing processes are tweaked.  Over time, this can make them overly complex, manual, and unwieldy.

Businesses have a lot of technology but are not able to move data from one system to another.  They should harness the cost-effective technology available in the market to connect their systems.

If a business wants to improve business productivity with automation then taking time to look at their processes and systems is essential.  Doing this will deliver long-term efficiency gains, with just a small upfront investment of time.

Three habits to improve business productivity with automation

There are three steps to saving time and improving productivity with automation.  Kelly’s method has been proven to work for all the businesses she has worked with, and it will work for you too.

1.     Simplify your processes before you think about automating them

Organize a brainstorming session with your team to make a list of the top five ‘pain points’; these are the processes that are the most time-consuming, manual, and repetitive.  They are often costly when errors occur, in terms of financial loss, reputational damage and time wasted on correcting them.

Choose one process and then document it, and as you do so try to simplify it by removing any steps which are unnecessary.

2.     Review the technology in your business

Make a list of all the systems you use, for example, the platforms you use for social media, the software you use for sales and invoicing.  Also, the apps you use to communicate with customers, for example, the email platform, SMS sender, or CRM.

Then see where each system fits into the processes you previously documented and then work out how you can connect them all.

3.     Automate processes as much as possible

There is a range of no-code tools on the market which you can use to connect your tech stack, and you don’t need to be a developer to use them.  Examples include Zapier, Make, and Microsoft Power Automate and these all allow you to connect your apps and pass data between them.

These are all no-code solutions that anyone can use.  Most have simple interfaces and often provide pre-built templates which give you a head start.  Once you’ve created your first automation you will realize how simple it is and will have the confidence to do more.

Review these habits regularly

Regular reviews will ensure you stay on top of any changes to your processes, and make them as efficient as possible.  This will help you get ahead of your competitors as it will affect every area of your business, every touchpoint with customers, and improve them.

It’s easy for any business owner and staff member to implement these habits to improve business productivity with automation.

If you are ready to improve your business productivity with automation, but want some guidance, give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-496-8660!

Source: Solvaa

Paperless Workflow or “The Paperless Office” sounds like great ideas but surprisingly, many businesses, large and small still rely on paper-based communication to manage requests, complete forms, and even communicate (interoffice mail envelopes are still in use). At last estimate, 5 million tons of office paper was still being used each year in the U.S. alone. For years now, we have seen a push for companies to use cloud services in an effort to become entirely paperless operations. The reasons for reducing paper consumption are well known: reducing carbon footprints, streamlining processes, easy knowledge transfers, more security, better audits, as well as overall increased efficiency organization-wide.

Sharing knowledge more effectively – an easier way to transfer knowledge.

It’s no secret that transferring employee knowledge is vital to company success. However, when this knowledge is confined to various forms of paper, the transfer process is not only cumbersome, but it is also costly. Paper products are one of the reasons that onboarding documents are never updated and knowledge is lost when employees leave or transfer to new departments.

Instead, cloud-based solutions allow employees to share documents and it creates the foundation for interdepartmental sharing, which is especially vital for departments that observe compliance standards or outside regulatory scrutiny more effectively. When departments can more effectively share their knowledge, they are able to continue to innovate, gain a competitive edge, and effectively implement processes that have a higher ROI than silo-based methodologies. Fortunately, the right cloud computing tool can expedite collaboration efforts, leverage repeatable processes, and deliver the desired results.

Another advantage to sharing knowledge more effectively is the fact that these documents that are stored in the cloud will be available to you and your organization 24/7. Forgetting that one slip of paper at the office or even misplacing a training document could be a thing in the past. Documents can be retrieved or updated quickly when it matters most and available to you right when you need them.

Boost your security – ensure compliance goals are met.

Paper gets misplaced and is hard to trace. Sometimes an important file is left on a printer, maybe it gets misfiled or even thrown away on accident. But when it comes to meeting compliance goals, it’s important to ensure data retention and procedures are followed all the time, every time.

As compliance regulations continue to increase in both number and scope, the automation of compliant workflows has become critical. Regardless of industry, the compliance function is responsible for ensuring that the company’s policies and procedures are clear and standardized to meet applicable laws and regulations and ensuring that those policies and procedures are followed.

Whether you need to comply with Annex 11, ERES, 21CFR Part 11, SarbanesOxley, ISO Standards, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA, SEC, FINRA, OCC, internal security protocols or any other compliance requirements, workflow automation allows you to build compliant workflows that provide a safety net for your organization. Without having to worry about physical documents, security and compliance are far easier to attain.

Easier audits – don’t fear the surprise audits!

Performing an audit when the bulk of information is paper-based is a nightmare scenario for most finance and audit professionals. Having to track down, organize, and input information from countless sheets of paper can drastically lengthen audit time.

There are a variety of use cases that require auditing either by external auditors or internal resources. Depending on your industry (especially healthcare, finance, government contracting, insurance, etc.) you may be subject to a regulatory audit. Some organizations may move to scan and digitize paper documents to improve audit workflow but why not simply skip the paper step and create all-digital entry systems? Once your data capture is digital, audits, as well as reporting, become possible with a few clicks. For instance, consider a finance director who approved a capital expenditure purchase using a cloud-based system. By using the system’s audit reporting tools, anyone who needs to know who made this particular approval can easily find out not just who, but:

• When the approval was made
• What the approver reviewed before making the approval, including any files and data that were provided
• Where the request originated
• What steps were taken leading up to the approval
• When the approval was made (Date/Time)

When you can quickly generate audit trails and reports you can spend more time on analysis and less time gathering and sorting paper. Auditing becomes much of a more seamless process once your organization switches to a cloud-based workflow system – rather than the old fashion paper system.

Increased visibility with less paper – see where your documents are being held up in real-time.

With any paper-based process, such as routing or approvals, it’s impossible to see in real-time where a document is in the process (unless it’s currently with you). Moreover, if the request has gone missing, you may not know for days or weeks.

When your organization truly goes paperless on an automation platform, you will be able to see, at any moment, where your request/document is in the process, or, in the world of paper, on whose virtual “desk” the request is sitting.

On a higher level, managers and administrators can identify potential bottlenecks in the flow. Where are things getting stuck? Who is responsible for these delays? All of this will be easy to see using KPI charts, dashboards and reports. When processes are handled digitally, tracking data is always up to date and available when you need it.

Another advantage of being able to see where things are in a process is that you can see ahead of time if you need to make any adjustments to workflows for a period. For instance, if one of the approvers down the line is expecting to be on PTO coming up, their manager can adjust your process to get routed to the next person in line so there is no delay in getting approvals or signatures. You won’t have to rely on people remembering who the document is supposed to physically go to next, automation will take care of that for you. Processes can also (preferably) be set up in advance to accommodate vacations, illnesses, and employee reassignments by configuring group approvals, backup approvers, and escalations for every approval point.

A More Efficient Organization – work smarter, not harder.

Digitally automating one simple painful and “paperful” process can not only greatly benefit the department who sets it up, but all the employees throughout the organization who can now easily submit and track their own requests.

Rather than calling someone in Finance and trying to track down where a capital expenditure request is in the approval process, the requester in another department or location can simply look at all their requests on their own dashboard and see where it may be held up. They don’t have to ask, and Finance doesn’t have to spend time tracking down status info and communicating it when it could be working on something more valuable.

One of the “secrets” of process management and automation is that by simply documenting a business process you will make the process more efficient. Why? Because to document a process means to question it. How does this work? Who does what? What happens next? Why? As the process gets documented, inefficiencies are discovered and corrected.

But it doesn’t stop there. Once a process has been documented, automated, and pushed into production, more inefficiencies are discovered, some through reporting/analysis and others through process user feedback. Over time the process becomes more and more efficient as hand-offs are reduced, better data is collected, and steps are consolidated.

Increased employee productivity – spend more of your time on important tasks.

According to ImageOne, an estimated 50 percent of all technology help desk calls are about an in-office printer! Companies that rely on paper, and by association printers, waste countless hours calling help desks to sort through paper jams, broken printers, malfunctions, and cumbersome printer set-ups. This means that your IT staff’s time is closely tied to how your office printers are functioning. If something’s not right, they’re spending their day fixing small issues, and their ability to help execute your overall IT strategy is severely limited. These printer woes, coupled with the findings of a ResearchGate study highlight how cloud computing and workflow automation can be fiscally beneficial for companies of all sizes. It is safe to say that it can also be added to the list of benefits that going paperless will reduce the cost of paper, ink, toner, postage, etc. for your organization.

By reducing the time spent on paper issues, companies can effectively increase employee productivity levels. Additionally, workflow automation solutions can be leveraged to more effectively, without paper, to onboard new employees, manage approvals, and many other critical business processes.

Besides paper issues, there will be greater efficiency because of the extra time your employees will have by not having to track down requests. Everyone will be able to identify and remove process barriers or bottlenecks in the process and physically see where tasks are at in the flow at that given time. Reduce the need for manual decision-making and handle requests with business rules.

It’s not just your institution that’ll benefit – your organization and the environment will thank you.

There are many benefits externally that will come from becoming a paperless workplace. First and foremost, companies that are successful at reducing the influx of mail or paper-based forms, subsequently create a smaller ecological footprint.

The typical office worker spends an estimated 30% to 40% of their day searching for printed documents. And corporations spend some $120 billion annually on printed forms, which typically become outdated in just three months. Given how easy it is to move forms online, it’s simply a matter of selecting a digital form solution and retiring paper forms forever.

Paperless workflows have been shown to reduce direct workflow costs by more than 30%, cut process management cycle times in half, and deliver positive ROI in less than three months. Our eBook on How to Determine the ROI on Your Workflow Project goes into more detail on working through your own unique workflow situations and coming up with quantifiable metrics to share.

By going digital your organization will be a part of benefiting the earth in a huge way. When using less paper, you are reducing the carbon footprint of your company.

Paper manufacturing is a major contributor to environmental pollution. It produces sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide, which contribute to acid rain, greenhouse gases and water pollution. Approximately 26% of waste dumped in landfill sites is discarded paper and paperboard, according to The World Counts.

It’s important to reduce your carbon footprint because it mitigates the effects of global climate change. In fact, one of the best ways we can aid in the fight against global climate change, is to reduce our carbon footprint. When we cut carbon emissions, we help ensure cleaner air, water, and food for our generation and for generations to come.

You don’t have to make drastic changes in your lifestyle to reduce your carbon footprint. Actions that may seem small can have a big impact because those small changes add up! When organizations strive to come together to gear towards becoming paperless, we can all work together to reduce carbon emissions and help the planet.

If you are ready to go paperless or even start the process of going paperless, give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-496-8660! We’ll help you identify which processes within your business can be automated and how to start ditching paper!

Source: Integrify

Your sales cycle is one of the most important functions in your business so it’s vital that it is efficient so that you can convert more sales and win more business.

We have already covered how to automate your marketing tasks so this article concentrates on pushing these leads through the sales funnel to turn them into paying customers.

Why should you automate your sales processes?

The reasons for automating sales processes are the same as the reasons for automating all the other departments in your business.

Firstly, automation will save time and reduce errors. No matter how efficient your team is, they will make a mistake every so often from mis-keying data when copying it from one system into another, or someone will forget to follow up a lead, or reply to an enquiry. Automation removes that risk, and also speeds up processes because computers work so much quicker than humans!

Secondly, it makes your staff happier! People find repetitive manual tasks boring, so if you can free them up to do the more exciting stuff then they will be more contented in their work. They will also get time to be more creative, and concentrate on tasks which need a human touch.

Finally, you’ll make more money! Automation brings better customer service, so your retention rates will improve. You’ll cut costs which means your pricing can stay competitive, and being more efficient means you’ll be able to process more business in less time.

Which sales processes can be automated?

Using Zapier you can connect many different tools (over 6,000 currently!) so the chances are that you’ll be able to automate many of the apps you use on a daily basis.

Examples of sales processes which can be automated are:

• Collecting data using webforms.
• Booking appointments and scheduling meetings.
• Managing leads.
• Production of documents such as contracts and proposals, and collecting digital signatures.
• Processing e-commerce sales.

Learning how to automate your sales funnel and making these processes more streamlined will save so much time, making sure nothing is forgotten, so you’ll win more business.

How to automate data collection using webforms

When a potential customer first contacts you, the chances are they’ll use a webform to enter some information, such as Gravity Forms, Google Forms or Typeform. There are many different form builders available and once the information has been collected they will then notify you via email that a new form entry is available. Webforms can be used for surveys too, or to collect email addresses to sign up for a newsletter.

Receiving an email notification for a new form entry is great but then the next step often involves copying that data into another system to then work on the lead. This can be time-consuming and carries a high risk of human error.

By automating data collection you can link your webform app to others, for example, to notify you and your team when a new entry has been submitted using apps such as Slack and SMS by Zapier.

You can automatically save the entry on a Google Drive or in Dropbox, or add it to your CRM such as Salesforce or Pipedrive. You can add it as a new row in a Google Sheet and add a task to your project management app such as Jira, Clickup or Trello.

You can visit Zapier to see the full list of form apps they connect with, and each one includes popular integrations if you’re looking for inspiration.

How to automate appointment bookings and scheduling processes

Most businesses book meetings or appointments with potential customers, for that vital first chat with someone looking to spend some money with you. It could be a free ‘discovery call’ or an appointment with an in-person business such as a dog walker or massage therapist.

The traditional way of doing this involves an email conversation about availability and then setting up a video conference meeting. This involves a lot of human effort which can be avoided if you use one of the dedicated scheduling or appointment booking apps such as Acuity Scheduling or Calendly. Your CRM might also offer this functionality, if you use Pipedrive, Zoho CRM or HubSpot for example.

If it’s a virtual appointment then the apps above will likely connect with your video conference provider such as Zoom or Google Meet. This is brilliant as it will set up the conferencing details and you can then trigger reminders to attendees the day before. You can also integrate it with your calendar such as Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.

Here is the full list of scheduling apps supported by Zapier.

How to automate lead management

If you use a CRM such as Salesforce or Pipedrive then your customer data will be held in one central place and you will be able to create ‘leads’ or ‘opportunities’. These can then be followed up and taken through your sales funnel via contact by email, phone or other means.

The activities in your sales cycle can be automated by sending emails, connecting with your calendar or managing support tickets.

You can automatically create invoices in apps such as QuickBooks Online or Xero, or add the contact to your email platform, for example, Active Campaign or Mailchimp.

If you don’t use a CRM then you can still manage customers centrally by setting them up in apps such as Airtable or even a simple Google Sheet.

Here is the full list of CRM apps that Zapier connects.

How to automate contract and proposal production

Most businesses have some kind of document that they send customers before they can do business with them. This often involves creating a document in a word processing app, saving it as a PDF, and emailing it to the prospective customer. They then need to physically sign it and then send it back. These steps can be time-consuming and prone to delay. You might even lose the deal at this point because the process is so onerous to your potential customer. You can speed it all up brilliantly using automation, to save time and win more business.

There are specialist apps which make document creation and signing really easy, and you can create bespoke contracts, proposals and quotes quickly. Using e-signature functionality means that customers save time too, and hassle, so it’s a win-win!

Examples of apps which do this type of document processing include PandaDoc, HelloSign and DocuSign.

Automations allow you to create a draft document, send it to the recipient and then mark it as complete once it’s signed. Once this has been done you can trigger further workflows to connect with invoicing apps to send an invoice, and notify your team via Slack or SMS by Zapier. You can store the final document in Google Drive or Dropbox.

Here is the full list of e-signature apps that Zapier connects.

How to automate e-commerce sales

If you sell physical or digital products online then there’s a good chance your sales processes are pretty slick already, thanks to the array of e-commerce apps available.

If that’s the case then don’t rest on your laurels because there could still be some manual tasks in your sales process which could be streamlined using automation.

Apps such as WooCommerce, Shopify, ThriveCart and SamCart offer e-commerce store and sales cart functionality. There are online course platforms such as Kajabi and Thinkific and platforms like eBay and Gumroad which can be automated using Zapier. You can link them to spreadsheets, invoice apps and email platforms to send the data automatically and update them.

For example, adding new sales contacts to Active Campaign or Mailchimp, creating invoices in QuickBooks Online or Xero, and add rows to Airtable or Google Sheets.

Here is the full list of e-commerce apps that Zapier connects.

If you are ready to automate your sales funnel, give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-496-8660! We’ll help you identify which sales processes within your business can be automated and how to get started.

Source: Solvaa