Robotic process automation (RPA) is a productivity tool that allows a user to configure one or more scripts (which some vendors refer to as “bots”) to activate specific computer keystrokes in an automated fashion.

“If you’re not leveraging RPA or automation in your business, please join the current century.”

Strategy: By now, everyone should be aware that automation creates more efficient processes by removing human error and working at machine speed, 24/7. However, most people might be unfamiliar with the different types of automation and how to implement them.

We’ve found that for those not utilizing automation today its often the result of one of three things:

• Lack understanding of the financial & workload capacity benefits
  • “RPA implementations are so expensive”
• Uncertainty and/or hesitation on how to implement
  • “Our processes can’t be automated, they’re too complex”
• Lack of bandwidth / too lazy to perform work needed on the front end
  • “We need to clean up our data & processes before we even think of automation”

To implement RPA, every action throughout the entire process being automated needs to be explicit & well documented. Any subjectivity will require a different type of automation, something like what our friends over at Wrk have built and are using to take automation to the next level!

Process: Identify an area or process where automation can be inserted into a workflow by recognizing where employees are performing digitally repetitive tasks. Once identified, the next step is to calculate the cost savings or added benefit of the automated process.
– Important and often overlooked aspects of cost savings are the time given back to the employee to do high-value activities and the reduction in human error.  

Example: Onboarding and offboarding employees – systems access 

Implemented a system for onboarding and offboarding employees and managing the user licensing of software tools.

• Employee system access managed to include only tools relevant to specific job function
  • On average, 37 tools per employee – creates large opportunities for human error
• Centralized user management of all software licenses from multiple orgs under HR
• Upon employee exit, software licenses are redistributed or refunded to reduce licensing fees

By removing the human from the equation, error was reduced by 27% and the employment process was accelerated by an average of 3.5 days on both sides.

Example: Sales prospecting activity & lead enrichment

Implemented a process to identify, enrich, prioritize and assign leads automatically within the CRM for full funnel visibility of sales team performance. Multiple steps, from multiple workflows, were automated across prospecting & sales activity.

• Web scraping tool used to compile prospect data from valuable signals, such as press releases – company name, author, email address, etc.
• Prospecting data is enriched to complete the company & contact profiles, then segmented based on vertical and company size to be assigned to the respective sales rep

By removing the need for sales reps to go in and hunt for leads, it gave them back 2.5 hours of workload capacity to research the prioritized leads assigned to them & sell.

In both of the examples above, automation was leveraged by different organizations to maximize efficiency by removing the human from completing the admin tasks and putting the activity into an automated process.

Just think what could your sales reps do with an extra 2.5 hours? Or HR employees. Or customer service agents. Or Accounts Receivables reps. Or data analysts. Or, or, or…

Chances are, some function within your company is most likely doing repetitive, digital tasks on a daily, weekly and/or monthly basis which can easily be automated, in turn giving your employees the most valuable support you can provide them to complete their duties – time!

We talk about finding the low-hanging fruit in commercial all the time. This is low-hanging fruit presenting itself in a different form that will drastically affect your bottom line. Spend some time this month inspecting what repetitive tasks your employees are completing on a routine basis. You might be surprised at what you find – hint, it’s not what you expect.

Let’s get to work.

Prescriptive Profits #3