Automate to Accelerate — Alberta Women Entrepreneurs

Automation is everywhere, especially in businesses. If you’ve ever gotten an email from Steve Madden letting you know their summer shoes are on sale, you’ve been part of an automated drip campaign. 

Email marketing is one of the most common examples of automation we see in our daily lives, but once you start to notice it, you’ll see automation all around you. Take your automatic bill payments, website chatbots, and even robot vacuums. And if you haven’t yet, it’s time to start leveraging business automation to save precious hours and dollars in your company.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• An overview of business automation with a few examples

• How automation plays a pivotal role in business development

• Resources to help you develop strategies for business growth

Automation Fuels Business Development

When it comes to marketing, nearly 80% of top-performing organizations automate some aspect of this function. And more broadly, business automation in any area uses technology to streamline, simplify, and automate tasks and processes within a company. The benefits? Greater efficiency, less human error, and lower operational costs, to name a few.

You can apply automation to a wide range of activities in your company, from simple repetitive tasks to complex workflows. Here are a few examples to spark some inspiration:

• Email Marketing Automation: We mentioned this one earlier, but businesses often use platforms like Mailchimp or HubSpot to automate the process of sending targeted emails to customers based on their behaviour, preferences, or demographics. Automated emails can include welcome messages, promotional offers, follow-up reminders, and more.

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: CRM systems, such as Salesforce or Zoho, automate various aspects of customer management, including lead generation, contact management, sales tracking, and customer support. These systems help companies organize interactions with customers throughout the sales lifecycle.

• Inventory Management: Retailers and manufacturers use inventory management software to automate inventory tracking, ordering, and replenishment processes. Systems like IBM’s inventory solution or Freshservice can generate purchase orders, monitor stock levels, and forecast demand based on historical data, optimizing inventory levels and reducing carrying costs.

• Accounting and Financial Management: Businesses use accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero to automate financial processes such as invoicing, expense tracking, payroll processing, and reporting. Automation reduces the need for manual data entry and reconciliation, which minimizes errors and improves financial accuracy.

• Social Media Management: Tools like Hootsuite or Sendible enable companies to automate the scheduling and publishing of social media posts across multiple platforms. These tools also provide analytics and reporting to track engagement metrics and monitor brand mentions.

• Workflow Automation: Workflow automation platforms like Zapier or Microsoft Power Automate allow businesses to create automated workflows that connect different apps and services. For instance, you can set up automated workflows to create tasks in project management software when new leads are added to a CRM system, or to send notifications when specific conditions are met (e.g. ‘call scheduled’).

• Human Resources Management: HR departments use automation to streamline recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and employee training. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) automate the job posting, candidate screening, and interview scheduling, while learning management systems (LMS) automate the delivery and tracking of employee training programs. This includes programs like BambooHR, BrightHR, and Absorb.

• Customer Support Chatbots: Many businesses use chatbots from Zendesk and Sprinklr on their websites or messaging platforms to automate customer support inquiries. Chatbots can provide instant responses to common questions, route inquiries to the appropriate department or agent, and even handle basic transactions or issue resolutions without human intervention.

Automation saves you time to work on your business instead of in your business, and saves you money that you can invest in future growth. By implementing automation strategies, you can streamline various processes in your day-to-day operations and leave behind tedious manual work. 

The Future of Supply Chain Automation 

While automation is common in our daily lives, it isn’t the standard everywhere. We saw the effects of this issue during COVID-19 when items like toilet paper and soap were in short supply. Another example was the disaster on the Suez Canal that halted shipping for weeks and threw the global economy into chaos.

When adverse events strike, we often see the gaps where technology, processes, and automation are lacking (or non-existent). Supply chain solutions like GPS tracking, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance monitoring, and robotics in manufacturing all came from gaps that were identified and addressed. 

This same principle applies to your business. When issues arise, you can identify a gap and begin crafting solutions. Automation can help you mitigate issues from occurring, and oftentimes even solve these issues altogether when they do inevitably occur. 

Fortunately, you don’t have to implement automation alone. Business growth programs like Strategic Edge offered by Alberta Women Entrepreneurs are designed to help you automate multiple areas of your company, including your supply chain. 

Gain Your Strategic Edge with the Right Support

AWE’s Strategic Edge program is designed for women-identifying entrepreneurs who are looking for trusted guidance to grow their businesses. We know automation is a powerful tool you can leverage to support strategies for business growth, business process automation, and technology-focused strategies. You might just need a little help along the way.

The Strategic Edge program helps women entrepreneurs leverage an increasingly data-driven landscape to find areas of business growth. In this program, you’ll also learn how to make impactful updates to your business plan that align with your short- and long-term goals. 

Next Steps for Your Business

If you’re an entrepreneur with a business making $200,000+ in annual revenue who is searching for a community of supportive women to help you grow, Strategic Edge is the program for you. Learn more about the program or contact us directly with any questions you have. We’re happy to help. 

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