If you're like me, the past few years have given you extra time to reflect on many things, big and small. You may have started to look at tech trends, remote working, and AI and automation through a different lens. These new technologies and changing times have made us take a deep look at our priorities and how we spend our time. These thoughts should have naturally wandered toward a solution a lot like Hybrid Automation. What's that, you ask? Let's dive in.
Frankly, the term "automation" can sometimes feel as nebulous as it is specific, and this often leaves us with more questions than answers. Even today, the idea of a fully automated economy often brings to mind dystopian images of robots doing repetitive tasks in factories or streets filled with self-driving cars and not much else. Pretty grim. You'll agree!
What you know about Automation, debunked
But you see, the fallacy that automation will lead to some sci-fi displacement of humans by robots is just that: a fallacy. What makes Hybrid Automation Platforms like Wrk so valuable and innovative has nothing to do with removing human workforces. On the contrary, it is an empowerment tool that frees up one of your most precious commodities—time. This newfound time allows you to concentrate on things that are more deserving of your attention.
Automation is used in many business tasks today, from hiring new employees and managing human resources to sending emails and following up with leads. And professionals in teams of all shapes and sizes worldwide enjoy its many benefits.
With the help of Hybrid Automation, here's a list of priorities you can shift your attention to:
1. Enhance customer satisfaction
The quality of your customers' experiences can make or break your business. A Hubspot report found that roughly 80% of consumers polled have ceased ties with a company following a poor customer experience. Whether you're in charge of your customer success department or an eCommerce business, it takes effort to ensure that customers always have a good time. Users care a lot about speed, ease of use, and direct communication.
"On the contrary, it is an empowerment tool that frees up one of your most precious commodities—time."
By automating repetitive steps within your customer lifecycle (a primary objective for Wrk), you can shift your attention to mapping out strategies that maximize customer acquisition and satisfaction. At this stage, you will have the opportunity to delve deeply into your customer behavior data and understand it with greater clarity to serve them better.
2. Maximize your efforts
There's more to improving your business than just increasing efficiency and profitability. People seek out your product or service as a solution for their needs, and employees are drawn to your workplace to put their skills and ideas into practice. Use the extra time and resources you have to learn how to improve your organization as a whole.
Obtaining honest feedback is a natural first step in the right direction. Lead focus groups, read customer reviews and chat transcripts, make detailed customer personas, and ask employees for honest feedback.
3. Create and innovate
People understand other people better than machines do. So, to figure out the emotional and psychological reasons why your customers buy, your most creative teams can spend more time analyzing behavioral data, customer feedback, and changing trends to make a better-tailored product, experience, or message. This is why the Hybrid Automation approach is best for most organizations. It takes the best of human ingenuity and adds the technology to make your team shine.
Creatives are accustomed to thinking outside the box. Freeing up their time with automation to help complete mundane work will allow them to focus on what makes them thrive: disruptive ideas that lead to tangible breakthroughs for your business.
4. Encourage continuous learning
Organizations do better when their employees are happy, and the best way to ensure they stay with the company is to encourage their growth and development. But good learning and development (L&D) initiatives are often not a top priority, especially during busy times when finishing projects is more important than training and skilling up.
Invariably, Hybrid Automation platforms like Wrk curb human intervention for automatable tasks, making it all the more important for workplaces to be people-centric—not just outward-facing to please customers but inward-facing to accommodate staff. As such, harnessing a culture of continuous learning is essential. Use the newly-available time that automation would allow to upskill and reskill your employees to be better versions of themselves.
5. Forge meaningful long-term connections
Young consumers are increasingly conscious of their buying power and have shifted their attitudes from "buying cheap" to "buying ethically." That's why it's no surprise that 87% of consumers are willing to purchase from a company that advocates for a cause they also support.
"Use the newly-available time that automation would allow to upskill and reskill your employees to be better versions of themselves."
It's essential to respond to this "ethical consumption" trend and focus on your brand's social responsibility. Value-driven consumers are drawn to value-driven companies, so carve out some time to brainstorm how to make your company's ethics and values resonate with your audience. However, it must be authentic. It is a huge no-no to jump on a social justice cause to improve the ethical goals of your brand.
6. Plan for the future
Envisioning the future of your business is the type of strategic planning that requires renewed focus, especially given that Hybrid Automation is poised to enhance performance and productivity across many fronts of your organization as it scales. With more time, you'll be able to plan and think ahead about future hiring needs and chances for growth.
As you plan for your organization's future, you'll ask yourself:
"How much will we be investing in human capital to solve current and future problems?"
"Can we adapt our business processes to the growing data economy?"
"What will change with our clientele due to shifting demographics in the near future?"
Hybrid Automation can be a net gain for your business
When the idea of automation was first brought up, it was portrayed as a scary game-changer that would take away more than we bargained for, like jobs, ways to make a living, professional agencies, etc. But the truth is the exact opposite. Businesses that use automation can tell you that what you stand to gain is incredibly valuable.
By letting a Hybrid Automation Platform complete time-consuming tasks, you can regain the time to learn, create, and connect.
What would you do with that kind of time?
If you want to learn more about how Wrk’s Hybrid Automation Platform, visit our Redefining Work page today!
