Introduction to Automation

The word "automation" can conjure images of robots doing complex tasks that humans once did. However, while automation technologies like our Wrkflows make many routine tasks simpler, it doesn't mean there's no human input required. It's quite the opposite, actually. Think of your sales tasks for example. Automated processes can work in partnership with humans to achieve goals.

Boosting Business Efficiency

One way to boost your business is by increasing efficiency across your teams through identifying inefficiencies. Your Sales team might be bogged down entering customer data, finding missing contact information, or many other repetitive tasks, when they could be spending their time, well, selling.

Understanding Automation Components

When it comes to streamlining your sales processes, there are many bases to cover. But first, it will help to distinguish the differences between RPA, APIs, and bots, and why they're all equally important parts of Hybrid Automation.

Further Reading

Read on to learn more about how automation and humans can work together to empower your Sales department (and your other key teams) and how Wrk's Hybrid Delivery Platform makes this possible.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA isn't a term that describes robots taking over jobs—in fact, despite the name, there are no robots involved at all. Instead, RPA actually refers to the software that runs automated processes with human-inputted parameters.

These bots can interact with prospective clients when they land on your website, answering their initial questions. This is an effective way to increase engagement from the start, without forcing the customer to wait for a human response.

Not only does your staff have limited time to deliver tasks, bad data can further bog down your process, delaying your ultimate goal, closing deals. RPAs can boost efficiency by providing more control over your teams' resources, which allows them to take on more complex tasks.

It also helps to ensure your internal business systems are working in unison and helps drive data-driven decisions.

RPA can speed up some of the repetitive tasks that are faced by your Sales, Customer Support, and all other revenue-generating teams. Automated RPAs from Wrk can help your business across the board, whether it's with lead management, client onboarding, data entry, and more.

Rise of the Bots

Another element of automation is chatbots, which are becoming a more popular way to communicate with new or existing clients. In fact, recent statistics reveal that 1.4 billion people are using chatbots for a variety of functions.

Bots can be helpful at the beginning of a new customer's journey, answering preliminary questions before connecting them with a member of your Sales team. The bots can also help troubleshoot any customer issues to avoid escalations to your Customer Support team.

Statistics show that 85% of people prefer text-based communication with businesses, rather than trying to reach a customer service rep on the phone first. Perhaps more importantly, many customers will move on if they have to wait for easy answers.

Chatbots are also an ideal solution when you're doing business across various continents and time zones, as they are not on a schedule. In some cases, chatbots can learn to interact using advanced phrases in various languages, and even through images.

Application Programming Interface (API)

These are integration tools that help software applications communicate with one another. This may sound complicated, and it can be. In some cases, you need someone on staff who has extensive knowledge of coding. However, while Wrk offers automated processes, it can also help simplify using APIs in your daily Wrkflows.

For example, our Lead Enrichment Wrkflow can improve the quality of sales leads by communicating with other platforms. The process pulls valuable contact information from Salesforce, LinkedIn, and Crunchbase to fill in missing information used to help focus sales efforts.

APIs can also allow chatbots to be accessed directly from your business social media pages or other customer contact points.

However, even with RPA, APIs, and bots working together, you'll still need the human touch.

The Human Input: Automation and People Working Together

Automated processes handle many of the repetitive tasks (such as lead nurturing) that can bog down your Sales teams and limit their success.

Sales automation frees up bandwidth for your Sales team to engage in more critical-thinking tasks. It also helps to eliminate distractions, while providing a greater sense of accomplishment for your staff as they will get more work completed in a shorter amount of time, while having more time to work on higher-value activities.

However, the Wrk Delivery Platform—Hybrid Automation is not about putting software in the driver's seat and letting it navigate the entire sales process. It still requires human input, which is why we developed a hybrid approach, to bring together the best of both worlds—top notch automated technology and a human worker community to take on tasks that require more human input. Your team will still have control over automated processes and can customize them for their particular needs. Humans will also need to make decisions when they're not clear about an algorithm such as how to improve communication or a unique situation that requires an 'outside the box' approach.

Even chatbots need human input to stay on brand, with humans still handling many customer service complaints and difficult situations that are improved by empathy and a more personalized touch.

Automated Processes Can Empower Your Sales Team

While automation is becoming more utilized in business, keep in mind that it will empower your teams, not replace them. AI and humans will work together to boost efficiency across the board. In fact, automation can help you retain top talent by eliminating barriers that hold back your top performers. Meanwhile, an automated Wrkflow can also help with tasks that are repetitive and like recruiting and onboarding new staff, or sending updates that happen monthly or yearly, like birthday reminders, or staff milestones.

In the end, with automation adoption, you can increase your business's bottom line with a platform that can do it all, connect applications, touch on a human workforce, apply RPA and bots where possible, and so much more. It will help your Sales team become more efficient while cutting time and costs. It will also empower and enable your team to take on more high-value tasks like closing deals and personalized outreach.

And that's where Wrk comes in, combining the best of all worlds into one single platform to deliver your work, end-to-end. By boosting efficiency with Wrk, your team can focus on what matters most without getting lost in the details of repetitive tasks.

To learn more about Wrk's innovative Hybrid Delivery Platform and how it can fulfill your organization's needs, book a demo today!