by Kathryn Main
What is automation, and why do I need it in my business? Automation simply means that you take some of your business processes and automate them. Automation is an important concept in business. It allows you to, for example, automate many functions in your business, such as finance and sales. By reducing the risk of human error in common daily tasks, automation enables you to manage configurations in a predictable and repeatable way, resulting in increased consistency and increased speed of change. Automation gives us more time to work on the business and less in the business.
I have automated my whole sales and marketing processes. I use a system called www.leadsquared.com and I have already automated 12 months’ worth of marketing material and content. Now that sales and marketing is out of the way, I have 2-3 hours every day to focus on other areas of my business. The bulk of automation work is done in the beginning, and it needs to be maintained monthly.
Customers do not always buy at the beginning on the customer journey. You need to earn the trust of your customers and get them interested in what you have to offer so they will buy from you at some point. This process can be quite lengthy, and could take as many as 10 communications before you see any results. With an automated email campaign, you can guarantee that you will communicate with your customers monthly and keep your brand at the forefront of their minds.
Automation also helps to keep consistency in your business. It allows you to maintain a database where every customer has the same customer experience. Taking all of your customers on the same journey results in each and every potential lead getting to experience all of the value you add to your customers.
Customer experience management refers to the various processes and strategies that a business utilises to deliver a great customer experience throughout the customer journey for every single lead. Simply put, it is what the company does to keep their customers happy.
Countless businesses use obscene amounts of resources trying to win customer’s loyalty. The simple reason behind it is that customers have the power to choose. With the rise in competition, monetary freedom and the internet, today’s customers are spoilt for choice. Frankly, there has never been a better time to be a customer. Such empowerment in customer choice has brought forth change in the way a customer thinks. The customer’s expectation from each business has evolved steadily over the last few decades.
The benefits of automation
There are a wide range of benefits to automation that you can enjoy:
More repeat business. A happy customer who is valued (thanks to a great customer experience), is a loyal customer. Loyal customers will even go out of their way to refer you to other potential customers.
More time. When you automate processes in your business, you free up time for yourself to allocate to other aspects of your business.
Increased loyalty. Once a customer has had a great experience with you, they will continue to buy from you every time. That means that they will continue to choose you over your competition, because they know that they get what they pay for and what you offer has been proven to be superior in their eyes.
Increased cross-selling or upselling. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 - 70%, vs the mere 5 - 7% probability for a new customer. This is due to the fact that if a customer is happy with your service, they will be willing to invest more in your product — you’ve already made a good impression with them, it’s only logical to them that what you recommend is in their best interest. Because of this, the odds of you successfully cross-selling or upselling to that customer are more likely.
The chance to connect with customers regularly. Marketing automation helps you seamlessly connect to customers across all channels on a regular basis. Good marketing automation software provides clear insights on the status of each customer’s experience on their customer journey. It allows you to better understand the behaviour of your customers, as well as their requirements so that your business can provide the most hassle-free experience possible.
Engagement across multiple channels. With marketing automation, you can engage your leads meaningfully by sending them content that is relevant to them at the right time. If the content helps your customers make a buying decision, answers a query, or makes them aware of new and upcoming products and services, then it is providing solid value and will help you keep the lead interested.
Informative lead insights. Marketing automation software can track the lead behaviour across your campaign – find out how long your leads spent on each page of your website, what information they have downloaded, and which links have been most popular in your mailer content. Use this information to identify and track their key requirements. These insights can, in turn, help your business provide better experiences to your customers.
Marketing automation will ensure that you continue to deliver exemplary customer experience to all your customers at any stage of the funnel.
If you are looking for words to describe Kathryn Main, CEO the Money Savvy brands, quirky, determined, visionary and masterful are just some that spring to mind. Kathryn is an author and award winning businesswoman and has won awards for her advertising agency as well as Money Savvy Kids. Kathryn has a passion to change the face of education on the African continent through financial literacy education and training. The Money Savvy brands are revolutionizing the way financial knowledge is disseminated to younger generations of South Africans. Money Savvy Kids + Teens promotes in youth the skills, knowledge attitudes and behaviors required to be financially independent.
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