Handbook knowledge entry is perhaps some of the tedious and inefficient duties within the company world. Not solely does it put you to sleep, nevertheless it additionally wastes treasured time and sources, slashing your productiveness to bits.

Based on Zapier, 94% of employees carry out time-consuming, repetitive duties. Thankfully, there’s know-how that may automate these mind-numbing duties, eliminating human error and letting you give attention to the work that really issues — workflow automation.

By leveraging self-operating processes that run handbook duties, workflow automation will help your enterprise save money and time, diminish errors, and increase productiveness.

Desk of Contents

How does workflow automation work?

Workflow automation usually depends on a sequence of if/then statements to set off one other job. It then branches off relying on the motion that was taken by a lead, worker, or one other stakeholder.

Let’s stroll via an instance workflow for turning a kind submission right into a deal alternative.

• An internet site customer submits a kind.
• The motion routinely enrolls the customer in a drip marketing campaign. It creates a brand new deal and units the standing to “New.”
• The primary e-mail of the drip marketing campaign is distributed to the lead, requesting to schedule a gathering.
• The lead clicks via to the assembly scheduler and creates an appointment.
• A thanks e-mail is distributed to the lead, confirming the date and time.
• The CRM creates a brand new job and assigns it to a gross sales rep.
• The gross sales rep then reaches out personally, ending the automated workflow.

Right here’s what a workflow can seem like from begin to end.

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Virtually each division in your enterprise can profit from workflow automation. Whether or not it’s advertising, human sources, or finance, the know-how will help you’re employed smarter, not tougher.

Beneath, we’ll cowl a number of the hottest workflow automation examples.

Workflow automation can be utilized in just about any crew and in any enterprise situation. Whereas it’s largely associated to advertising and gross sales, it can be utilized in customer support, operations, human sources, and finance.

Advertising and marketing Workflow Automation

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A few of the most repetitive duties in advertising, reminiscent of sending emails and posting social media updates, will be automated with workflow automation. With advertising automation software program, you may schedule your complete social media calendar and arrange workflows that nurture sure kinds of prospects with e-mail gives.

Automated workflows in advertising embrace:

• Subscribing a consumer to a drip marketing campaign after they obtain a useful resource out of your web site
• Welcoming a consumer to your organization after they buy a product
• Reminding a consumer to take a look at after they’ve added numerous objects to their cart
• Scheduling social media posts throughout a number of platforms
• Distributing advertising duties throughout crew members

Extra Studying

Gross sales Workflow Automation

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Gross sales workflow automation streamlines tedious lead and prospect administration duties, in order that reps can give attention to promoting, not getting into knowledge. Other than taking leads routinely via the pipeline primarily based on their actions, an automatic gross sales workflow can enroll prospects in drip campaigns and replace deal phases because the deal strikes ahead.

Automated duties in gross sales embrace:

• Inserting every lead at a special stage of the pipeline after they take a sure motion
• Transferring a lead out of the pipeline in the event that they’ve stopped responding to emails
• Sending an introduction e-mail from a gross sales rep to a lead after they obtain an e book
• Updating the deal stage as soon as the lead has scheduled an appointment or assembly
• Creating duties for gross sales reps as soon as a lead has scheduled a gathering

Extra Studying

Buyer Service Workflow Automation

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Workflow automation is extremely helpful in customer support. Other than launching surveys, workflow automation can deal with tickets, instances, and customary questions by sending a sequence of emails or creating duties.

Automated duties in customer support embrace:

• Creating a brand new ticket within the system when somebody reaches out via social media or e-mail
• Onboarding clients with a sequence of useful emails
• Sending NPS® surveys and enrolling them into completely different e-mail campaigns relying on their ranking
• Assigning tickets a precedence label relying on the tone of the message or e-mail
• Resolving and archiving tickets as soon as a decision has been reached

Extra Studying

Operations Workflow Automation

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Operations is the lifeblood of any group, and it, too, will be automated to scale back cases of handbook knowledge entry.

Automated duties in operations embrace:

• Deleting duplicates as soon as they’ve been detected or merging two properties in the event that they’re the identical
• Managing crew permissions for brand spanking new crew members
• Establishing priorities for various companies processes
• Routinely compiling stories on the finish of each quarter
• Creating duties in third-party instruments reminiscent of Asana, Slack, or Zoom

Extra Studying

Human Assets Workflow Automation

As a substitute of getting to manually enter all of your new hires’ private info — like addresses, social safety numbers, and different worker info into payroll, expense, and insurance coverage programs — HR automation software program can do it for you in minutes.

Automated duties in human sources embrace:

• Eradicating candidates from the database in the event that they’ve been inactive for a time period
• Sending emails to candidates that haven’t made it to the ultimate spherical
• Filtering candidates with sure key phrases of their job historical past
• Sending W2s to present staff
• Accumulating staff’ suggestions after they’ve been on the firm for a time period

Finance Workflow Automation

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By permitting you to construct types, design workflows, and monitor processes, finance course of automation software program can streamline your whole journey requests, reimbursements, and price range approvals.

Automated duties in finance embrace:

• Taking an expense approval course of from begin to end
• Managing vendor and contract approvals
• Assigning priorities to ACH and wire requests
• Managing journey expense requests relying on location and exercise
• Approving budgets primarily based on a predetermined set of parameters

Now that every part about utilizing automated workflows, let’s check out the highest instruments you should utilize.

Greatest Workflow Automation Software program in 2022

1. HubSpot: Greatest All-in-One Workflow Automation Software program

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HubSpot’s advertising, gross sales, service, and operations software program operates on a single platform, making it the most effective selections for all-in-one workflow automation. Every little thing is linked collectively, permitting you to align your whole groups’ processes and lowering friction from job to job.

You possibly can simply hand leads from advertising to gross sales, join a service ticket with an present contact document, and clear up buyer knowledge — multi functional user-friendly platform.

Greatest for: HubSpot is very really helpful for rising companies which have but to strive workflow automation and for enterprise companies with established processes. You possibly can start with a Starter subscription, then improve as you require extra functionalities. Particularly really helpful for advertising, gross sales, service, and operations departments.

Pricing for Advertising and marketing Hub: Free; $50/month (Starter); $890/month (Skilled); $3,200/month (Enterprise)

Pricing for Gross sales Hub: Free; $50/month (Starter); $500/month (Skilled); $1,200/month (Enterprise)

Pricing for Service Hub: Free; $50/month (Starter); $400/month (Skilled); $1,200/month (Enterprise)

Pricing for Operations Hub: Free; $50/month (Starter); $800/month (Skilled)

2. Nintex: Greatest Enterprise Workflow Automation Software program

With over 3 million workflow functions working on their platform proper now, Nintex helps greater than 8,000 enterprise clients handle, automate, and optimize their enterprise processes, with no coding expertise required.

By providing a mess of workflow automation instruments — like course of mapping, superior workflows, and course of intelligence — your enterprise is ready to map out every of your processes, execute them, and monitor their efficiency.

Greatest for: Nintex is very really helpful for enterprise companies with established processes. It’s a strong software program that pairs a user-friendly workflow design device with highly effective integrations that may join each single one in all your apps. Particularly really helpful for IT, legislation, HR, and finance departments.

Pricing: $910/month (Commonplace); $1,400/month (Enterprise)

3. Kissflow: Greatest Newbie-Pleasant Workflow Automation Software program

Trusted by over 10,000 corporations, together with Domino’s, Michelin, and Pepsi, Kissflow gives an all-in-one workflow automation software program that lets your enterprise create workflows that automate duties in your human sources, gross sales, finance, administration, advertising, and buy departments.

With over 50 pre-installed enterprise course of administration apps — reminiscent of expensing and gross sales orders, situations and triggers, and reporting dashboards to your workflows — Kissflow can streamline nearly all your enterprise processes.

Greatest for: Kissflow is very really helpful for small corporations which can be simply now beginning to strive workflow automation. The device’s simplicity and consumer friendliness will make it simpler to start automating processes. Particularly really helpful for procurement, HR, and finance departments.

Pricing: $200/month (Primary); $495/month (Superior); $1,900/month (Absolutely Loaded)

4. Integrify: Greatest On a regular basis Administration Workflow Automation Software program

Integrify is a workflow automation software program that allows you to construct workflows in a drag-and-drop builder and run parallel or sequential flows. By with the ability to collaborate on duties and requests, take a look at your processes, and arrange reminders, you may simply streamline your enterprise processes and automate handbook duties.

Integrify additionally gives workflow examples and a consumer data base, a rest-based open API that permits you to combine with exterior databases, and the power to import and export knowledge from Excel and even PDFs.

Greatest for: Integrify is very really helpful for small-to-medium companies that need to automate on a regular basis duties. Its drag-and-drop “Course of Builder” makes it easy and simple to take a course of from begin to completion. Particularly really helpful for administration departments.

Pricing: Pricing obtainable upon request

5. Zapier: Greatest Workflow Automation Software program for Connecting Apps

With the power to hook up with and share knowledge with over 1,000 internet apps, like Fb, QuickBooks, and Google Drive, Zapier can automate nearly any sort of enterprise course of. All it’s a must to do is construct a workflow of their editor, decide the apps you wish to embrace in your workflow, and design it.

For instance, in order for you to have the ability to save all of your attachments in Dropbox, you may design a workflow that routinely copies any attachment out of your Gmail inbox to Dropbox after which sends you a Slack message concerning the obtain.

Greatest for: Zapier is very really helpful for freelancers and small-to-medium companies that use all kinds of instruments that aren’t speaking with one another. As an illustration, in the event you’re utilizing MailChimp to ship emails and Typeform to gather leads, you could possibly join these two instruments utilizing Zapier. Particularly really helpful for advertising and repair departments.

Pricing: Free; $19.99/month (Starter); $49/month (Skilled)

6. Flokzu: Greatest Undertaking Administration Workflow Automation Software program

With out writing any code, Flokzu permits you to create duties, deadlines, enterprise guidelines, and notifications. Their software program additionally sends pending duties to every of your undertaking’s assignees’ inboxes, and as every stage of a workflow is full, it’ll routinely assign every new job to a consumer or position.

Moreover, Flozku gives a reporting dashboard that shows your enterprise processes’

efficiency and metrics, like the quantity of at present delayed duties there are, duties assigned to every consumer and position, duties accomplished, and the time every job took, which will provide you with the mandatory knowledge to refine and optimize your future workflows.

Greatest for: Flokzu is very really helpful for particular person groups that wish to optimize their time administration and job workflow. A key characteristic of this device is that customers will obtain pending duties of their inbox, making it a wonderful undertaking administration device. Beneficial for any crew.

Pricing: Free; $19.99/month (Starter); $49/month (Skilled)

Workflow Automation Will Assist You Develop Higher

Workflow automation is important for companies that wish to scale and develop with out letting something fall via the cracks. By letting know-how full handbook duties, you may successfully develop your enterprise with none rising pains.

Editor’s be aware: This submit was initially printed in January 2019 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.