As entrepreneurs, we value our people. We know that they are important and want them to maximize on their potential. However, you’ll notice that they spend a lot of time on tasks like administrative chores. Shame. With technology, you can make their jobs easier and you also get more work done with the same number of people.
People want to add value
We humans are creators. Each of us wants to add value to the world. We dislike having to do administrative work. At least, unless we’re administrative workers. Administrative workers have made this a profession, thus adding value. But if it’s not our main job, we would always prefer to focus on our core tasks. At that point, administrative work becomes a burden.
That is exactly where technology can step in, to give people more room to carry out their core tasks, creating more added value. This is an important point especially if you are a growing company. The administration only gets bigger as you grow. And if you are not careful, this might lead your people to have less time left for their core tasks. Making your business go sideways.
Technology could help to prevent this. For example, think of the communication with your customers. When we talk about communication, there are actually two types. The first has to do mainly with status updates. You want to be able to keep your customer informed about the status of the product or service offered. Where exactly are we in the process? This can be done manually, but it can also be summarized in a system. The second type of communication with your customer is more focused on having a conversation. Thinking about how you want to proceed and seeing what the customer’s wishes are.
This second type of communication often gets overlooked. It’s something the people behind a business often don’t get to do. But if you have automated the first type of communication with your customer, you will have more time to deal with the second type of communication– engaging in a conversation with your customer. And that is incredibly important for customer retention. Because if a system is able to keep track of everything related to the status of the product, it can free up more time for the account manager to discuss important issues with the customer. This is not only good for the employee, who can focus more on his core tasks, but also for the customer, who gets the attention he deserves. Showing that automation brings benefits to both parties.
Technology is your friend
Suppose that your company prints flyers; when ordering flyers, customers want to be able to quickly be provided with certain details such as how much they want to print and what the format should be. This piece of service can be automated very easily. This means that there is more space left for employees to provide the customer with advice, for example on the type of paper that is most suitable.
Automation makes work a lot more comfortable for your employees. They no longer live for the tasks on today’s checklist, instead they are in charge of their own activities. After all, if an employee spends all day performing administrative tasks, then they no longer has the space to plan their own day. You are not creating a good environment in which they can perform well. Additionally, with automation you can make your employees’ work controllable. The quality is easy to check because the system makes everything transparent and traceable. You can see where there is room for improvement and then help your people to perform better.
As an entrepreneur, you can achieve greater efficiency by automating processes. Who wouldn’t want that, right? You can get more things done with the same number of employees, and thus make more profit. This also means that you can make your employees happy with a pay increase as well.
Technology is certainly not the enemy of people — it can actually empower people. Therefore, we should embrace it. It will save us more time and would be very beneficial to all of us, when used in the right ways of course.