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Bet Ya Didn’t Know We Did This: Process Automation

Business owners are required to juggle a number of competing priorities. Depending on the type of business you run, you may have several different processes in place just to complete one kind of task.

For example, service orders, expenses, mileage, and hours must be tracked properly for both billing and payroll. Some businesses enter this data into spreadsheets by hand, while others use paper trails and receipts to keep track of details. Depending on your set up, this administrative overhead may take hours or even days to complete. 

If you find yourself or your staff team burdened under a mountain of paperwork and processes and are longing for a better way to get it all over the finish line, then we have great news for you. 

Process Automation Can Help to Grow Your Business

One of the services we “bet ya didn’t know” we do here at Cross & Crown is process automation. We come alongside businesses to understand their processes, analyze their workflows, and identify ways to automate these processes using technology. The clients we’ve served in this way find that process automation speeds up the administrative side of the house and helps them save time and money that can be reinvested in other areas of the company. 

Many businesses are using process automation to streamline duties and work more efficiently.  Some business owners may want to automate processes but don’t have the time to slow down and figure out new technology. Other business owners may not feel comfortable trusting new technology. But think about it this way: if you’ve ever been in the middle of a task and thought “there has to be an easier way to do this,” there may actually be a way to automate that process and free you up to focus on other things. Here are a few examples:

Use Technology to Automate Manual Processes

Equipment Transport, LLC of Carlisle, PA needed a better way to track the trucks, miles, and time of their fleet. Their former systems relied heavily on a mixture of paperwork and spreadsheets being passed back and forth from the main office to the field offices. They needed to modernize their methods to mitigate errors and ensure that every detail was rightly accounted for in order to ensure that standards and limits were met. 

We sat down with the company and mapped out their entire process from beginning to end. Then we identified the actions that could be transferred from paper to technological solutions. For example, we suggested moving logistical details being tracked in spreadsheets into a web-based system so that everyone had access to the most current information. 

The custom solution we created for Equipment Transport enabled them to view the details they needed at-a-glance, systematized the data-entry processes to track trucks, miles, and time automatically, eliminating the need to enter the information by hand. After one manual check by a staff member, the data was then sent to be processed by billing, payroll, or another relevant department. 

The old processes were complex and time-consuming, but now that the processes are automated, what once caused headaches now runs smoothly and efficiently. Since the launch, we’ve worked through four iterations of the software, making tweaks and changes to meet the company’s evolving needs. Now that their processes are streamlined, fewer hands are touching important information which improves accuracy and expedites their performance so they can grow their business. 

Increase Productivity with Digital Recordkeeping

Another client we’ve helped with process automation is a large landscaping company that wanted to move their work order and billing process from paper to digital. After carefully analyzing their processes, we identified areas that could be moved from paper to a cloud-based solution. The system we built for them sends the details from an iOS device straight to the right department, minimizing errors and increasing efficiency.

In addition to businesses, we have also worked with nonprofits to automate online giving. For example, we’ve systemized online donations to update in multiple databases and trigger email custom communications based upon the kind of donation that is being made.

Get More Work Done With Less Time and Money

The process automation projects we’ve worked on for clients have ranged from basic actions such as email automation to more complex requirements such as equipment transport. We can automate any process to make work-life more efficient and help you get more done with less. 

We have helped many businesses streamline and standardize processes using off-the-shelf and custom solutions— whichever one best fits their needs. There are several ways we do this, but our process always begins with a discovery meeting. We take a day or two to evaluate what you do and how you do it. After we analyze the data, we present our findings and point out which parts of your process could be transformed by technology. 

If this sounds too good to be true, we assure you that if you let us take a look at your systems we can find ways to automate your processes. Drop us a quick message and let’s schedule an initial discovery meeting to learn more. You don’t have to dive in right away—we’d be happy to share our findings and answer your questions before making any big commitments. We would love to help you identify ways to use technology to save time and grow your business!