As your business grows, small tasks can become the most time-consuming part of your day. Many business owners find themselves completing small tasks they hate doing, which not only consume hours of their day but also leave them drained of energy and motivation for the rest of the day.
From a solid marketing automation setup to leaning into a customer relationship management (CRM) system, here are five answers to the question, “What are the best automation systems every small business should have and why?”
- Marketing Automation
- Revenue Recognition
- Email Automation
- Data-Syncing Between E-commerce and CRM Systems
- A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
Email Automation
Email marketing is at the heart of relationship building for small businesses. Moreover, it is one aspect of business most primed for automation and experimentation. Automating your email allows you to nurture prospects better, track key metrics such as open and CTR, and gain insights on optimizing different campaigns.
Liam Liu, Co-founder and CMO, ParcelPanel
Marketing Automation
Small businesses should have a marketing automation system to help with their lead generation and sales. There are various options out there, and it’s overwhelming to select one, but the best thing to do is start researching and find one that is a good fit for your business.
You will want to do your due diligence on the system to make sure it checks off all the boxes for what you are trying to accomplish. There are also a lot of great reviews out there that can help you narrow down your search. Once you find one, you will want to set it up to communicate with your leads, and that is where the work comes in, but it is worth it!
Revenue Recognition
Revenue recognition is tough work. If you’re on the accounting team, you could easily spend a week getting your revenue accruals in place. Then, you’d spend the next three weeks debating the merits of different recognition strategies.
It’s error-prone, and although you may want to do it manually once, it’s definitely something you should automate. There are several SaaS products that help with this. Google Sheets can get you very far. Even home-grown, partial solutions are worth the investment.
Trevor Ewen, COO, QBench
Data-Syncing Between E-commerce and CRM Systems
Businesses that leverage online commerce should use automation software that connects their e-commerce platform to their customer relationship management (CRM) system.
While many merchants use one or the other, they rarely include a native way to communicate with each other. Because much of the information in the systems is duplicated—such as order, shipping, and payment details—platform hopping and manual data entry can be a cumbersome task that costs businesses time and money. There are many automation tools on the market today that help solve this pain point.
Nabeel Abdullah, CEO, Sapphire
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
One of the most important automation systems that every small business should have is an automated customer relationship management (CRM) system.
A CRM system helps businesses keep track of customer interactions, data, and activities. It also automates tasks like sending emails or reminders to customers, which can help businesses stay connected with their customers and build better relationships.
Gabriel Bogner, Co-founder, Mate Fertility
In conclusion, automation systems can be a game-changer for your business.
