Robotic Process Automation can be implemented more accurately in small than in huge firms, for a number of reasons. A lower number of employees automatically translates into less possibility of internal resistance to Robotic Process Automation — a relevant issue for huge enterprises.

Automation responsibilities do not need to be divided across different departments, organizational efficiency is increased and the chance of mistake decreased.

Additionally, employees’ acquaintance with the enterprise processes is much higher than in large companies, therefore facilitating automation. So there are good possibilities for automatization in small enterprises.

Small businesses or enterprises: automation benefits all in various ways.

  • Experienced RPA consultants automate processes that lower the employee workload because they do not have to reside in manual work anymore. It opens up opportunities for new creative tasks and increases their Productivity.
  • You can also hire fewer people if you have your business processes automated, and reduce your labor costs.
  • Automated processes are more effective in general and you are eliminating human error from the most crucial parts of the process by automating it.

Keeping the above benefits in mind, here is a detailed explanation about the 7 areas where automation can help small businesses and startups.

1) Employee Experience

Happy customers are key to any successful business. But, in order to make your customers happy, you need to first deliver happiness to your employees. Employees are most happy when they are free from chaos and their expectations are taken care of. Having automated processes for onboarding, Vacation Requests, Leave Management, Claims Processing, etc. may sound like things a small business or Startup may not need.

However, when a company hits the 30-50 employees mark, problems related to lack of processes for managing employee activities will begin to slowly creep in. Keeping your employees motivated and taking care of their needs without any confusion or compromise is very essential in sustaining the overall morale in the organization. Using automation to manage these regular activities will help a great deal in shaping a great employee experience, and ultimately keep them happy and satisfied!

2) Partner Management

For any business to thrive successfully, there is a need to have a great partner ecosystem. While focusing on scale, even some of the top RPA consulting companies tend to ignore some basic elements of efficient partner relations which begin from onboarding. Having a set process with clearly defined stages for onboarding new partners is vital in aligning them to your business goals. It also helps in establishing clear channels of communication and business-related information exchange.

Automation of the process will facilitate easy ‘handshake’ with new partners and getting them on the ground as quickly as possible. With automation, one can overcome several hassles that arise out of a slow, manual process thereby making the pace of onboarding partners faster. It will also facilitate easy communication, the easier flow of information & better coordination.

3) Vendor Management

Vendor relations are critical to the success of any business. Often, growing teams tend to overlook the advantages good vendor relationships can fetch them. Better rates and discounts can provide a considerable cost advantage that can directly impact profit margins. Timely supply of products/services can help in the continuation of business dealings. However, leaving your vendor processes undocumented and unorganised can have the exact opposite effect.

Good procurement practices can help significantly reduce costs and pass on that benefits to the consumers. Hiring RPA consultants to automate processes facilitates easy access to vendor analytics which helps baseline and measure their performance. A seamless, transparent and automated vendor ecosystem paves the way for better management practices, improved operational efficiency and elimination of avoidable expenses.

4) Purchase Order Management

A good procurement process is pivotal to a company’s operations since it is one of those processes that affect all its departments. But the process can be a nightmare for many companies that believe in handling purchase orders sporadically because they think that a systematized process requires too much time and effort. Paper and email processes are sluggish and prone to inevitable blunders, but it’s scarier to imagine a company without a set purchase order process.

Automating purchase orders not only helps ease a company’s supply-demand chain management but also helps maintain vendor relationships and intra-organization coherence. Setting up an automated purchase order workflow is undoubtedly less labor-intensive than a manual process. Also, such an arrangement will be capable of handling bigger purchase order volumes as your company size grows.

Read more about Case Studies of Invoice Automation RPA

5) Facilities/IT Management

Whether it is a requirement for a software tool or even a simple issue of inconvenient chairs or booking a conference room, it needs to be addressed with urgency. Addressing them manually will result in a lot of backlogs & chaos. Having systems that small teams can build, run and monitor on their own is greatly helpful in eliminating infrastructure-related bottlenecks.

A very simple use case is the IT team needing an asset request process to help employees access IT assets that they may need to perform their tasks. Be it a soft-phone or headset or a tablet device, having an automated process for requesting and getting approval for the same can reduce the wait time. The top RPA consulting companies recommend that you only automate the processes that are extremely necessary and time-consuming. This will have a positive impact on the productivity and morale of the employees!

Learn more about Case studies of SAP Automation

6) Refund Approvals

Refunds and Returns are as much a part of a company’s business as its sales. Many companies have refund policies that look very good on paper but are so confusing to carry out. A messy refund process poses considerable risks to a company’s reputation and can antagonize loyal customers.

But small businesses can control the way they handle customer refunds by automating the process. Automation gives greater visibility about how well a refund process is progressing so that the process managers can take timely actions. With automation, the customers will be clear about the refund policies. The best thing is this ensures transparency and helps small enterprises gain the trust of customers.

7) Complaints Redressal

The dynamics of a small business environment is very different from that of a large organization. Customers are sensitive to their concerns when they raise complaints and expect them to be treated with urgency. They get frustrated when the company helpline goes unanswered or when their emails get no reply other than a bot to acknowledge their complaint tickets.

Here is where professional RPA consultants can come to the rescue. Imagine the level of accountability automation can bring to the process when customers submit their complaints and can see where it is lying in the pipeline. The customer support team can also benefit by prioritizing the grievances, communicating it with the relevant department, and formulating a personal response to each complaint that comes through.

Also Read: 11 RPA use cases in Different Industries

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