3 Mistakes To Avoid When Creating Automation

I Love Automation, But…

Creating automation is one of my favourite parts of my job. I even have an ongoing project to create an automation to create automation :)

From a business perspective, automation's impact on reducing costs and improving profits is obvious. To help you make the most of automation, I would like to share three mistakes I have made so you don’t make them.?

Mistake 1: Not Evaluating ROI

While automation leverages our system by speeding up your process and reducing human errors, you need to make sure that you are getting an ROI from the time and money invested in its implementation.

Yes, you probably benefit from automating a manual process, but the question is, “Is it Worth the Time and the Money invested?”

?This may sound obvious, but it’s easy to forget, and when asked, the answer is sometimes no.

For example, I believe that ALL businesses should have solid inbound lead management in place, but ONLY if the inbound lead flow and the conversion value are significant.

Mistake 2: Not Testing The Process Manually

After learning the process I need to automate from a client, I would jump straight into creating the automation, only to realise that my client or the user unintentionally forgot to mention critical steps that would force me to redesign the automation. I learned my lesson after three or four times :)

So, if you are creating automation for an internal user or a client, you will save time by going through the process manually at least once. You will find not-mentioned mandatory fields, decision criteria, and so on…?

Mistake 3: Not Documenting Before Implementing

While automation is one of my favourite parts, documentation is not. But it is probably the most essential part.

Without an implementation document, it’s almost impossible to clearly understand whether your automation is working as expected by your user and what you or your developer should implement.

The solution can be a very simple template. Here is the template that I use to create automation. The content is from a past masterclass demo. Feel free to change and adapt to your own needs:??

Conclusion

Yes, automation is crucial in businesses, but if you request it, ask yourself, “Is it worth the time and investment?”

If you are implementing the automation, make sure that you fully understand the process by going through it manually and then documenting it. This will save an enormous amount of time going back and forth.?

Resources

• If you want to see the framework in action, it’s in the “Unlock the Power of Sales Automation” masterclass. You can get access to all the past masterclasses in Udemy.
• Complimentary 25-minute “Unlock Greater Efficiency with Zoho CRM Automations” Masterclass on 16th of April at 12:45. Click here to register.