With the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, many projects in the public and private sectors have been slowed down or temporarily suspended. Yet in spite of this, business process automation projects - solutions based on artificial intelligence and digitization - seem to have escaped the harmful effects of the worldwide slowdown, and are even accelerating, according to IDC (International Data Corporation).
The automation of business processes, along with the move away from manual and paper-based processes, allows the integration of more and better defined activities. Business managers appreciate the advantages of business process automation. In addition to optimizing productivity and controlling costs, digitization and automation of business processes can simplify and streamline collaboration with partners and relationships with customers.
So how is a business process automated?
First, let’s point out that automating “bad” processes can not actually improve them! It makes better sense to do an in-depth analysis and modeling of the customer journey prior to any automation. Customer journey mapping to conduct end-to-end business process management and customer journey modeling can help more effectively identify which processes can be automated for good results.
So first modeling the entire customer journey as a basis for business process management allows the process to be understood first, and optimization can be addressed later. Mapping and defining the customer interaction algorithm is the first step - to define the points of user contact, trace the various possible paths and facilitate the management of the relationship as a whole. Customer journey mapping is always done from the perspective of the customer rather than the business.
To create a comprehensive customer journey map, it’s necessary to determine the different stages of the customer process with essentially all the possible experiences, both positive and negative. In this way, a business process management approach identifies the objectives of the consumer, their needs, and any difficulties they might encounter along the way. Subsequently, all these observations should be explored to suggest avenues for improvement, changes to consider, and innovations to pursue for an overall optimization of the customer experience.
Modeling the customer journey also allows the company to perform a more detailed analysis of customer behavior according to different user profiles and via different means of communication, transaction, or distribution. Optimized modeling is also done by using tools and methods that allow the company to take the analysis beyond business processes and data to achieve flexible and agile business process management.
Modeling…then automation!
Modeling is not an objective in itself. Rather, it is the initial phase of any business process automation project. Identify and record all the interactions and steps that a customer goes through in a given process to optimize the efficiency and time required for it.
The management of business processes via process automation solutions makes it possible to significantly improve the performance of an organization, by automating data collection by robots for example, or by visualizing certain key indicators in real time. Take the case of an insurance company, which could – through modeling and automation of business processes – determine the means of communication most favored by customers and automate the procedures to subscribe to additional insurance products. To ensure an optimized experience for the customer, it would be ideal to make customer processes fast and efficient in any communication channel they prefer. The company of course also wants to be able to evolve these processes as needed, which after all is the ultimate goal of a process automation solution.
At the heart of this approach to improving the customer experience, analysis and modeling of the customer journey results in dematerialization (paperless) and automation of business processes. And there, we are now talking about Business Process Management, (BPM), artificial intelligence, RPA etc.
Automation means agility
Today, customers' choices for services seem to be based primarily on speed of response. Internal customer relationship management processes should be particularly agile to satisfy the need for fast and effective interactions. Process automation through artificial intelligence and automation technologies therefore are the way to go.
There are clearly multiple benefits to automating business processes, such as:
- Optimization of customer prospection and lead follow-up
- Simplification of exchanges and less time spent on back-and-forth communication
- Savings of time and resources
- Improvement of the customer experience and the quality of the interaction
- Reduced risk of input error
To give a concrete example, let's take the case of a salesperson in a window coverings company – which has adopted the management of business processes via automation – in meetings with prospective customers equipped with their automated sales support tool.
The salesperson would be able to communicate quotes in a few moments and have quick access to answers to questions and other resources they need. Or perhaps the prospective customer can do some preliminary design research on their own that a sales rep can help them complete quickly and accurately. Prospecting mission successful! A happy customer is a repeat customer, and the best advertising a business can have.
