We lean heavily on emails and spreadsheets in the workforce. It’s the quickest and easiest method. Nothing is faster than opening an email and hitting send or creating a few columns and plugging numbers in. If we were honest with ourselves, though, emails get lost or overlooked. And while those rows and columns keep things tidy for us, they don’t really do anything for us. Spreadsheets require constant updating, sometimes by multiple people, and all that information doesn’t create actionable items assigned to the right people. We all inherently know that there is a better way to manage all of these tasks, deadlines, and data our customers rely upon us to manage. That’s what automated workflows do. Instead of emails and spreadsheets, you have role-based automation and dashboards. While we know this, we still can’t help but open those emails and spreadsheets, and the problem just perpetuates—not just for you but for your team and the business as a whole. Here are five benefits to automating your workflow designed to inspire you to take the leap:
Let’s face it…we all make mistakes. Some of our mistakes are easily fixed, but others may cost the company thousands of dollars and take months to unwind and correct. This becomes vital for those outliers and exceptions that pop up. Sure, most of the time, everything that runs through the company is status quo, but those “different” files or “special” cases, the ones that require a deviation from the norm. Those are the killers. With automated workflows, vital tasks are assigned and tracked throughout the default loan servicing process.
More than half of executives agree that automation minimizes human error.
Connecting the relevant people to the appropriate tasks is important, no doubt, but so is connecting the software systems that drive your data. Bringing legacy systems together with new technologies streamlines your processes and gathers all your data into a single ecosystem. Your vendors can also join the ecosystem, connecting all the relevant people, tasks, and data to ensure your customers don’t fall through the cracks.
94% of corporate company executives would prefer to utilize a unified platform to integrate their apps and implement process automation than rely on several platforms.
In an automated workflow, tasks are automatically assigned and tracked. No more need for emails—waiting for assignments or approvals. Updates to data are made across the system. Critical data and exceptions are easily identified and managed. Necessary data isn’t lost in long email chains or waiting for spreadsheets to be updated. If there is a break in the chain because someone still hasn’t completed their step or did it incorrectly, this gets identified in real time. All the information is at your fingertips.
Office workers manually hunt for files for more than 50% of their time.
How much time is wasted doing repetitive, mundane tasks? Your automated workflow is configured with your pre-defined rules that trigger assignments and tasks. This is done in real-time as tasks are completed. The data is pushed automatically through your processes. The days of inputting data into multiple systems or spreadsheets are over. Enter the data once, and all the right people have it available instantaneously.
Employees estimate that automating tasks might save them 240 hours per year, while company leaders feel that automating tasks could save them 360 hours per year.
Everyone in your ecosystem knows what is expected. Their tasks are organized and prioritized. Deadlines are set. Exceptions are managed. And your processes are trackable at-a-glance. Your employees are more efficient because they aren’t doing the same data entry multiple times and can easily see when something goes wrong. Managers can easily see the tasks that need attention. And, finally, your customers are happy because of the increased reliability of service.
90% of executives expect their automation investments to increase their workforce capacity over the next three years.
