7 reasons why SMEs need to automate and how

Going digital and using automation has never been more important to small businesses than it has been since COVID-19. Here's some stats you may not know...

1. 80% of repetitive tasks can be automated
   • Time is our most precious resource as a small business. Freeing it up from the dull but necessary stuff gives us more time to focus on growing our business. How would you build a stronger business?
2. 63% of sales is spent on non-selling activities
   • Admin and effort in the B2B sales pipeline can mean the difference between a customer being converted in weeks instead of months. Working smarter with your sales process, and letting automation cut out as much of the admin as possible, can help you win more and improve cashflow.
3. 3.6% of all manually processed invoices contain errors
   • Processing invoices from suppliers might take 5 or 10 minutes per invoice when it's done manually. When 1 in 25 of those has an error, it means not just the time of dealing with a potentially upset supplier down the line but it can also impact your credit rating. Automating this part of your business can free up time and boost quality.
4. 50% of the world is now on social media with the average user owning a staggering 8.3 different accounts
   • Customers these days expect you to be where they are. Why should they have to phone you or go to your website? Managing your social presence across lots of different social media platforms can be really time consuming and needing to monitor it at all hours of the day can hurt your home life. Automating things so that you only get notified when something critical occurs gives you back valuable home time.
5. 80% of customers expect a social media response within 24 hours
   • Like with social media, consumers expect you to be up when they are. Chatbots can help people get answers quickly and make buying decisions without needing to wait on a human. Plus with 80% of businesses wanting to have their own chatbots by the end of the year, the FOMO is going to be real.
6. 56% of UK businesses will continue remote working
   • Whether we have employees or customers with hearing difficulties, deal internationally, or simply want to avoid taking minutes any more, we need to do better at digital meetings! With live subtitling and translation, and searchable transcriptions, virtual meetings can be much more inclusive and productive.
7. Getting your head around this stuff is 100% free
   • We're developing GoSmarter to be free for SMEs to use thanks to Innovate UK, the UKs innovation agency. Combining smooth setup of tools to help you tackle all of the above, and the knowledge you need to take the basics and make it your own, we're here to help you get started.

Learn more about how you can use automation to give your business more time on the important stuff with our upcoming webinars or on GoSmarter.ai:

• Less admin, More Business with Smart Automation. 9th July 2020 Catch up here
• Cut out the Grunt Work and Automate your Social Media. 16th July 2020 Catch up here
• Win More, Win Faster with Sales Automation. 23rd July 2020 Catch up here
• Need 24/7 Customer Service? Try no code FAQ Chatbots. 30th July 2020 Catch up here
• Drive Action, Not Notes with Meeting Automation. 6th August 2020 Catch up here
• Take back control of Processing Invoicing by Automating. 13th August 2020 Catch up here

References

1. Process automation All the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Stats You Need to Know - link no longer works

2. Sales AI Time Management for Sales Study

3. Invoice Processor IOMA's AP Department Benchmarks and Analysis

4. Social Media The Global State Of Digital 2020 Social Media Statistics that Matter to Marketers in 2020

5. FAQ Chatbot Customer Expectations for Social Media Response TimeBusiness Insider Chatbots 2020