Digital Automation

Covid 19 and its aftermath will leave a huge legacy in terms of business automation.

Within just 100 days of the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, technology has taken home working from the hallowed preserve of a small set of progressive organisations to the mainstream, and we’ve had to adapt incredibly quickly to this new normal. And while technology and automation are helping us to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic right now, they will also help us to cope with the aftermath.

Consumers have been furloughed and many are now working from home. Staying at home however doesn’t mean everything comes to a standstill, quite the opposite. Life goes on and people are still looking to buy products and services and standard ecommerce will play a large role in online purchasing.

But what happens if you need legal advice or finalise returns with your accountant? Is there a solution for this? Well yes there is. A client portal can be set up on a clients website with logins and review facilities, where the client and consumer can mutually update projects so everyone understands how the case is progressing. In effect after the initial zoom meeting most of the key elements of case management can be done remotely.

Going forward beauty and hair salon appointments will be booked in advance through the website or app and confirmed with a small deposit. When the client turns up for the appointment the deposit is taken off his/her final bill. If the client doesn’t turn up then he forfeits the deposit.

Home improvement businesses can now create 3D cads of kitchen/bathroom designs and can review online with the client

Simple automated functions like this can have a big effect on improving sales, efficiency and workflow in a small business.

These are just a few examples of how business automation can start to be implemented in SMEs and are mostly web driven. This type of functionality is available now through most web platforms, the only issue is how quickly the owner/directors understand the benefits and how efficiently it can be implemented

Today’s landscape is very different to the one we were working, studying and living in at the beginning of 2020. Its legacy will be the acceleration of business automation at all levels of industry, from the multinationals to SMEs.