You’ve heard from the gurus that business automation is a necessity for your small business, but how do you know where to start?
When it’s only you and a small staff, marketing automation can be a major time and money saver. Automation can help you attract new customers and drive business consistently after a one time set up.
Small business automation is a must to help your business thrive. If you’re ready to get more customers with less work, check out these 5 easy business automation tips to help you get started.
1. Keep Track of Customers in a CRM
Getting started with free Customer Relationship Management (or CRM) software can help you keep track of your leads and customers.
A CRM system can help you manage notes on customers, track phone or email conversations, and follow up regularly to build long-term relationships. On average, it can take up to 13 touchpoints to qualify a lead, so tracking those relationships can make a huge difference in your sales.
Most CRMs offer a wide array of automation options, so your opportunities to scale your company are endless!
2. Create Automatic Email Marketing Sequences
Many businesses ask customers for their emails, but those emails addresses are only valuable if you actually send them something!
Creating a scheduled email welcome sequence can introduce your business to your opted-in leads. This is a great way to tell your brand story, feature your products or services, and share your content.
Email sequences are a great way to keep a potential customer engaged after they sign up for a lead magnet. For example, you could even offer a short course as a lead magnet through a scheduled email sequence.
3. Add a Chatbot to Your Website
One way to serve your customers is to answer frequently asked questions. In addition to a contact page on your website, having a chat function can show your commitment to your customers.
However, having a chat doesn’t mean your customer service team has to be on at all hours. Instead, you can program a chatbot to answer your customers’ common questions in a natural, engaging way. For unique questions, your chatbot can automatically send you an email with the chat conversation and let your customer know that you will get back to them shortly.
4. Use Subscriptions to Automate Sales
Creating more sales for your business can be as easy as offering automatic subscriptions!
There’s no need to wait until your customer thinks they need to make their next purchase. Setting up a discount for regular subscriptions with automatic monthly order generations can make recurring business simple. Scheduling automatic billing can help you better anticipate cash flow and order sizes as needed.
5. Generate More Reviews
Before a customer buys from you, they’re likely to check for testimonials or reviews. Social proof can inspire new customers to trust your business and buy from you, so reviews help get the word out about how great you are.
Asking for testimonials can feel uncomfortable, so sending an automated email or survey to request feedback can help you easily get more reviews on Google, Yelp, or your website. This is also a great time to ask your customers for referrals!
Simplify Your Small Business Automation
Even though there are a ton of ways you can automate your business, small business automation doesn’t have to be hard! Even one or two automated tasks can help you start saving time and money.
Need more ideas to help your business grow? Keep reading our blog to keep up with best practices for your business.
