Here at Planbox, we dream of a future where every employee contributes thought leadership to their organization. And one of the best ways to attain this goal is by freeing up time spent on rote and/or menial tasks. Automation promises to do just that — and every day, companies just like yours are becoming more efficient by allowing for the contributions of automation software. If you aren’t using the following solutions, you can rest assured that the competition is:

  1. Recruiting. From streamlining pre-employment screenings, to improving the accuracy of interview note taking, to automatically scanning resumes — the scope of modern recruiting software is truly impressive. Recruiting top talent is crucial to the long and short-term success of your company, so don’t overlook the affordable and efficient software solutions at your disposal.
  2. Payroll. Payroll taxes and distribution rely on concrete — though sometimes complex — mathematical formulas. This is why payroll is the perfect example of a function that should be partially automated. Why waste human time and effort on a task that can be completed much faster and more accurately with a machine?
  3. Digital Marketing. Of course, an interactive medium like social media requires creative input from your marketing gurus. However, ask any marketer worth their salt and they will tell you that social media marketing also involves a lot of simple and repetitive tasks that can be streamlined quite easily with existing technology. From cross-platform post scheduling with programs such as Hootsuite, to PR tracking with software such as Critical Mention, the options are highly varied and customizable. Another important component of digital marketing that can be easily automated? Email. Your company already probably uses MailChimp or Klavio, but do you use any of these additional email marketing apps?
  4. Backup and Recovery. Anyone who has ever lost data will understand exactly why these functions should be automated. Human users are simply too unpredictable and forgetful to be trusted with these crucial functions!
  5. Paying your Bills. Like backup and recovery, this is a task that is simply too easy to forget — and the consequences of being late on your payments simply outweigh any reservations you might have to setting up automatic payments. There is a reason why so many new B2B services are now charged on a recurring subscription basis: simplicity and consistency are valuable.
  6. Customer Support. There is no substitute for human interaction when it comes to quality customer service — which is precisely why partially automating your customer support system is such a smart idea. If this sounds paradoxical, just remember that every business functions with limited resources, time included. By automating responses for customers with simple, easy-to-answer questions, you enable your staff to better care for customers with serious, complex, and pressing issues.
  7. Innovation. Every employee in your organization has thoughts and ideas about their daily workflow — why let logistics get in the way of them voicing their opinion? With an automated employee engagement and idea management system, you have the power to increase the intellectual output of your company tenfold. What will your organization accomplish?