How do you manage your business workflow?
With stiff competition and high customer demands, businesses are striving to achieve optimal efficiency for a competitive advantage.
Business workflows are a series of individual tasks following a sequence required for business processes to be completed.
Think of it as a path that tasks have to follow for your business goals to reach.
Therefore, implementing a system to optimize workflow streamlines operation and not only boosts speed and efficiency but also saves your business costs and time.
In fact, according to Camunda, 97% of business decision-makers agree that workflow automation is essential for digital transformation, emphasizing the importance of workflow management systems.
So, which tools can help you attain efficiency in your workflows?
This article will discuss the key business workflow software in 2024 to help you automate processes and run your workflows on autopilot.
Let’s get started.
1. Transloading Optimization Software
Do you operate a logistics business?
If you do, you, more than anyone, understand the importance of things running smoothly.
Without clear workflows to manage employees and machines running day-to-day processes, you will likely deal with inefficiencies such as delays and poor customer satisfaction.
The logistics automation market size is projected to grow from USD 32.7 billion in 2023 to USD 51.2 billion by 2028, showing the increased demand for automation tools.
A lot of time and costs go into manually handling and monitoring workflows to ensure things run smoothly. Even so, that does not guarantee efficiency as humans are prone to error.
The best transloading optimization software provides a centralized platform to oversee all operations. A top-level view enables managers and stakeholders to understand the whole picture with each step of the business.
Additionally, these tools empower you to custom-make and execute workflows that ensure timely completion of tasks, transparency, and accountability.
A transloading optimization solution in the middle of all your logistics software, like yard and warehouse management tools, ensures work is interconnected, with prompt approvals and task initiation. It’s kind of like passing the button from one process to another.
Merchandise Warehouse Company was seeking a solution to optimize its operations by eliminating redundancy issues and providing flexibility to allow it to meet customer demands.
Using the Datex Footprint, a warehouse management system, the company managed to automate its processes for each of its customers and achieve greater accuracy and productivity.
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
At the core of every business are the customers.
For customer-centric businesses, customer satisfaction and experience are a priority.
However, with customer demands at an all-time high, customer service leaders are forced to find new ways of meeting these demands and enhancing customer satisfaction.
There is an evident link between poor customer relationship management and reduced profits.
NewVoiceMedia research revealed that US businesses lose up to $75 billion a year due to bad customer experiences, quantifying the increasing cost of bad customer relationship management.
Customers now want prompt communication, personalized experiences, and flexibility that can only be achieved with CRM optimization software.
The best of these tools automate redundant and time-consuming tasks like conversation routing and marketing, freeing time for your support staff to focus on value-adding tasks like customer service.
Live chats and chatbots empower your business to provide prompt responses and assistance to customers.
With advanced features like conversational AI, chatbots can provide context to the support staff and route conversations to qualified individuals for enhanced experience.
Moreover, CRM software automates the categorization of conversations using features like auto tags for insightful analysis that can provide a deep understanding of customer expectations and experiences.
Beyond automation, CRM software allows you to enjoy other perks, such as a centralized communication platform that allows your staff to respond to all customer requests across multiple channels on a single platform.
Other notable features include reports and analytics, SLA tracking, and canned responses, which also come in handy during automation.
3. Top Document Workflow Tools
Are you manually handling documents?
If you are, then you must be aware of the inefficiencies of not having a solid document management system that lets you store, share, and digitize all your business files.
One of the major bottlenecks associated with poor document management is slow processes that may cause delays in service and goods delivery.
For instance, in the logistics industry, where lots of paperwork is involved, the signing and approval process takes a lot of time, which slows turnaround times and causes delays.
These of course translate to poor customer satisfaction, which is bad for your business.
Zendesk’s research found that about three out of five consumers agree that good customer service is essential for them to feel loyalty toward a brand.
These statistics should show the importance of streamlined processes to enhance customer experience.
Top document automation tools facilitate document management processes from collection to collecting signatures for approval. With most documents processed on autopilot, your business can save costs and resources that can be transferred to other important and complex tasks.
Right off the bat, these business workflow software, in 2024, collect digital documents from different sources or scan physical ones before categorizing them and integrating them into the system.
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals is a key player in the pharmaceutical industry with thousands of employees. Due to this, manually drafting standard contracts consumes a lot of time.
ActiveDocs provided a solution that facilitated document-centric processes involving the creation and review of contract drafts and was able to fasten review and approval practices.
4. Automation
Automation can fuel and boost productivity.
Imagine the time your employees spend on redundant tasks like searching for documents, answering repetitive customer queries, and scanning files to digitize them.
Well, that’s a lot of time wasted, which translates into huge operational costs at the expense of complex and important tasks.
Employees spend about 19 workdays every year on repetitive tasks, according to a study by SnapLogic. This is a clear indication of how much time is wasted on mundane activities instead of focusing on business growth.
It does not stop at time wastage. Redundant tasks also derail your employees’ morale, leading to a reduction in productivity, which can affect your business.
Automation is the basic foundation of workflow optimization. No business workflow software is built on automation, from document management systems to customer relationship management tools.
Automation frees your staff from time-consuming, monotonous tasks allowing them to focus on complex issues that need human intervention.
This not only boosts productivity by significantly reducing costs.
You can easily facilitate and optimize workflows by running tasks like payment processing, approvals, and conversation routing, ensuring streamlined processes and enhanced accuracy and efficiency.
Maverick International is a global packaging company that prioritizes streamlined processes and efficiency. The company’s sealing machines are designed to seal different bag sizes. The manual adjustments between shifts to accommodate the varying sizes, however, were slow.
OMRON Automation provided a solution that enabled the company to automate its changeover process. The machines could automatically adjust to the desired size in near real-time.
5. Project Management
Proper project management can enhance workflow.
It involves the supervision of tasks and processes and the allocation of resources to achieve business goals within the agreed constraints.
Lack thereof would lead to delays in meeting objectives, poor customer experience, and quality issues, to mention a few. All these can directly impact profitability, therefore, impeding business growth.
Research by Geneca recorded that 75% of survey respondents cited a lack of confidence as the reason for project failure. This figure suggested a disconnect between project goals and project implementers.
Read Also: Key Factors That Lead to IT Project Failures
Project management tools are among business workflow software that can streamline processes in 2024. They do this by providing structured frameworks that enhance communication and ensure efficient resource allocation.
In the logistics sector, for example, project management ensures that resources are allocated to important departments and that there is no over-allocation of resources.
Moreover, breaking down projects into manageable tasks and establishing clear constraints allows employees to prioritize work effectively. Workflow solutions like Trello help visualize progress, helping teams identify bottlenecks and adjust workloads as needed.
AYESA, an international Spanish company dealing with technology and IT used several software to streamline operations without integration. This led to challenges with project visibility as they did not have a common and clear picture of the project’s status.
Upon implementing Easy Redmine, the company achieved visibility of workload and the ability to have well-organized projects. This allows each member of the team to know they have to do it at all times and the Project Manager controls the schedule.
Conclusion
Still haven’t optimized your business workflows?
Doing so is your best bet at gaining an edge in a very competitive business environment, enabling you to streamline operations while not compromising on quality.
In fact, according to a report by Gitnux, about 75% of business leaders report that using workflow automation gives them a strong competitive advantage, underscoring the need for efficient workflows.
There is no shortage of business workflow software ranging from transloading optimization tools to customer relationship management solutions that enhance customer satisfaction.
Integrating several of these tools may significantly boost productivity, save time, and streamline processes for business growth.
