Just One gap in a process workflow feels like a traffic jam

Many years ago, a thirteen-mile drive to the outskirts of a rainforest turned into over a three-hour journey… Our old weather-beaten van – jostled non-stop by the pothole-ridden road – bounced every few feet, without pause, like clockwork. What would have been a thirty-minute drive on a normal road became a saga.

 

A single hole here, or there, in your business processes can balloon into hours, or days, and can feel like an administrative traffic jam.

 

 

AI-Based Connectors Integrate with
thousands of computer programs/apps

Fortunately, many gaps (or potholes) in your CRM or website can be mended with the right business automation tools. 

 

Today, thankfully, over one million businesses use pre-packaged connectors to integrate with not only commonplace business programs, but also with thousands of others.  A few of the many CRMs that can be integrated with these connectors are Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot, SAP, ActiveCampaign, and numerous others. 

 

Now, this article will delve into a list of business automations related to marketing, payments, social media, registration, form integration, and others. This short list will give you a taste of the types of tasks that can be automated.

 

 

Resolvable business process gaps in marketing/promotions

So, let's pretend you are planning an event, and your website, CRM, or another one of your systems has a glass ceiling preventing you from completely automating activities related to marketing and promotions. Below is a sampling of some AI-Based capabilities in this arena:

 

  • Social Media Scheduling: Automate the scheduling of social media posts across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with Buffer or Hootsuite.
  • Tagging: Set tags in your CRM based on events that occur outside of your CRM.
  • Targeted Advertising & Emails: Perhaps you want to reach cross-sections of your users whom meet specific criteria of your choosing.  With AI-Based tools, you can create or modify ad campaigns using registration data or other triggers.
  • Social Media Integration: Integrate with advertising platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads. Automatically create or modify ad campaigns based on registration data or other triggers.
  • Content Marketing: Automate blog post publication or content sharing on platforms like WordPress or Medium, triggered by specific milestones in your event planning timeline.

 

Automating Confirmations & Reminders

While the above advertising/promotion capabilities are helpful, confirmations and follow-ups can sap you of time and energy.  Connectors and AI automations can shoulder many of these activities – across many or, all, of your applications – thereby trimming down administrative overhead.

  • Automated Confirmation Emails: Set up automated confirmation emails to be sent when attendees register for your event using platforms like Eventbrite or Meetup.
  • Automate the Scheduling: Coordinate activities by specifying when and under what conditions materials are sent to attendees, speakers, or sponsors.
  • Email Campaigns: Connect with Hubspot, ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, or other systems to automatically send out event announcements, reminders, and follow-ups.
  • Calendar Integration: Automatically add event dates to your team’s Google Calendar, Office 365 Calendar, or other client program, when a new event is confirmed.
  • Vendor Confirmation: Automatically send confirmation requests or reminders to vendors or speakers by integrating with email services.
  • Attendee Reminder Emails: Schedule automated reminder emails to attendees using email integration to ensure event details are remembered.

 

Integrating Forms or Other Data Sources into a CRM

A multitude of forms such as for selecting breakout sessions, dietary requirements, registration information, and post-conference surveys are all part of the event planning process. Each form, hopefully, is integrated with your CRM or an external data source you have designated.

 

If there are any holes in your data pipeline so to speak, AI-Based tools may channel the data into your system.  Even if these are plugged, people in different departments may need to be notified based on: tags, the specific form, demographics, or other criteria. AI-based tools can accomplish this.  

 

And, with these tools, you can inject “triggers” that can tag data, insert data, or perform a workflow of steps you spell out. These AI-Based tools support various major platforms such as Shopify, Weebly, Wix, Magento, Wordpress, and others.

 

 

How the AI Makes “Decisions” Based Upon User Actions

Many times systems need to identity the possible actions or steps that can be taken.  A vast expanse of choices may exist, and — with AI Tools – rules can be hard set.

 

When there are many forks in the road, hard-coded rules – when used alongside AI-Based tools – can navigate the decision process your business processes require.

 

The AI is not the pilot that chooses how to shepherd the user from point A to point B.  Rather, you, the user, author well-defined rules that leave little latitude for independent thought. However, looser rules without hard-and-fast boundaries can be created, if needed.

 

These “guard rails” usher the user from one stage, to the next based upon your specifications.  “Independent thought” may be associated with AI, but – for most all of the items in this article – the AI is restricted to narrow user-defined confines, you specify.  The AI acts within limitations of your preset boundaries, not its own.

 

 

Automating issues related to Payment Processing or Registration

If a payment related problem arises, and you manually intervene, your time is probably being unnecessarily spent.

 

AI-enhanced systems can serve as an autopilot that will chart the right course requiring, little, if any, intervention on your end.

 

When the AI-Based tools detect failed payments, they can send emails, update relevant CRM fields or external data, or guide the user through a series of automated steps you specify – in other words, a workflow – that will lead the user to the resolution.

 

If the situation cannot be handled entirely through automated means, users can be directed to the right person, and when the issue is resolved, the workflow will continue.

 

 

A Closing Note: How you can apply these

Above, hopefully the many gaps that can be filled, cited above, left you curious and hungry to learn exactly how these solution can be implemented in your business.

 

If you’d like to learn more, for a short window of time, we are offering a free 30-minute consultation where a consultant can advise you as to what processes in your business can be streamlined and how.

 

How can AI-Based tools automate your business?

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