What Is RPA And How Can You Use It To Automate Your Revenue?

A lot of business owners are wondering how they can streamline efficiency and automate their income. Robotic process automation (RPA) not only helps to simplify communication between parties but can also reduce human errors and staffing costs. Essentially, RPA can boost company growth without adding significant expenditures or friction among employees. 

However, RPA requires proper design, planning, and governance if it’s to boost revenue. This article will explore what RPA is and look into some of the benefits of this technology when it comes to automating a company’s revenue. Read on to find out everything you need to know about the subject. 

What is RPA?

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a software technology used to automate digital tasks. When you use RPA software, you can create robots or “bots” that can mimic or learn certain business processes. 

These bots can then execute what they’ve been taught through observing human digital actions. Essentially, they are software programs that you are teaching to streamline what you do daily. RPA bots can interact with any system or application the same way a human worker would.

RPA software bots can communicate or interact with other systems, tools, or applications the same way that humans would, but just more efficiently. Compared to people, bots can operate nonstop with virtually 100% precision and reliability, which should make them the preferred choice when it comes to low-value tasks. 

RPA technology has been evolving and has allowed multiple industries to take advantage of its streamlining benefits. Companies like Walmart, AT&T, Walgreens, Deutsche Bank, and companies of all sizes are adopting RPA. 

Uses for RPA

Essentially, you can automate anything related to common repeatable processes that touch your vendors, customers, and employees. RPA is often used across accounting, finance, and CRM applications to streamline and automate processes across these applications. In addition to eliminating manual entry and repetitive tasks, RPA can be used in data preparation and reporting, for example, revenue forecast preparation.

Using RPA to Automate Revenue Forecasting

Revenue forecasts come from a variety of sources including your sales pipeline, account-level information, often requiring a combination of data points between sales and finance. Forecasting revenue, as we all know, is a massively valuable task, but also very time-consuming. As such, you can imagine how useful automation would be!  

Inaccuracy Costs Time and Money

In any business, there are usually complex processes involved in aggregating and making sense of important data. This means that any error, no matter how small, needs to be dealt with in a proactive fashion. Even one incorrect number can lead to a string of incorrect business decisions, which means that automation can only benefit internal reporting and forecasting processes.

Instead of relying on people to manually enter forecast data, for example, into software programs, why not rely on an RPA bot that can take care of the entire process and ensure that it is consistent error-free? Not only will it save your company time and resources, but it allows you to free up your workforce and place them in positions where they can be more productive in generating revenue. 

Bots aren’t able to communicate with clients face to face, but people are, which means you should consider what positions need a human touch and fill those accordingly. The rest of the company positions, however, should all be automated where possible.

Zoning in on Your Customer

All companies need to truly understand their ideal client, and the problem that client has. How will you be able to provide an excellent service if you can’t acquire greater insight into customer behavior? RPA allows you to zone in on the bigger picture when it comes to client satisfaction.

By streamlining customer management, and through stronger reporting and visibility, you can adjust your current business models to create new revenue streams. 

Not only does RPA technology allow for complete customer information, but it also helps to track customer behavior on a larger scale, which allows for more accurate comprehension of customer behavior. This can help to facilitate a swift and relevant response that can up your revenue stream. 

Supporting Your Sales Teams

As you scale your business, you might find your sales team to be a bit out of their league as more and more requests roll through the door. However, this needn’t be the case as RPA technology can also be used to aid your sales team in customer care.

By having a system that can automate forecast data, you can improve efficiency while the team stays focused on tending to your customers’ needs. This doesn’t have to be rolled out overnight, and you can prioritize cases based on the potential impact, the length of the process, or other factors.

By starting with processes that aren’t that critical, like market intelligence gathering or pipeline monitoring, you can eventually establish what advanced processes can be assigned to your RPA bots. 

If done correctly, it will be a win-win situation. Not only will your internal stakeholders benefit from a faster turnaround time, but your company will also benefit from increased productivity and revenue. When it comes down to it, automation allows sales reps to focus on what they enjoy doing, which is delivering real value to customers. 

Integrate Platforms To Maximise Collaboration

Seeing as bots are very effective in eliminating technological silos by connecting to multiple software tools regardless of function and department, your team will stay connected on every front. The result? The efficiency and productivity of any collaboration between team members will skyrocket, allowing you to tap into the highest value of your human capital investment.

By not having to upgrade or replace existing technology for RPA software to work or connect with certain tools, your workforce is free to enjoy the fruits of their collaborative efforts. 

Controlling Your Digital Workforce

Ever needed an extra set of hands during those busy seasons throughout the year? RPA software allows you to be more adaptable when it comes to handling high-volume business processes in ever-changing environments. With the RPA bots at your side, your task force can be more flexible and handle any planned or unplanned tasks by simply expanding your digital workforce at will. 

Challenges With RPA Implementation 

With any changes in an organization, come some challenges. This is true for new software, new managers, and even something as “small” as a new building. Here are some challenges you may face with RPA implementation: 

• Lack of structure – When there are no defined roles in the implementation process, things can go awry. To remedy this, simply outline roles and responsibilities for all members of the team. 
• Technical ambiguity – Even though RPA is well-known for being easy to install, you still need to have technical expertise that can ensure all operational and technical aspects are fulfilled. 
• Unclear expectations – If the team, management, and stakeholders’ expectations are not clear, RPA implementation and the progress thereof will be slowed down. To ensure that you can measure the success of your implementation, clearly define expectations and goals. 

Don’t let this put you off though! All the challenges can be overcome, and working through them will be worth it in the end.  

In a Nutshell

By automating your processes, you have more control over the overall productivity of your employees, the systems you have in place, and the overall accuracy of your financial records. RPA software is an essential tool that all businesses should consider if they want to maximize employee engagement and customer service. Visit our website to learn more about how revVana automates the forecasting process.