Posts in category: Insights

Providing an outstanding user experience to clients is essential, especially new clients.

Not only will this set you apart from your competitors it will also help turn new clients into lifelong clients that rant and rave about your company to friends and colleagues.

But what are some of the best ways to optimise your clients user experience to ensure that every stage is hassle free for them and your team?

Well, we’ve put together a guide on how to automate your client onboarding experience internally and externally to provide you and your clients with industry leading experience including answers to common questions about client onboarding automation as well as some of the leading platforms and workflows we recommend exploring.

Ready to take your client onboarding experience to the next level?

Let’s dive in!

Automating Client Onboarding

• What is automated client onboarding?
• When should I use automated client onboarding?
• How much do automated qualification platforms cost?
• Automated client onboarding benefits
• Best automated client onboarding platforms
• Automated client onboarding workflow examples

Common Questions About Automated Client Onboarding

What is Automated Client Onboarding?

• Automated client onboarding is the process of streamlining your client onboarding process through use of SaaS platforms and automated workflows.

When Should I Use Automated Client Onboarding?

• Automated client onboarding can be used across multiple stages within your business to avoid manual data entry across multiple and to trigger certain steps within the process.

How Much Do Automated Client Onboarding Platforms Cost?

• Platform costs can vary depending on which processes you are looking to automate and the features you require with most platforms costing between $0 and $50 per month.

Benefits of Automated Lead Qualification

1. Reducing manual data entry across multiple platforms.
2. Decrease the time taken to request and receive payments
3. Streamline meeting scheduling for your and your clients
4. Avoid having to follow up for client assets essential to the project.
5. Optimise service delivery times and client communications.

Best Automated Lead Qualification Platforms

• Payment Processing – Bonsai, Stripe
• Asset Collection – Content Snare
• Meeting Scheduling – Acuity, Calendly
• Project Management – Asana, ClickUp

Automated Client Onboarding Workflow Examples

Automate Client Invoicing and Payment Processing

Making client invoicing and payment processing easy not only ensures a hassle free experience for your clients, it also ensures you get paid on time.

By using platforms like Bonsai you can streamline your invoicing and payment processing experience so that invoices are automatically created and sent based upon predefined dates while Stripe allows your client to pay via credit upfront or via subscription.

Once payment has been processed, you can then trigger follow up actions using Zapier to keep your client moving through your client journey.

Streamline Client Asset Collection

One of the most time consuming tasks of service delivery is the initial collection of client assets.

Depending upon your line of business, most industries can often involve the collection of multiple documents and assets so that you can deliver your service.

With platforms such as Content Snare, you can create, send, track and manage asset collection requests with your clients including providing clients with the ability for them to see which files they still need to submit making the process easy for everyone.

Make Meeting Scheduling a Hassle Free Experience

Depending upon where you and your clients are based, time zones, public holidays and conflicting schedules can often cause headaches for meeting scheduling.

Thanks to platforms like Acuity and Calendly, you can streamline your appointment scheduling process for you and your clients with tailored event booking pages that can be customised to suit your needs.

From automated follow up, to custom schedules based upon event types and redirection after an event is scheduled the sky’s the limit with your new scheduling sidekick.

Optimise Service Delivery Through Better Project Management

Depending upon the complexity of your business and services you provide, you may often have services that need to be managed through a project management platform to increase clarity across your team and also ensure each and every step of the project is completed.

Platforms Like Asana and ClickUp allow you to streamline your service delivery by creating project templates that can be used each and every time you sign a client.
You can then use platforms such as Make to trigger follow up actions once a task is completed to ensure your project keeps moving forward in a timely manner.

And there you go, an overview of how to streamline your client onboarding experience using automation as well as some of the leading platforms and workflows you can try out for yourself.

Ready to Automate Your Client Onboarding Process?

Feel free to explore the platforms mentioned above to see how they can assist you in automating your client onboarding process so that you can stand out from your competitors.

Education is without a doubt one of the fastest growing industries within the world.

While in person learning still plays an essential part within the education space, revenue in Online Education is projected to reach US$166.60bn in 2023 meaning traditional businesses will either have to innovate to stay competitive or look to expand to new markets to compete.

One of the most up and coming ways to do this is through use of automation.

So how can education businesses make use of automation to deliver an industry leading service to their students while keeping them ahead of their competition.

We’ve put together a detailed article on some of the leading ways to optimise your education business using automation so that you can spend more time on what matters most.

Ready to take your education business to the next level? Let’s dive in!

Ways to Automate Your Education Business

• Appointment Scheduling
• Student Enrollment
• Payment Processing
• Review Collection
• Referral Programs

Appointment Scheduling

Whether you’re delivering in-person or online education services, providing your potential and current students with a hassle free scheduling process can make or break your business.

By using platforms such as Calendly and Acuity you can create a streamlined appointment scheduling system that allows them to schedule, reschedule and cancel appointments with ease while also sending them automated reminders to reduce the risk of missed appointments.

Once they schedule an appointment, their data can then be automatically added to your preferred CRM platform so that you can keep track of throughout your entire sales journey.

Student Enrollment

Providing new customers with an industry leading experience at every stage is critical when it comes to helping you stand out from the competition no matter how many years you have been in business.

With the help of platforms such as Paperform and Typeform you can create tailored student enrollment processes that conditionally show questions based upon each type of student.

You can then push their registration data through to multiple platforms including payment processing platforms saving the need to manually enter their details across multiple platforms.

Payment Processing

When it comes to running a profitable business, cash flow is king.

Therefore, the last thing you want to be losing your time on is manual payment processing.

Thanks to platforms like Stripe you can trigger automated subscription renewals and issue receipts once payment has been processed ensuring no payments slip through the cracks.

Best of all, Stripe connects with most leading accounting platforms and CRM solutions on the market ensuring your data remains syncronised across all platforms.

Review Collection

Being able to share your students’ experiences easily online not only helps in growing your brand, it provides social proof for new potential students of your brand’s reputation.

With platforms like Reviews.IO you can easily request and publish reviews across the leading social media platforms in minutes creating a hassle free method for your students to provide insight into what they love most about your program.  

Referral Programs

One of the easiest methods for attracting new customers is by asking for referrals from your existing customers.

Not only does this allow you to break the ice by referring you to new potential customers, it also allows your existing customers to benefit from being a loyal customer.

With platforms like ReferralCandy and Viral Loops you can create tailored referral programs that automatically incentivize and reward customers the more they promote your brand with their fiends making it win win for everybody.

And there you have it, 5 ways to grow your education business using automation allowing you to focus on delivering an industry leading experience to your students.

Ready to Grow Your Education Business Using Automation?

Feel free to explore some of the tools outlined within this article to see how each tool can be used to automate common workflows within your education business or Schedule a Free Automation Consultation with our team today about growing your business using automation today.

Whether your business operates on a project based fee, retainer or subscription basis the last thing you want to be doing is chasing unpaid invoices.

Fortunately, with online payment solutions now becoming the industry standard you can save countless hours on unpaid or missed invoices hurting your cash flow.

With this in mind,here’s our detailed guide on how to automate invoicing within your business including answers to common questions as well platform recommendations and workflow examples you can deploy within your business easily.

Let’s dive in!

Automate Invoicing

• What is automated invoicing?
• When should I use automated invoicing?
• How much do automated invoicing platforms cost?
• Automated invoice benefits
• Best automated invoicing platforms
• Automated invoicing workflow examples

What is Automated Invoicing?

• Automated invoicing is the process of streamlining your invoice creation process through use of a SaaS invoicing platform.

When Should I Use Automated Invoicing?

• Automated invoicing can be used across your entire business including sending once-off, monthly and milestone based invoices.

How Much Do Automated Invoicing Platforms Cost?

• The price of automated invoicing platforms can vary depending upon the features and users you require with most costing less than $30 per month.

Benefits of Automated Invoicing

1. Save countless hours drafting, reviewing and sending invoices.
2. Reduce the risk of data entry errors or incorrect invoices.
3. Create and send automated invoices and payment reminders.
4. Trigger follow up processes automatically once an invoice has been paid.
5. Streamline your invoicing experience for your team and clients.

Best Automated Invoicing Platforms

• Bonsai
• QuickBooks
• Stripe
• Xero
• ZipBooks

Automated Invoicing Workflow Examples

Automatically Create Invoices Based Upon Deal Information Within Your CRM

One of the biggest time killers when it comes to productivity is manual data entry.

Fortunately, with the help of platforms such as Zapier and Make you can automatically create contacts and invoices in your accounting platform using the data from your CRM saving you the need to manually enter their contact information and products or services every time.

Send New Invoices Automatically Upon a Service Renewal Date

Keeping tabs on recurring invoices or subscription based payments shouldn’t be a full time job.

With platforms such as Bonsai and Stripe you can automatically create and trigger invoices to be sent or subscription based payments to be charged based upon a specific payment date ensuring now client payment ever slips through the cracks again.

Effortlessly Synchronise Accounting Data Across Multiple Platforms

Ensuring your accounting data is securely shared, stored and managed is critical to the financial health of your company and with payments often coming from multiple sources, keeping tabs of this can often be easier said than done.

With platforms like QuickBooks and Xero, you can finally say goodbye to accounting irregularities for good thanks to their host of integration options including Stripe, PayPal and more ensuring you have a birds eye view of your cash flow regardless of their source.

Trigger Additional Processes Once An Invoice Is Paid

With your invoice processes now streamlined, is it time to think about what happens after an invoice is paid?

Thanks to platforms like Make or Zapier, you can connect your invoicing platforms with 1000s of other SaaS platforms allowing you to trigger additional processes once payment has been received by your client or customer.

From notifying your sales team so that they can complete the next steps or inviting the client to schedule their onboarding meeting, the sky’s the limit.

And there you go, our detailed guide on how to automate invoicing with your business as well as some of our preferred platforms and workflows to get you started.

Ready to Say Goodbye to Manual Invoicing Once And For All?

Feel free to explore the platforms mentioned above to see how they can assist you in automating your invoicing process to win back your time once and for all.

One of the most critical parts to ensuring everyone is on the same page when it comes to doing business is ensuring that you have a straightforward yet legally binding contract.

Whether it’s signing a new client, drawing up a non disclosure statement or onboarding a new employee this process often seems more daunting than it should be.

Thankfully, with the help of automation you can streamline your contract management process and say goodbye to manual contract creation once and for all.

To help make it easier for you, we’ve put together a detailed guide including answers for questions about automated contract management as well as platform recommendations and workflow examples you can implement within your business easily saving you countless hours.

Let’s dive in!

Automate Contract Management

• What is automated contract management?
• When should I use automated contract management?
• How much do automated contract management platforms cost?
• Automated contract management benefits
• Best automated contract management platforms
• Automated contract management workflow examples

What is Automated Contract Management?

• Automated contract management management is the process of streamlining your contract management process through use of a SaaS contract management platform.

When Should I Use Automated Contract Management?

• Automated contract management can be used across your entire organisation including hiring, service delivery, partnership agreements and more.

How Much Do Automated Contract Management Platforms Cost?

• Depending upon which platforms and features you use, automated contract management platforms can cost anywhere between $0 and $60+ per month.

Benefits of Automated Contract Management

1. Reduce time spent on manually drafting, editing and sending contracts.
2. Avoid potential data entry and formatting errors.
3. Create a simplified signing experience for you and your signees.
4. Send professional legally binding documents fast and securely.
5. Trigger follow up actions automatically once the contract has been signed.

Best Automated Automated Contract Management

• BetterProposals
• DocuSign
• Juro
• PandaDoc
• Proposify

Automated Contract Management Workflow Examples

Create Templated Contracts Based Upon Specific Use Cases

Whether it’s hiring a new team member, signing a client or entering into a non disclosure agreement with an external party the majority of the time the same contract is used.

With the help of platforms such as PandaDoc and Juro you can create templated contacts for each use case and map any required fields from your CRM directly into the platform saving you time and resources of manual data entry across multiple platforms.

Create Pre Approval Workflows to Decrease Signing Delays

When it comes to signing a new client, first impressions count and there is nothing worse than having the client wait for your legal team or manager to sign off on a contract.

Thanks to platforms like DocuSign and PandaDoc you can create pre-defined signee roles so that all parties get notified as soon as a new contract is drafted or marked for approval.

Streamline Project Approval and Payment Process

Having a refined onboarding process that reduces any potential friction can not only reduce the risk of a new client getting lost or missing critical steps when onboarding as a client, it also decreases the time they sign and make the first payment.

With platforms such as BetterProposals and Proposify you can create a hassle free process with the help of pre-designed proposals and contracts while also allowing them to complete payment directly via credit card using Stripe or other popular payment gateways.

Trigger Follow Up Workflows Upon Completion Of the Contract 

Now that your new client is signed it’s time to kick into action and complete the next steps to ensure the first impression of your company is one that blows them away.

With the help of platforms such as Zapier and Integromat, you can connect your contact management platform with 1000s of other applications and have it trigger a follow up action as soon as the contract is signed.

From inviting them to book their onboarding call, notifying relevant team members of the new client  or sending them a gift card the possibilities are endless.

And there you have it, a comprehensive guide on how to streamline your contracting process through the use of an automated contract management platform as well as some proven examples you can implement within your business easily.

Ready to Say Goodbye to Manual Contracting Once And For All?

Feel free to explore the platforms mentioned above to see how they can assist you in streamlining your contract management process to win back your time and your customers.

With businesses relying on technology on a daily basis, being able to resolve technical support issues quickly when they occur can result in thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Therefore, as an IT services business, having processes in systems in place that can streamline your business and how quickly you can deliver your services to clients in need is critical.

So how can you make use of automation to help deliver a top quality service to your clients?

Well, we’ve put together a guide on some of the leading ways to streamline your IT services business using automation that you can apply within your business to help save you and your clients time and revenue as a result of technical downtime.

Ready to turn your IT services business into a well oiled machine? Let’s dive in.

Ways to Automate Your IT Services Business

• Support Requests
• Client Billing
• Remote Support
• Service Monitoring
• Client Onboarding

Support Requests

Being able to address your clients’ support inquiries in a timely manner can make or bake your business’s reputation.

By using platforms like Zendesk and Help Scout you can create a centralized place for all support inquiries received by your clients and set up tailored rules based upon the type of the request, the urgency of the request and more to ensure all support requests are dealt with accordingly so that nothing slips through the cracks.

Once the support request is completed, you can then trigger follow up actions within your other software platforms using Zapier saving your countless hours of manual data entry.

Client Billing

Research indicates that small businesses can spend up to 15 hours per week on billing.

This is critical time that can be spent on more important tasks such as finding new business opportunities or training your team members.

Thankfully, with solutions like Stripe and Xero you can automatically generate client invoices as soon as a support request has been resolved or a service has been delivered by one of your support staff ensuring your invoices are paid on time.

Remote Support

Delivering your services online not only allows you to increase your service delivery capabilities on a national scale it also saves you added expenses in fees including petrol and vehicle maintenance.

With solutions like Calendly and Zoom, clients can schedule a remote support session with one of your team members allowing your team to diagnose and resolve issues without having to visit the client in person, freeing up their schedule to work with more clients.

Calendly also integrates with popular payment processing platforms like Stripe allowing you to automatically bill the support session in advance.

Service Delivery

Ensuring your services are delivered at a high standard not only results in a client remaining with you long term, it can also lead to additional business through referrals and partnerships.

With the help of platforms like Asana and Monday.com you can develop systemised checklists that are automatically assigned to new client projects so that all responsible parties can see the status of each project and what needs to be done.

Once a specific step within a project has been completed, you can then trigger follow up actions notifying the client or other team members of the progress.

Client Onboarding

When it comes to providing a high quality service, first impressions count.

Ensuring that clients are onboarded correctly when registering for your services not only provides a professional image from the start, it saves the need to follow up with clients for missing login credentials or other assets critical to you delivering your services.

By using solutions like Paperform and Typeform you can create tailored client onboarding surveys that allow you to collect any critical information from the moment they sign up.

And there you have it, 5 ways to streamline your IT services business using automation giving you more time to focus on delivering technical assistance to your clients.

Ready to Grow Your IT Services Business Using Automation?

Feel free to explore some of the tools outlined within this article to see how each tool can be used to automate common workflows within your recruitment agency or Schedule a Free Automation Consultation with our team today about growing your IT services business using automation today.

When it comes to scheduling appointments with leads, clients or other potential partners, finding a time that works for everyone can be a challenge.

From international time zones, to public holidays and flexible working hours this can often present a major headache for all parties.

Thankfully, with the help of an automated Appointment scheduling system you can streamline your scheduling process once and for all for you and your attendees.

To help make it easier for you, we’ve put together a detailed guide including answers for questions about automated Appointment scheduling as well as platform recommendations and workflow examples you can implement within your business easily saving you countless hours.

Let’s dive in!

Automate Appointment Scheduling

• What is automated Appointment scheduling?
• When should I use automated Appointment scheduling?
• How much do automated Appointment scheduling platforms cost?
• Can automated Appointment scheduling damage my reputation?
• Automated Appointment scheduling benefits
• Best automated Appointment scheduling platforms
• Automated Appointment scheduling workflow examples

Common Questions About Automated Appointment Scheduling

What is Automated Appointment Scheduling?

• Automated appointment scheduling is the process of streamlining your Appointment scheduling process through use of a SaaS Appointment scheduling platform.

When Should I Use Automated Appointment Qualification?

• Automated Appointment scheduling can be used across your entire organisation including initial consultations with potential clients, regular meetings with current clients and more.

How Much Do Automated Appointment Scheduling Platforms Cost?

• Depending upon which platforms you use and the feature you wish to make use of automated lead platforms can cost anywhere between $0 and $70 per month.

Can Automated Appointment Scheduling Damage My Reputation?

• While automated appointment scheduling can streamline your scheduling process, providing your customers with the option to still freely contact you is essential for certain businesses, however, we recommend using a call routing or hiring a receptionist to manage this so that you and your team can focus on deep work.

Benefits of Automated Appointment Scheduling

1. Provide your appointment attendees with a streamlined scheduling experience.
2. Allow them to schedule a time that aligns with their schedule.
3. Avoid confusion of public holidays and time zones with calendar synchronisation. 
4. Reduce time of manual back and forth communication to find a time that works.
5. Automate follow up communication and reminders upon scheduled appointments.

Best Automated Appointment Scheduling Platforms

• Acuity
• Calendly
• Hubspot Meetings
• Setmore
• Square Appointments
• Trafft 

Automated Appointment Scheduling Workflow Examples

Direct people to tailored event type pages for streamlined booking.

Depending upon the size and complexity of your business, you may have multiple appointment types that can be across different times, days or with limited availability.

With the help of an automated scheduling platform you can create tailored event type pages and then customise each event type based upon its specific requirements including questions for information required before the meeting, options on how they can schedule the meeting (location, time and dates) and even redirect them to tailored confirmation pages.

Schedule meetings with specific teams or individuals.

As your team grows and business changes, you may need to schedule appointments with different team members or as a group.

Automated scheduling platforms make this hassle free by allowing you to configure each event type’s allocation based on a number of criterias including a person’s availability, appointments with multiple team members or by making use of a round robin based option.

Streamlining event rescheduling and event cancellation.

With distributed teams and business done at a global scale, scheduled appointments can change at short notice.

However, being able to manage this via traditional methods can be a nightmare. Thankfully, with the help of an automated appointment scheduling platform you can make this process a breeze with all scheduled appointments including a link to reschedule or cancel if required.

Automate event reminders and post appointment follow ups.

With people leading busy lives than previous generations and digital distractions playing a constant challenge in our work and professional lives, appointments can slip people’s minds.

With an automated appointment scheduling platform you can create tailored reminders to be triggered at specific times and via specific channels (email, SMS etc) to reduce the risk of them missing the scheduled appointment.

Get a detailed overview of your appointment performance. 

Being able to get a better understanding of where you and your team’s time is going when it comes to meetings is critical to optimising your team’s productivity while also providing you with a better understanding of your customers needs.

Thankfully, most of the leading appointment scheduling platforms on the market offer detailed reporting features including an overview of total events scheduled, attended, cancelled while also providing you with insight into popular days and times so that you can make informed decisions about how to manage your time and resources.

And there you have it, a comprehensive guide on how to streamline appointment scheduling through the use of an automated appointment scheduling platform as well as some proven examples you can implement within your business easily.

Ready to Automate Your Appointment Scheduling Process?

Feel free to explore the platforms mentioned above to see how they can assist you in streamlining your appointment scheduling to win back your time and your customers.

Having a consistent pool of qualified leads can make or break a business.

Even once you have a stream of leads coming in, being able to quickly identify, engage and convert those leads into paying customers is no easy feat.

However, with the help of automation you can streamline your workflows and increase efficiency across your entire sales team ensuring that no potential customer ever slips through the cracks.

So with this in mind, we’ve put together a detailed guide including answers to some of the most common questions relating to automated lead qualification as well as the benefits and leading platforms available on the market.

We’ll also walk you through some real life examples you can use within your business that are easy to deploy and can save you hours every week.

Let’s dive in.

Automate Lead Qualification

• What is automated lead qualification?
• When should I use automated lead qualification?
• How much do automated qualification platforms cost?
• Can automated lead qualification damage my reputation?
• Automated lead qualification benefits
• Best automated lead qualification platforms
• Automated lead qualification workflow examples

Common Questions About Automated Lead Qualification

What is Automated Lead Qualification?

• Automated lead generation is the process of automatically qualifying leads generated through your marketing campaigns with the assistance of SaaS platforms.

When Should I Use Automated Lead Qualification?

• Automated lead qualification can be used at every stage of your lead qualification process to assist your team in ensuring no leads slip through the cracks.

How Much Do Automated Lead Qualification Platforms Cost?

• Depending upon which platforms you use and the feature you wish to make use of automated lead platforms can cost anywhere between $0 and $100 per month.

Can Automated Lead Qualification Damage My Reputation?

• The most important thing to take into consideration when automating lead qualification is to ensure that it is done in a way that benefits your potential customers.

Benefits of Automated Lead Qualification

1. Easily identify and engage with your most qualified leads easily.
2. Reduce time on manual follow up at critical moments.
3. Prevent missed opportunities with potential customers.
4. Increase your lead to customer conversion rate.
5. Win back more time to focus on other areas of your business.

Best automated lead qualification platforms

• Appointment Scheduling – Acuity, Calendly
• CRM – ActiveCampaign, Hubspot, Pipedrive, Salesmate 
• Forms/Surveys – Paperform, Typeform
• Landing Pages – ConvertFlow LeadPages, Unbounce
• Workflow Automation Make, Zapier

Automated lead qualification workflow examples

Adding new landing page leads to your CRM.

Keeping track of new leads is critical not only to your conversion rate but also saves you countless hours of manual data entry across multiple platforms.

With the help of Zapier or Make you can automatically add new landing page leads within your CRM and also distribute leads amongst team members based upon a specific criteria allowing you to keep track of each and every lead easily. 

Send automated follow up emails to engage with new leads.

Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales leads at 33% less cost.

However, knowing which leads to follow up with and when can be a challenge. Thankfully, with CRM solutions like ActiveCampaign and Hubspot they allow you to build tailored email nurturing campaigns that automatically follow up with leads based upon where they are within your sales cycle or actions they have completed since becoming a lead.

Prequalify new leads using tailored forms and surveys.

Lead quality plays a major role in conversion rates, however, gathering important information from leads can be a painstaking process if not managed properly.

With solutions like Paperform and Typeform you can build tailored lead qualification forms and surveys that allow you to gather critical information from potential customers so that you can determine which leads are most likely to convert.

Streamline appointment scheduling with dedicated scheduling pages.

With business now done on an international scale, appointment scheduling can often become a nightmare with countless emails back and forth to find an ideal time that works for everyone.

Thanks to solutions like Acuity and Calendly, you can now streamline your appointment scheduling process with tailored scheduling pages that allows your leads to view and schedule a meeting adapted to their timezone.

Create automated reminders for you and your team.

When it comes to running a business or managing multiple areas within a business, things can slip through the cracks from time to time even with experience.

With the help of platforms like Pipedrive and Salesmate you can create automated reminders that notify you when it’s time to follow up with a lead. These reminders can be triggered based upon a specific action being completed by a lead or when a certain time period has passed.

And there you have it, an overview of how to automate lead qualification within your business as well as some workflow examples you can implement within your business easily.

Ready to Automate Your Lead Qualification Process?

Feel free to explore the platforms mentioned above to see how they can assist you in streamlining your lead qualification process that not only helps you but your potential customers.