Common Office Tasks You Can (and Should) Automate

It’s easy to take some forms of technology for granted. We often complain about slow Internet speed, when even the most sluggish connection is lightning fast, all things considered. Technology has made our lives so much easier, especially automation. For small businesses, automating tasks saves valuable time and money, and helps increase efficiency by allowing staff to focus on customer service. This is especially important now that many small businesses may be working with reduced staff due to COVID-19. Here are common office tasks that small businesses should automate. 

Checking in for appointments 

There are many benefits to automating your appointment check-in process, from improved efficiency to protecting your customers and staff. Offering mobile check-in features streamlines customer intake, minimizes the amount of customers in your waiting room, and allows customers to check-in using a mobile device from the safety and convenience of their own vehicle. 

Customers can enjoy extra time to themselves in a safe environment before their appointment. The ability to have a mobile check-in feature will remain vital as small businesses begin a phased reopening process over the next few weeks. 

Sending appointment reminders

Manually sending out appointment reminders and confirmations for all of your customers can take up a lot of time. Instead of playing phone tag with customers and taking your staff away from other important tasks, consider setting up automated appointment reminders through email, text or automated voice messages. 

Utilizing appointment reminders is also a great way to bring back your loyal customers to your office. Send out save-the-date, day-of and pre-appointment reminders that include information about any COVID-19 safety procedures or modified check-in policies.

Email marketing

Sending emails to your customers can be a tedious process if done manually, and ultimately might not be as effective as you would like. Automated emails, on the other hand, help increase office efficiency and more importantly you’ll have peace of mind that your emails will get to the right customers at the right time. Effortlessly set up promotional emails, newsletters, review requests and one-off emails in advance. With marketing automation, you can easily segment your customers into different groups and tailor individual messages to those groups based on factors like customers with cancelled appointments, customers overdue for appointments, or customers who purchase multiple services regularly.

Customer experience

Customers will be wondering what has changed since the last time they visited your office and accordingly will ask many questions. What’s the check-in process like? Do you accept mobile payment options? Is your hour or operations still limited? Are you accepting walk-ins? It’s important that you answer these questions in a quick and professional manner. This can be achieved with a comprehensive customer communication solution like Demandforce Live that displays real-time notifications about appointments and customer text messages. The desktop notification app helps businesses communicate efficiently and effectively as the country reopens and beyond. Learn more about Demandforce Live or request a demo here

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