Work Smarter With Automation in Your Small Business
Tech tools can make life easier for SMEs.
Efficiency is gold for busy business owners. Time saved is time that can be spent on billable work and big-picture growth projects—or on rest and recuperation to avoid burnout.
One of the best ways to take time back is, of course, to hire a VA. Another is to automate as many processes as possible in your business. There are so many fantastic digital tools available that minimise the amount of time you or your people spend on repetitive and replicable tasks; why not take advantage?
The Released team are some of the most tech-savvy VAs in the business, with oodles of expertise in the various popular job management software options. In our own systems and in those of our clients, we aim to wring every ounce of utility from these tools and strategically use various types of automation to save time and money.
Here’s how:
Keep it simple to start with
Using automation doesn’t have to mean grappling with the latest apps and AI programs. You can start somewhere much more accessible! Here are some ideas:
Use filters in your email provider to full effect. For example, in gmail you can use labels to automatically sort incoming messages, automatically forward emails, create templates for common responses, and snooze or schedule messages. All of these can save you a good chunk of time.
Investigate the capabilities of the productivity software you’re already using. Check out the tutorials on their website, join Facebook groups, scour Youtube. We are currently using ClickUp, and some of our VAs have created incredible systems to automate their to-do processes as much as possible.
Have your website auto-send any emails captured to your EDM platform so they can be added to your email lists.
Set up a business bank account so you can make batch payments rather than doing them all separately.
It’s all about working smarter, not harder! Before you invest in new software and apps to help you automate, make sure you’re getting full functionality from the ones you have.
Check out our favourite automation tools
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Released team has been around the block when it comes to digital tools for accounting, job management, productivity, and more. We’re sharing some of our favourites to help you on your journey to seamless automation.
Job management software: ServiceM8
We’re so into job management software for tradies that we bought a business to prove it. ServiceM8 is one of our favourites, and that’s primarily because of its fantastic automation capabilities.
“Kellie says: “so many of the repeating high-level customer service tasks, ServiceM8 can automate. The software is aimed at tradespeople doing lots of small jobs, like plumbers or electricians, making it already the ideal environment for this type of automation.””
It can:
Automate communications like booking reminders and quote follow-ups with customers.
Email or text feedback requests.
Auto-schedule recurring jobs, creating a new job card, making the booking, and advising the customer without you having to lift a finger.
Track your position via GPS and use this information to text a customer letting them know you’re on the way.
Use AI to help ensure accurate time tracking.
Accounting software: Xero
This homegrown accounting software has taken the world by storm for good reason. We love how comprehensive it is and how it integrates with almost every job management software on the market in New Zealand. When you’re working with a lot of invoices, suppliers, and overheads, a seamless connection between your accounting software and your other digital tools saves a huge amount of time.
With Xero you can:
Set up bank rules to automatically code transactions according to your criteria.
Automatically send invoice reminders or repeating invoices.
Automatically pull through invoices, tax rates, and income account codes from many JMS.
In 2018 the company also made a large purchase of another fantastic digital tool, which brings us to:
Data capture: Hubdoc
When it comes to paying invoices for our contractors, we love Hubdoc’s automatic data capturing capabilities. It machine reads the invoices straight from the inbox, importing all the necessary information so you can check and pay. While a human eye is still required at some point in the process, this cuts out a huge amount of manual data transfer.
In fact, Kellie has her email sent to auto-send anything with “invoice” in the subject line straight to Hubdoc to be processed. You can also capture data through Hubdoc by snapping a picture on your phone.
Stack your apps
A major aspect of good automated processes is choosing digital tools (apps and software) that speak well to each other. A good app stack is worth its weight in gold—although to be fair, the physical mass of an app is negligible if not nonexistent.
We’ve mentioned that Xero integrates with almost every job management software, making it a great choice for tradespeople. Some will also integrate with MYOB, another common pick.
You may also consider how your payroll software enters the equation. Smartly, for example, can send payroll information straight to Xero. Consider any other tools in your arsenal: your takeoff software, your CRM, and anything else. Groundplan integrates with Xero and SimPro, a potential app stack for the trades.
Zapier is an automation powerhouse, a third party that can make any two programs with an API connection talk to each other. Once you’ve done what you can with the tools you already have, Zapier can automate your workflow even further. Actions within one app can trigger actions in another, creating a sequence of actions taken with no human input whatsoever.
How we automated our client enquiries and onboarding
One shining example of how automation makes our lives easier here at Released is how we handle new client enquiries via our website. Potential clients schedule their own “quick chat” or discovery call with Kellie via Book Like A Boss, and this goes straight into both calendars with an auto-generated Zoom link.
Additionally, all information provided in that submission is auto-imported into our project management program, ClickUp.The email address is imported into Flodesk, our email management platform. All of these things were previously busy work for various team members.
We don’t allow AI to do the actual phone calls—fear not, that’s all human! However, when a proposal is signed this auto-creates an onboarding email for a person to review and send.
Get human help with your automations
At Released, we’re not afraid of using tech to help make our jobs (and yours) easier and more efficient. Automation is an ally, not a threat. There are plenty of things that still require a human touch, and the more time we can save with digital tools the more you can invest in those tasks.
If you’d like to make your business more efficient and give your processes a boost with the killer combination of automation and experienced virtual assistant, why not go ahead and trigger our enquiry sequence?
