Workflow Automation

I recently received a “cold” call from a web marketing firm that suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Ok, so maybe this guy was just having a bad day, but I would tend to think the owners of this company would not condone this guy’s behavior. No names have been changed to protect anybody.

Also, a little background: I have what is medically described as “profound” hearing loss in one ear, and “severe” hearing loss in the other. For the most part I can do OK with telephone conversations, but occasionally need to ask a person to repeat something. This is especially true when the caller has an accent (relative to mine), or the call is coming from an IP phone.

Normally I wouldn’t bother posting this, but this call is so outrageous that I just had to do it.

A couple of people have asked if this call was “for real”. As far as I can tell, everything checks out. The caller ID was from an international phone gateway coming in from Texas, and the company seems to exist. No one that I know has owned up to playing any kind of practical jokes.

See below for the disposition of the call.

Dec 3, 2007 15:17 : Update:

I just received a call from the company mentioned in the phone call. They are saying they hire out to various locations for their telemarketing. They assured me that it was not an owner/director behind the phone call and are investigating internally. Hopefully they will let me know the outcome of that investigation.

Dec 4, 2007 12:55 : Update:

I’m removing the MP3 file for several reasons. First, even though it’s legal in the US to record phone calls, the UK has a different set of laws. The call itself originated (both caller ID and ANI) from Richardson, Texas. But with IP phones, Skype, etc. it’s probably better to be safe than sorry. Second, the company mentioned in the call claims they did not authorize the call and asserted it might be a rouge telemarketer. They have also been flooded with prank calls from people on the Internet after the call was posted. I personally would not recommend any type of retaliation towards that company.

If you have used the Internet in the last couple of years, you probably have either heard the term “RSS” or seen those little orange wavy line icons. You even may know what the acronym stands for, or that RSS is based on XML. There’s no point in going into details. Who cares?! Because none of that really answers “What can RSS do for me?”

In reality, RSS is one of those things that once you understand the benefits, you’ll be using it left and right, and constantly thinking of ways RSS can improve your online experience. It is also kind of a catch-22. You won’t really see the benefits until you start using RSS “feeds”, but you probably won’t start using RSS until you understand the benefits.

In a nutshell, RSS summarizes information from a “source“, puts it into a well-known standard format, and allows a “reader” application to display it in a useful format. The real magic begins when you realize just how many information-generators can be a “source”, and the fact that you will probably find “readers” in many of the applications you are already using.

This icon indicates a RSS feed is available:

Information Sources are varied and numerous. Your favorite world news site, your town newspaper, your local weather station, and your friend’s blogs almost always produce RSS feeds with the latest updates. Many news sites break up RSS feeds into distinct categories such as Technology News, Entertainment, World News, etc. so you only need to subscribe to the news sources you are interested it.

Diving a little deeper, you can find RSS feeds that update every time a stock on your watch list sends out a press release. Your banking site can produce a RSS feed with your latest transactions. You can even have your favorite travel site generate a RSS feed with the latest airfares from your hometown to Acapulco, and make your buy when you see the price you like.

Since RSS is based on a standard, your company’s application programmers can generate RSS feeds from company data, such as new sales or transaction data.

Your Reader takes these RSS feeds and displays up-to-date summaries of the data in a easy to read, consistent format. Most of the time, the summaries are combined with other frequently checked data, such as your email in-box and/or home page. If you use My Yahoo, or Google’s personal (iGoogle) home page, it is a fairly trivial matter to add a RSS feed to your main page. That way you can combine your often used home page information (stock prices, weather forcasts, etc.) with information from your RSS feeds (news articles from your favorite web site, your sister’s sewing blog, etc.) Most email programs such as Outlook and Thunderbird, and web browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, have methods to add your RSS feeds.

This is what several RSS feeds look like in My Yahoo:

Ultimately, all of your important information is in one place, and in a consistent format. You can tell at a glance if there is something you want to read up on without having to visit and remember multiple web sites. You can even group your feeds into related areas, such as “work” and “play”.

So, as long as you don’t get bogged down by acronyms and techno-babble, RSS is actually a very useful, and time saving technology. Try it, you’ll like it. (even this blog provides RSS feeds)

Business Process Management hasn’t always been a tool for small business.  There was a time when workflow automation was a luxury item reserved for only large companies with large budgets.  But technology and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications have together changed all of that and made business process management a viable tool for the small business staff. 

When they were first introduced, application service providers (ASPs) were far too expensive for the average business, and were mostly implemented among the Fortune 500 elite.  New systems now allow companies to act as renters rather than buyers, customizing web based software systems to specifically fit their process needs.  Because they don’t have to pay for the software, hardware or maintenance, smaller companies are now able to take advantage of this technology.

The leader in this new brand of workflow automation solutions are CRM (customer relationship management) systems for sales and customer service.  Technology has allowed companies to use web based applications to automatically manage many of the components of CRM that used to have to be done manually.  This is commonly referred to as sales force automation.

Business process management continues to also gain steam in a number of other areas of the office as well.  From order fulfillment and IT to human resources and accounting, the future success of small to medium sized businesses could very well hinge on their ability to take advantage of these automation solutions.

When was the last time you thought about opening a can of tuna manually? If you’re like me, you’ve come to rely on (and maybe even take for granted) the fact that the electric can opener simplifies this routine kitchen process immensely. I for one, reserve my manual model for camping trips and other such rustic moments in the wild.

But many of us might not make that same mental leap to automation as it relates to our company’s sales process. For example, do you currently have any aspect of automation in place or is your process completely manual at this point?

In my experience, I tend to find many small business owners do not have applications for managing their sales process, and likewise, no workable database to support the effort. Oftentimes, every sales relationship that a company has is managed from a single spreadsheet in the hands, and literally in the mind, of the sales manager.

That approach may work in the beginning. But reviewing a spreadsheet system once your contacts evolve to more than 500-plus key contacts can be a daunting task at best. After awhile, it becomes virtually impossible to manage a growing database of prospects, including qualified leads and customers from a single spreadsheet.

If this sounds all too familiar, it may be time for your company to find a more efficient way to manage sales operations. One way to achieve this end is to create a process for tracking web leads. Processes can be developed to capture prospect data and automate processes associated with qualifying candidates and maintaining the sales process overall.

Under this scenario, the sales manager can easily use the system to assign prospects to a sales rep and that rep would be able to individually address their new prospects through individual and system generated communication e-mails.

A second phase of this automation process involves marrying your company’s database with a CRM (customer relationship management) system for sales and customer service. Today’s technology allows companies to use web based applications to automatically manage many of the components of CRM that used to formerly be performed manually.

If you’re looking for company-wide access to information, efficiency and internal accountability, this automated approach to sales may be just what you need to pop the lid off of things, so to speak. After all, when it comes to opening the can on sales generation, it’s to your company’s advantage to ensure everyone on the sales team is equipped with the latest, most up-to-date offerings in automation technology.

So, you want to automate a business process. Well, you basically have three primary methods to choose from:

1. Out of the Box Software
2. Custom Application Development
3. Workflow Automation Toolkit

In today’s post we’re going to cover your options in detail and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Out of the Box Software
The first option is to use some sort of out of the box software solution. The first and most obvious advantage to this solution is it is readily available and it is the most affordable option of the three. Plus it’s the easiest solution to set up. Out of the box software doesn’t really offer you the opportunity to find a competitive advantage. It is what it is. It can’t be customized and you’re basically going to be using the same processes that everyone else is using.

Custom Application Development
Custom application development is the fancy pants way to automate your business processes. With custom application development, you can automate your exact processes. The solution is custom made for you and your business. You don’t have to compromise on functionality and you have a remarkable opportunity to use your tailored processes to achieve an advantage over your competitors. But it’s not going to be cheap. Custom application development is very costly, and out of the budget for most small to medium sized businesses. And the development timeline is lengthy for writing and establishing custom processes. Because custom applications are built to fit your exact needs, they’re pretty inflexible. It’s difficult to modify the process in real time as your needs change.

Workflow Automation Toolkit
Your third option is a workflow automation toolkit. Advantages? Well first of all, it’s not going to break the bank. A toolkit like this is much more reasonably priced than custom process development. These types of solutions are also extremely flexible. They can typically be applied to a wide variety of business processes, companywide. You’ll also have a pretty easy time modifying processes as your needs change with a workflow automation toolkit, and there is certainly an opportunity to achieve a competitive advantage. On the down side, it still is going to take a little time to define and establish the process, but not nearly as much time as custom development takes. And while it’s possible to integrate this type of solution into your existing systems that will likely require some custom development.

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So those are your options. We may be a bit biased, but we believe that the workflow automation toolkit is the best fit for most businesses. It allows for custom processes management without the headaches and the cost of having an application developed specifically for you. But generally speaking, we recommend that you seriously consider putting one of these solutions to work for you as soon as possible. From sales to accounting and IT, every single department in your company can benefit from workflow automation.

Because workflow automation used to be reserved primarily for big budget Fortune 500 companies, many small to medium sized businesses still carry the mentality that, for whatever reason, it’s just not for them. They may think they can’t afford business process management. It’s a common misperception. Even if they know they can afford it, they may struggle to understand how to implement it and how it could improve daily operations in their business.

We’ve long said that business process management is for every business. To prove it, we’ve developed a one-size-fits-all list of 3 processes that virtually every company could be managing more efficiently with workflow automation.

1. Online Information Requests – Making a general assumption, almost all businesses interested in or curious about workflow automation already have a website. And, chances are, that website provides a way for potential and current customers to contact your company- probably some sort of contact us page, with email addresses and a contact form.

Under your current system, an email can probably be directed from that page specifically to a particular department in your company, where one person has been designated as the point man for these incoming emails. The problem with this system is that there is no means for monitoring accountability, request status or tracking. The only one who knows about the email is the receiver, who also has the sole responsibility to decide when, if and how to respond. And what happens if that person is on vacation, or just fails to check their email for whatever reason?

Workflow automation instills those missing principles into the online information request process. When a request is made, the party responsible for responding is notified of the task and the due date. At any given time the system can be checked for overdue responses, keeping everyone on track and moving forward.

2. Simple To-Do List Assignment – Under your current system, how are tasks typically assigned to employees? Face to face? By email? Over the phone? While each of these has its advantages over the next, they all share one common disadvantage compared to doing it with a workflow automation system- a lack of accountability. Details get forgotten, ignored or misunderstood when a task is assigned in person or by a phone page. Email may allow you to assign tasks with details and due dates, but there’s no way to monitor or enforce them.

Workflow automation allows you to assign a task and monitor it throughout the process to completion. You can set due dates and priorities, keeping things flowing smoothly. The employee gets regular task reminders and updates, and you get the piece of mind knowing every detail is accounted for and the assignment is moving forward.

3. Sales Inquiry Follow Up – It’s not overly difficult to lose track of a potential sales contact. When the business is firing on all cylinders and leads are coming in like nobody’s business, it’s downright easy to do. Unfortunately, no matter how busy you are, the sale you miss today could be the one that makes or breaks you. You can’t afford to let relationships with potential customers disintegrate. It’s just not good business.

Workflow automation helps you monitor and track incoming sales requests. Whether phone, web or walk-in inquiries, you can easily establish a timeline at the onset of every business relationship. This timeline will keep you aware of new sales requests, required follow ups, prospect statuses and all of the information you need to successfully create and maintain successful sales relationships with your potential customers.

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This really is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to defining all of the ways your business can benefit from workflow automation. But even if they’re the only three you use, you will notice immeasurable results by implementing them into your daily operations.

Order fulfillment just seems like one of those business processes tailor made for workflow automation. By nature, order fulfillment is typically a muddled, messy process that is difficult to track and almost impossible to effectively manage, without some sort of system in place. And the larger the company, the more disorganized the process typically is.

Think about it: and order comes in to your facility. Someone has to kick off the fulfillment cycle for that order. Let’s call her Mary. From that original point of contact, how many steps are there between Mary and the delivery truck? How many people after Mary have some role to play in the processing of that order? Is there a system in place that ensures each person, at each step, is doing exactly what they’re supposed to do, in a timely and efficient fashion? If you answered the first 2 questions with “a lot” and your answer to the last question wasn’t “workflow automation,” I can about imagine the headaches you deal with on a daily basis.

Workflow automation is the simple way to manage order fulfillment. The reason the workflow automation process becomes inefficient is because it’s not just one big process. It’s made up of a bunch of smaller processes that blow out from the main process, and eventually realign. From Mary’s initial starting point, she’s likely informing at least two other people about the order- someone in accounting and someone in the warehouse. Chances are there are additional contacts as well. And each of those people also have people who need to be notified to participate in the fulfillment process. Workflow automation allows you to create, modify and oversee these processes as they happen. The results are greater efficiency, faster and more accurate order turnaround, happier customers, and more profit.

Customer service isn’t just something you do on the phone. It is a measure of how well you treat your customers all of the time. Nothing builds good will toward your company like doing the job right and on time. If your company is lacking in the order fulfillment process, try workflow automation. You’ll be surprised at the difference it can make.

Assuming you don’t have Saturday Night Live’s Nick Burns (Your Company’s Computer Guy) running the show, chances are each member of the IT help desk staff truly wants to be effective in solving the technical computer problems of the rest of us. Of course you probably don’t always love the job. Walking a well-educated man through the process of turning on a printer probably ranks pretty low on your “things I can’t wait to do today” list. But in general, you enjoy the challenge of fixing the problem and getting everything up and in working order again. Unfortunately, a busy IT help desk is usually an inefficient IT help desk too. And that can make it tough to do your job effectively.

Business process management is ideal for help desk support processes. The biggest problem with traditional IT help desk scenarios is disorder. Calls are coming in, bugs are being researched, problems are being fixed, and very little communication is happening between the staff as each IT team member is caught up in his own given project at the time. The result is organizational chaos. Company-wide system problems are missed, because they’re being reported as individual bugs throughout the company. No one has any idea the status of anyone else’s project, because no one is working together. If lost productivity means lost money, there are companies losing millions of dollars on inefficiency at the IT help desk.

Business process management software is often implemented in help desk environments quite successfully. Using it, you can set up a system of checks and balances where you’ll be certain that the entire IT team is on the same page, and firing on all cylinders. Typically they set up a single point of contact who initiates the help desk calls into a process. Throughout the process, projects are assigned and there are checks put into place. Easily traceable steps are followed to ensure that everyone is aware of the status and results of each project as it happens.

Business process management can bring the entire IT department to a point of working together efficiently to solve individual and global problems. It will facilitate smooth process flow, resulting in faster problem solving and more accurate diagnosis and treatment of system issues.

Made in the USA. Genuine. Authentic. Rugged. Durable. Bigger. Better. Grade A.

There are a lot of different phrases we use to basically say one thing: we are providing a high quality product. At the end of the day, that’s really the most important thing customers care about. But it’s easy to say you’re high quality. Everybody does. What are you doing to ensure that quality in your products?

Quality assurance is one of the most important functions of any company. In people, products and performance we are measured first on quality and every other priority sort of slips into place somewhere behind it. One way to assure quality in your products is with workflow automation software. Workflow automation can help you manage functions like defect tracking processes, internal product testing and employee education programs that are absolutely critical to your quality assurance.

Quality assurance is like a lot of business processes- it’s complicated, so it’s easier to ignore it or downplay it than it is to do it. Workflow automation helps you simplify the process into logical steps, ensuring that every step is followed and giving you the peace of mind to say you provide a quality product and actually mean it.

The Company
A leading manufacturer of smart cards, security cards, and cell phone data cards. The company owns 75% of the worldwide market for their product line.

The Company Need
This company needed a convenient way to grant information access and permissions to new hires and existing employees who were assigned to new positions. Their existing process involved physically tracking down a series of individuals to obtain different levels of approval. Depending on the subject position and its responsibilities in the organization, that could mean a whole different group of people with each separate hire or job change. Control over this process is particularly important because of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) regulations.

At the very least, the existing process was inefficient and was costing the company valuable man hours as certain employees spent time seeking out other employees for the approvals.

How Workflow Automation Helped
Workflow automation allowed them to create a system to put the entire approval process online and eliminated the need to expend human resources on these time consuming tasks. With the new system, the form is filled out and assigned, in order, to the four people within the company who need to approve it. Once it is approved, the help desk gets the green light to begin setting things up for the employee.

Introducing workflow automation also built accountability into the system. At each step of the way, if someone has not performed his given task in a set amount of time, everyone else involved in the process is notified of the holdup, and who is responsible for it.

Perhaps the most important feature that workflow automation provided the company was in the submission/approval form itself. The form is designed to dynamically work with the company’s back end database. So as certain selections are made in the form, options lower in the form change to accommodate them. And when the form is complete, it works with the back end database to determine who will need to be contacted for approval. This essentially eliminates the paper trail that was necessary with the former process.

The Results
The workflow automation system the company introduced accomplished 3 important things for the client:

- It gave them control over a process where none had previously existed.

- It greatly improved the efficiency of the process, because nobody wants to be identified the person holding things up. Replacing anonymity with accountability has made the entire process run seamlessly.

- It played a vital role in the client’s ability to pass a recent SOX audit, by giving them a credible way to test and prove their IT controls.