How do you know if you have a problem that needs a solution?
- How important is it to the core of the business or organisation?
- How often does it happen? Is it frequent or only once in a while?
- How long does it currently take and how much time could be saved with an app?
Is a new piece of software the right solution?
Problem statement: Creating, sending and following up on invoices is a labour-intensive process and sometimes we make mistakes or don’t get paid on time.
Why:
The invoices are created manually, which takes a long time to create and sometimes people make a mistake. The follow-up process is also manual, which also takes time and means that we sometimes miss late payments.
- The information isn’t all in one place, so I have to copy and paste the information from different places.
- I have to manually format them.
- I keep a list of the invoices and whether or not they’ve been paid in a spreadsheet. I go through all of them once a week and check against payments made to use so I can either mark them as paid or follow up with the customer.
- I have to type get the customer details from the CRM and the sales information from the project management system.
- I copy an old invoice and add in the new information, it takes time to delete all the old information and paste in the new information.
- There’s nowhere else to track invoice information and I don’t know how to automate the process of sending out an email when the payment deadline has passed.
- We store the customer information, and the payment information in different places.
- We don’t have a template invoice.
- There’s nowhere in our CRM where we can store invoice or payment details. I don’t know how to connect the spreadsheet to my emails.
- Our CRM doesn’t have the ability to store things like deal or project information, only the customer’s personal information.
- I haven’t had the time to learn how to make a template in the software we use to create the invoice
- There’s no integration between my email app and the spreadsheet app I use.
Do you need a new app? What can you do with what you already have?
Summary
Before you download or subscribe to new software, ask yourself ‘Do I need a new app?’ To answer that question:
- Figure out how much resource it currently costs you to do the process or task?
- Ask the Five Whys to get to the heart of the issue.
- Investigate your current tech stack to see if you already have a solution.
Whether or not you need a new app will depend on what you find when you dig into these points, and on your priorities. You might be time-poor but have a decent budget, or you might have flexibility on how something can be done, or it might need to be an exact process. The final decision will be up to you, but I hope that this post has given you some tips on how best to make that call
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And finally, if you’re really keen to reduce your overwhelmand transform your business using automation, then visit the Solvaa Automation Academy. Our signature training programme, ‘Simple Automation Blueprint: Zero to Hero’ is aimed at anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of business process automation from the experts – a sure-fire way to recession-proof your business.
It’s an 8-week blended learning course with on-demand videos, templates, resources and weekly group coaching sessions. And it’s more than just a Zapier course (although we do show you how to use Zapier like a pro) as you’ll learn about Process Mapping, Business Process Improvement and Business Process Management too – principles that can be applied to other areas of business too!
Whether you are a complete novice or have been using Zapier for a while, our programme is for you. It’s perfect for individuals and teams in micro, small and medium-sized businesses, including solopreneurs, consultants and freelancers. You’ll have access to our experts and can participate in live calls where you can ask all your burning questions, as well as hands-on workshops to keep you on track with implementing your new skills. We run regular cohorts so there will be an opportunity for everyone to participate.
Our head trainer, Kelly Goss, is a specialist in business systems, process improvement and automation, and one of less than 100 Zapier Certified Experts in the world. Kelly has many years’ experience in optimising systems and processes, and implementing automations for clients and is now passing on her knowledge to students through our trademarked ‘4-Step Solvaa Automation Methodology®‘.
Find out more via our dedicated Solvaa Automation Academy website.
Read more about how our certified experts use Zapier workflow automations to simplify processes and increase efficiency.
Solvaa is a process and automation consultancy specialising in improving sales, operations and financial administration workflows. We help you to simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient and automate manual tasks to increase productivity. We are Zapier Certified Experts, Pipedrive Certified Experts and Xero Certified Advisors.
Contact us today to discuss how Solvaa can help you simplify, improve and automate all aspects of your business with Zapier to save you time, reduce costs and keep you agile as you grow.
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