Process Automation and Workflow Implementation

Team

The company employs a small team of client support specialists and project managers charged with tracking hundreds of authors and books as well as thousands of reviews.

Challenges

• Handling hundreds of books and thousands of reviews manually in a single spreadsheet became a barrier to growth.
• Difficulty tracking and reporting on customer fulfillment using a spreadsheet as the primary tool. 
• Excessive human error due to manual processes. 
• A growing number of support tickets and delayed resolution times negatively impacting the author experience.
• Use of multiple tools and siloed methods for tracking tasks led to inefficiencies and coordination bottlenecks within the team.
• The specialized nature of their business made it difficult to find an off-the-shelf software solution that fit the company’s needs, despite trying multiple options previously.
• The team lacked the bandwidth and expertise in selecting and implementing the right automation tools to make the jump to a more scalable and efficient system.

Priorities

• Transition from manual processes (Excel sheets, Google Calendars, text conversations) to a more automated, centralized system – without losing the human touch.
• Reduce human error and consolidate from multiple spreadsheets into a CRM tool that could eliminate manual steps and scale with growth.
• Implement a set of standardized processes the team could easily follow to execute consistently and deliver a more predictable customer experience. 
• Install an established, affordable, and well-supported application that could be customized to fit our business.
• Expert consulting and project management support to drive the implementation for us with minimal disruption to the team’s day-to-day responsibilities.

Solutions

• Compared multiple CRM platforms. Select for simplicity, scalability, security, support, affordability. The company went with Airtable. 
• Built a prototype mirroring the existing data requirements. 
• Designed a set of efficient workflow prototypes for customer onboarding, service fulfillment and reporting processes. Iterate until V1 decision. 
• Migrated client data and test the new workflows.  
• Trained the team, enabled experimentation with the new workflows, began layering-in automations reducing manual workload.
• Enabled live, on-demand customer communication and fulfillment updates, enhancing customer confidence and reducing support tickets.
• Benefited from comprehensive consulting that goes beyond just technology recommendations to include marketing, metrics, and other business aspects.
• Accelerated company growth and capacity to explore new opportunities without the previous constraints.

Results

• Internal resolution time and communications reduced 60%+ 
• 100% improvement in data visibility, revealing fulfillment costs were 2x previous estimates, prompting an immediate price adjustment to correct profitability issues.
• 100% improvement in automation, 2x reduction in manual tasks. 
• Reduced weekly meetings due to improved visibility.
• Up to 50% reduction in time-to-completion for repetitive tasks. 
• Fewer repetitive processes and reduced handoffs due to improved efficiencies.
• Improved automation, allowing humans to focus on more strategic work. 
• Improved forecasting accuracy by providing real-time data.
• More accurate tracking of productivity metrics, which helped identify and address performance issues.
• Avoided costly surprises and improved profitability contributing to a more sustainable business model.
• Enabled faster, more profitable growth with fewer barriers.