The world of sales is changing rapidly, mainly thanks to the power of technology and automation. Advanced programs and software now allow professionals, especially in sales, to automate processes that may prove to be time-consuming.

Studies show that 45% of current paid activities done by human beings are replaceable by automation in some form. Generally, professionals can see this in two ways: either look at technology as a threat to one’s livelihood or as a way for people to improve their workflows by injecting automation that can remove unnecessary tasks and allow them to focus on the areas that produce the most results.

Benefits of Automations

Saved time

Any effective professional will know that time is money. The more time you get to save, the more results and revenue you can create for your company and yourself. Creating documents can take up considerable amounts of time. Document automation can help save a lot of time and, thus, a lot of money.

One of the most popular reasons why people use automation is to save time, with 30% of professionals saying they pursue automation for this reason. 

Less effort

As the Pareto Principle teaches us, 20% of our efforts will produce 80% of our results, and vice versa. Consequently, sales representatives would naturally bend towards the activities that provide them the most results.

When it comes to sales, activities like prospecting, networking, lead generation, and marketing provide the most results. Unfortunately, these efforts get thrown out the window in favor of administrative tasks like paperwork, documentation, and data gathering.

Naturally, most sales professionals might get a secretary to do that job, but maintaining a salaried position can prove costly. With automation, sales professionals can take care of document work at a lesser cost.

Focus on your core competencies

Up to 65% of workers view artificial intelligence and automation as a way to free employees from menial tasks. Letting go of our core competencies for the sake of things that we aren’t naturally good at is a good idea. 

In many cases, sales professionals might discover that administrative and clerical work isn’t their top strengths. But many of them feel they have no choice as they see documentation as a necessary evil. 

And while administrative work is necessary, it isn’t necessarily evil. Sometimes, it’s just not natural to us. In cases like this, it makes more sense to depend on the automation we set up once and rely on moving forward to focus on doing what we do best and what we enjoy most.

5 Use-Case Scenarios that Sales Professionals Can Use Document Automation

There are various document automation tips for sales professionals. Here are just five of the many use-case scenarios:

1. Data gathering

Sales representatives need to do lead generation. But many times, the process of gathering information can be draining and time-consuming. One of the many sales automation ideas is to set up a document that people can fill up, and then a document automation tool can file for future reference.

By outsourcing data gathering to automation, sales professionals can focus solely on the task that only humans can do, which is to connect with the audience. Everything else, an automated document can do.

2. Data consolidation

Merely collecting data can be a headache, but looking at it and making sense of data can be an even bigger nightmare. Many sales executives and professionals struggle with consolidating data because it takes so much time and effort to crunch the numbers and summarize in one easy and digestible data presentation.

With document automation, sales professionals can make complicated documents simple by applying. 

For example, sales teams and professionals can take thousands of data samples and get feedback on their activities using an automated questionnaire. 

Another aspect where data analysis comes in handy is determining which sales activities convert the most. With tagging features in document automation systems, teams can bump sales contracts signed with the funnel touchpoint that helped close the deal, giving professionals a better idea of which activities to invest time and money in most.

3. Large document database

Document automation software also helps when companies have to store large databases of documents. 

Take, for instance, a sales department for a large corporation. With thousands of documents filed through years of closing deals with clients, it’s unlikely to keep track of the ever-growing list of documents. With a document automation tool, sales professionals can save hours at a time from having to comb through piles of papers.

A document database can also help teams or companies that need a single drop point for all templates for various kinds of documents and forms a sales team might need to help put a deal on paper. By keeping such a database of templates, sales professionals can avoid the hassle of searching through every folder and file to find one form. With the right system in place, a document automation tool can become a portal for all documents and files to get transaction paper works done.

4. Autofill features for documents

Filing paperwork can be a lot of work, but how about sending them over to clients to fill up and sign? Sales representatives know the plight- having to sit for hours a day with clients in coffee shops and showrooms to have endless paperwork signed and filled up.

Document automation can help remove this process. Using automated document add-in, sales representatives can send files over to clients and have them fill up before the actual meeting. This feature comes in handy, especially when social distancing protocols have forced us to limit face-to-face interactions. Now with automated documents, sales teams can get paperwork filled up and signed faster.

5. Workflow creation

Another useful case scenario for sales agents and professionals is creating workflow through a sales automation process. 

Through a program like Gavel, for example, companies can create something called a kick-out screen, which helps people who don’t qualify for a sales automation exit a workflow. This workflow helps eliminate leads that will most likely fall out, assisting agents to save time and energy from pitching to someone who won’t qualify or who isn’t really interested.

With the right workflows in place, sales agents can truly save time, energy, and resources and focus on leads that convert and turn into actual sales.

Take Time to Select the Right Tool For You

Like any tool selection process, getting the right document automation tool for your company, team, and even just yourself isn’t always an easy journey. Not because we have limited choices, but because there are so many to choose from.

As the world moves towards the future, it certainly looks like the world is looking a lot more like automated workflows, fill-ins, data gathering, and crunching. Getting a document automation tool can make that happen for you, your team, or your company.