Intelligent Reporting and Documentation Automation

It is comfortable for the user. It provides agility for the company, as it simplifies processes and reduces management time. In addition, it dramatically reduces the costs associated with printing documents and ultimately increases employee productivity.

An advanced electronic signature system saves a good part of the time it takes to send documents to be signed, or to sign and forward them signed, in addition to the time and space saved in storing paper documentation. This time can be used to perform other types of tasks of more value.

The electronic signature is used to sign any type of document, eliminating the risks associated with the traditional signature: the signature of a document is associated with electronic and biometric data that guarantee the identity of the signer, the integrity of the document and the impossibility of repudiating the firm. All information remains encrypted, but can be easily decrypted if necessary, for example if the company needs to prove the identity of the signer in court.

In summary, today a document can be legally signed anywhere, at any time and through any device, in a very simple way, thus making things really easy (and safe) for clients and companies.

Both the online channel and the commercial mobility solution can easily incorporate the electronic signature. Today there are technological solutions on the market that allow you to sign, verify and seal documents electronically, in a totally secure way. In addition, since 2014 the legislation has been committed to the usability of the electronic signature and not only to security, as it did until that date.

In this way, the time and effort required to sign contracts can be significantly reduced. Of course, we can and should review them later, verifying that all the details are correct. We can also have scanning solutions to incorporate the client’s autograph signature in the corresponding document, thus increasing reliability.

Likewise, times and costs are reduced when we can close orders “on line”, without the need for paperwork, either on the website, in the eCommerce channel or in the commercial mobile application. In any of these cases, the confirmation can be made later by phone, to avoid errors.

Most of the time we generate a new report every time we have a new need, without worrying about existing reports. Now, if we review the templates of the reports that we already have, we would surely find one that adapts to a greater or lesser extent to our current need, either directly or by making a small modification.

On the other hand, during said review we could also detect a report that we are sure will never be necessary again, for example because it responds to already obsolete legislation. These reports can be eliminated, thus simplifying maintenance tasks.

It’s also important to have a nice organization of the generated documents and their asociations in case of being necessary.

If we manage to remove all the reports that are not really necessary, then the commercials will have more time to sell and will sell more. Also, they will be happier, because they do not like spending their time filling out forms.

Those responsible for maintaining the computer tool that generates the reports will also have more time to optimize those that are really useful. In addition, they will be less short on time and with a new request they will be able to review the history of reports and check if there is already an equal or at least similar one.

To successfully fulfill this mission the most important is involve Sales Managers, we need their help to approve the elimination of unnecessary reports, so we must make an effort to show them that they really are.

The capture of data from business operations should be as automatic as possible: in what phase they are, what tasks need to be carried out soon, what critical aspects does the opportunity have, etc. In this way, salespeople spend as little time as possible on bureaucratic tasks and dedicate themselves to selling. Likewise, the information must be sent automatically to the central systems, where the exploitation will take place.

The generation of reports, both periodic and specific, must also be automatic. To do this, it is enough to adapt the standard functionality of IT solutions to the specific needs of the company. The reports generated can be sent by email or by any other messaging mechanism, without human intervention, on the scheduled dates and times.

As for custom reports, it is relatively easy to incorporate the ability to generate them when we need them. To do this, it is enough to create specific filters, which allow us to select the criteria with which to carry out the queries we need at any time and, furthermore, to do so with the push of a button.

The central repository of information is the source that allows us to obtain the reports that the department needs. It is fed by the commercial management computer system, mainly through automatic processes.

On the other hand, it is very important to have this data “warehouse” well organized, otherwise the quality of the reports obtained will be quite deficient. To facilitate maintenance, we now have computer tools that detect and correct data inconsistencies, either automatically or by sending a notification to the person in charge assigned to this task.

From the repository and through the appropriate filters, we can generate all the reports, the periodic ones, which are generated automatically, and the specific ones, which can be requested at any time.

Many of the IT applications for business management already have a significant range of reporting functionality. In this way, it is only necessary to adapt the reports that the tool brings by default to the particular needs of the company, which is usually not too expensive.

The reports are generated on the established dates and times and then sent to the managers, automatically and by email. In this way, those responsible can start their day with updated information and take, where appropriate, the necessary and timely measures.

It is also possible to capture and export the information of the opportunities in progress to another reporting system, if the company already has one. In case there is no other report manager, Microsoft’s Excel tool can be used.

One of the functionalities most demanded by management is the facility to generate a specific report at any given time, depending on the need that exists at that time: Number of ongoing opportunities in the department, total expected business volume of said opportunities, students grades of a specific classroom, etc.

For this, it is relatively easy to add specific filters to the computer system, which allow us to select the most appropriate criteria and indicators to be able to consult the information in a timely manner and, furthermore, to do so with the push of a button.

Normally it is the management of the company that often needs to know immediately the situation of different cases. For this reason, these reports are usually generated in a small number, focused on these specific users and collecting their particular needs.

Get information about what your potential customers think of your products and services. Try to clearly establish the reasons why those who buy buy and the reasons that those who do not seem to have.

You should also try to find out what customers think about your promotion processes, your advertising campaigns. Are they receiving your ads with interest? Do they find useful information in your campaigns?

You can even better know your positioning, the perception that customers have about your brand: What opinion do customers have about your company? Does it coincide with the positioning that you make of your company?

You can and should use the opinions of your customers about your products and services to try to adapt their characteristics to the demands that customers make of you. Sometimes it is only small details, easy to modify, which make the client not inclined towards our offers.

You can also collect important information on other aspects of the portfolio, such as the presentation of the products, the configuration of the offers, availability, delivery times, etc.

In the same way that customers give clues about the products and services they prefer, they also indicate on many occasions in which way they like to be made known, that is, how your promotional campaigns, your ads should be.

For example, in recent times everyone shies away from invasive ads and prefers to present offers in a biased, not direct way.

In summary, the qualification of the leads is a more than important tool to be able to sharpen the aim in our future advertising campaigns.

If there’s one thing that salespeople really hate, it’s sitting down and filling out the forms that business management requires of them. In addition, they are usually people who are jealous of their knowledge, who prefer not to share information about “their” clients, the one that has cost them so much time and work to obtain.

That is why it is so important to automate the capture of all possible information:

• On the one hand, information about customers: contact information, needs, preferences, history of products purchased, etc.
• On the other hand, everything related to ongoing operations: what phase are they in, what tasks need to be carried out soon, what critical aspects the opportunity presents, etc.

Finally, the information must be sent to the central systems automatically, so that they can be stored in the data history, which we will later analyze and also so that the most appropriate measures can be taken at the right time, depending on the development of the sales opportunity.

Most IT solutions for sales management already incorporate significant functionality for reporting. It is only necessary to adapt the reports that come by default in the tool to the particular needs of your company, which is usually not too expensive.

The reports generated can be sent to sales managers automatically and by email, so that they can “have breakfast” with the last minute information and take action, if necessary.

Another option is to collect and export the information regarding current opportunities to any reporting management system, if one already exists in the company. If none exists, Microsoft’s Excel tool is a good option.

In addition to generating the most common reports on the dates and times determined by management, it is also a good idea to incorporate the ability to generate a timely report at any time, depending on the need we have.

For this, it is only necessary to add specific filters to the computer system, which allow us to select criteria to be able to consult the information we need at any given time and, furthermore, to do so with the push of a button.

This type of report is especially recommended for company management, which often needs to immediately know the status of current opportunities.