How can entrepreneurs automate their business communication so they can free up time?
Starting and running a business comes with many challenges, including managing time effectively.
As a business owner, you quickly realize that 24 hours is no longer enough because so many things require your attention.
This challenge is even more apparent in the early stages when you are wearing multiple hats and essentially running the show alone.
I faced this struggle when I started Entrepreneurs.ng. I was working full time and building the business after work hours, during weekends and any time I could squeeze in some work.
The toll on my social life was significant, but I felt the sacrifices were necessary. However, as the business grew, I quickly learned that I needed to automate our business communications and tasks so I can prioritise where I invested my time.
This shift has been one of the major factors in my company’s growth. Automation has been a game changer, especially in communication, and this is what we teach entrepreneurs in our 30-day program.
When done correctly, automating your business communication helps you manage customer relationships more efficiently, saves time and allows you to focus on growing your business.
Why Automating Your Communication Is Important
No matter what kind of business you run, managing communication, particularly customer inquiries—whether via email or social media—can easily take up most of your day.
Without a system in place, it can get overwhelming and distract you from focusing on the bigger picture. This is why you need to automate your business communication.
At Entrepreneurs.ng, we work with entrepreneurs at different stages, so we get tons of inquiries every day. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out exactly what people need, leading to a lot of back-and-forth that eats up time and energy.
To handle this better, we decided to invest in tools that help us manage and scale our email communication, and it made a huge difference.
I’m excited to share some strategies on how we did it and how you can automate your own business communications.
Choosing The Right Automation Tools
When selecting automation tools, it’s important to consider platforms that integrate seamlessly with your existing systems.
For instance, my company website is hosted on WordPress, so we searched for a tool that worked within that ecosystem to avoid jumping between platforms.
After some research, we found an email automation platform that worked well with WordPress, allowing us to streamline our communication without leaving the familiar interface.
In choosing the right tools, look for features that can handle segmentation, tagging and dynamic content—this ensures you can cater to different customer needs and automate various aspects of your business communication.
Designing The Automation Workflow
Once we’d selected the tool, the next step was to map out the manual activities we repeatedly performed.
I asked each team member to outline the typical customer interactions for the services they handled.
This collaborative approach ensured that everyone was involved and contributed to a comprehensive automation strategy.
We designed email sequences and customer journeys tailored to different stages of interaction, from initial contact to post-purchase engagement.
Our automation now covers everything from welcoming new subscribers to nurturing leads and converting them into paying customers.
For example, when someone takes action on our website—whether it’s signing up for a newsletter or downloading a resource—it triggers a series of automated emails designed to guide them through the next steps.
These sequences are personalised based on the actions the prospect has taken so far, and they encourage further engagement.
If a prospect doesn’t convert into a paying customer immediately, they are added to our community where we continue to nurture the relationship.
Over time, after receiving valuable content, they often become paying customers or refer others to us.
Creating Effective Email Sequences
The key to successful automation is well-crafted email sequences. Start by creating a weekly newsletter that provides educational or inspirational value.
At Entrepreneurs.ng, we begin by offering helpful content free of charge before gradually introducing our paid services.
This approach builds trust, keeps our audience engaged and positions our brand without coming across as too pushy.
Using Auto-Responders And FAQ Pages For Efficiency
In addition to scheduled sequences, auto-responders play a crucial role in maintaining a timely communication flow.
When someone contacts us or takes an action, they immediately receive an automated response acknowledging their inquiry and informing them of the next steps.
This ensures that no matter what time it is, the customer feels attended to, even if we are not available to respond personally.
However, automation doesn’t mean neglect. It’s important to have a team member follow up on inquiries that require more personalised attention.
An automated response should assure the customer that their request is being processed, but a human follow-up is often necessary to close the loop.
We also make use of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on our website, which helps reduce the number of inquiries we receive.
By addressing common questions about our services upfront, we empower customers to find answers independently, reserving our team’s time for more complex inquiries.
Tracking, Segmenting And Optimizing Your List
To get the most out of email marketing, it’s essential to segment your audience based on their behavior.
At Entrepreneurs.ng, we use tags, lists and dynamic segmentation to tailor our communication. This ensures each subscriber receives relevant content, which increases engagement.
For example, those interested in starting a business are tagged and receive content related to that, while more established entrepreneurs instead get information on scaling.
This type of automation works in the background, growing and engaging your audience without manual effort.
Regularly reviewing performance metrics like open rates and conversions helps refine your campaigns for even better results.
How To Get Started
First, find an email platform that integrates well with your system and offers features like segmentation and tagging.
Start with educational or inspirational content to build trust with your audience. Ensure inquiries receive immediate responses to keep engagement high.
Organise your subscribers by interests and actions to deliver personalised content. Monitor your campaign performance and adjust based on what resonates.
These are the steps to automate your business communication. With these steps, you’re well on your way.
Embracing automation is a powerful step toward scaling effectively and staying connected with your audience.
How You Can Work with Florence To Start And Grow Your Business
If you want to work with me to start a profitable and sustainable business, then enrol in the Start Your Business in 30 Days Program. I will take you from idea to starting your business in 30 days.
At the end of the program, you will get a registered business with CAC, logo and brand assets, admin set-up, one-on-one consulting sessions and more. Enrol in the Start Your Business in 30 Days Programme.
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Also, I work with companies and established corporations to scale their impact and revenue. Reach us at Business@entrepreneurs.ng if you would like to transform your business.
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This was first published by Florence Chikezie on Forbes.com
