How to Create Better Digital Process Automation Services

Gary Mellows, Head of Delivery & Customer Success at FlowForma, the industry-leading process automation provider, is a pragmatic soul. He wears a smile that exudes confidence and everything, from his salt-and-pepper hair to the loose collar and shirt, is relaxed. He excels at both the “hook” (the point of initiation with a customer) and keeping them engaged. We caught up with Gary to get his take on how to deliver exceptional customer service in the world of digital process automation software, where competition is fierce.

Q1: Hello, Gary. It’s probably best to first get an understanding of what FlowForma Process Automation is.

FlowForma Process Automation is a digital process automation services provider, which means we help our customers digitize their processes. You’d be surprised by how many processes are still paper-based, or still center on siloed methods like email. Our tool can really help transform a business.

Q2: How can process automation transform a business?

Well, transform in the sense that automation changes everything. An automated process is going to look different from a manual one. Automation is going to be quicker, for a start. Also, it reduces the risk of human error, and lets you track the process over time. With process automation, there is a lineage. You can see – okay this process starts here, and then goes here, and ends up here. This helps you remove bottlenecks and refine things over time.

Many customers come to us with transformation plans to change their business, which typically come from the top down. Stakeholders and business leaders want to see a quick ROI. They want cost savings, productivity gains, and clear benefits from digital process automation. FlowForma Process Automation satisfies our customers on that basis. It's a digital process automation platform is award-winning, it’s recognized by Forrester and the process community as a seriously fast-working tool. Our customers can see an ROI in as little as six weeks. I work with our customers closely, to ensure that the tool is deployed and implemented as it should be.

FlowForma Customers see outcomes such as: 

Q3: Sounds great! Can you give me an example of a customer you’ve done this for?

Yes, we’re working with a company called AcruxKC at the moment, automating a lot of their processes. AcruxKC is a charity focused on providing access to healthcare services for the community of Kansas City. And this company has loads of vendors: product suppliers, service providers, subcontractors, technology providers, that sort of thing. And each of them is in a different place. So, although AcruxKC’s customer base is very local, primarily focused in Kansas City, its supply chain is complex, and spans a large geographical area. So, you also want a tool that connects and simplifies processes being completed by people hundreds of miles apart. That’s what digital process automation services can do very well.

Q4: When AcruxKC came to you, what were they asking for? Did they know what they needed specifically?

They had an idea, yes. They wanted to move “into the future” and make it easier for their customers to avail themselves of the services they provide. They wanted something web-based, to get rid of paper, and they wanted overall better reporting. When AcruxKC came to us, the executives didn’t really have spare time – no one had the time to dig out process data and create a report. Digital process automation technology does that easily – so reporting was a big factor.

They also wanted something easy to set up. AcruxKC doesn’t have an IT department, so the team needed a tool that could be deployed easily, and then used by the business. And that’s a big USP of FlowForma Process Automation, as a digital process automation services provider. Our tool is 100% no-code. This means that anyone can quickly learn to digitize a process, refine it, and report on it. So, it’s a very democratic tool. It’s also mobile-friendly. Previously, AcruxKC customers would have to go to their nearest agency to apply and fill out paper forms. With mobile access customers can register anywhere, anytime on any device at their own convenience.

Q5: Which kinds of processes did AcruxKC automate, or plan to automate?

There are several. Voucher creation was a big one. Around 20% of AcruxKC’s vouchers aren’t redeemed. So that amounted to a lot of waste. Thousands of dollars of care wasted, and hundreds of people not getting what they need. With FlowForma Process Automation it allows AcruxKC to quickly and easily determine which customers have not used their vouchers and automatically send reminders.

There were many other processes to automate such as client registration, invoice payments, client satisfaction surveys, partner and vendor registration, HIPAA compliance surveys, compliance audits, vendor site visits. Program administration was a difficult, manual process when AcruxKC came to us – a lot of emails back and forth. Once we had automated this process, AcruxKC saw a big benefit, since manual administration was a massive overhead. Process automation has made staff’s lives easier and happier, and improved productivity.

Q6: This all sounds like FlowForma Process Automation really changed how AcruxKC did things at a foundational level. What were the outcomes?

A vastly improved user experience was a big outcome, across all processes. This is great because it has a knock-on effect across the whole company. Employees have more time – because they’re spending less time on registration, or invoicing. There’s suddenly all this free time, and it can be spent on those higher value tasks: analyzing the data and using the insights to drive higher-level business decisions. So, process automation isn’t just changing one or two processes. It’s not just about efficiency of specific parts of the business, but the organization as a whole.

Q7: Does every customer have such a great experience?

AcruxKC were great to work with from our perspective because they were fully engaged from day one and were clear about what they wanted to achieve. On the back of the benefits, they have realized since going live, they now have plans to introduce other services to their customers. So, they were amenable to begin with. And, of course, they’ve reaped the benefits of this.

Most customers have the same positive experience as AcruxKC. The biggest challenge we come across is change management on the customer side. When we encounter this, we offer to help based on all our years’ experience with happy customers across the globe.

Q8: Do you see it as luck, or serendipitous then, whether a customer is going to “buy-in” or not?

No, not luck. There are factors that will create obstacles, but my job is to overcome those. So, that initiation part, the onboarding, that's what is important. We try to get the onboarding right, and if that goes well, things tend to follow-on in the same positive way. A successful onboarding usually means an engaged customer, and a better long-term ROI.

Once a customer gets their first process live, and starts to see the benefits, this is when they realize the potential for automation across the wider business. The number of processes that can be automated, and the benefits seen from each, can create a real snowball effect across a business.

Q9: How do you create successful onboarding?

We follow agile methods. We get the software in front of the customer early. We show customers what they can really do. It’s one thing to say, “you can automate process x”, it’s another to show them how: automate this, set reminders for this, send automated messages across the lifecycle. Take out step 1, step 3, step 4. Shorten and streamline the whole thing.

A big barrier to automation is that it’s seen as “nice to have”. When we show the customer, it's a different story. They can see how much time and money the tool saves; especially when used across the organization. That can be a real turning point for customers.

Q10: I imagine if onboarding is so important, you’ve turned it into a smooth process?

Yes! We’ve created an onboarding program, called SureStart, which focuses on getting the customer fully enabled and live with their first within 3-6 weeks. So, we get them trained quickly, we get the tool up and running. We define requirements, carry out product training (over two days), build out the workflows, go live. Then – we review. We continue with the customer long after the tool has been deployed.

Q11: Do you find any points of frustration, or bottlenecks?

If customers have a complex process, it can be difficult, or can seem difficult, to find a way to automate. Imagine a process branching out across geographic locations, multiple stakeholders, requiring multiple steps across each process branch. A process that isn’t linear, but more like a ball of string.

That can be difficult to untangle, but we hold sessions with the customer and try to pull out key threads. What’s the real purpose of this process? Why is it so complex? Can it be simplified? There’s always a simpler, more streamlined way and it’s up to us to find it.

Q12: To finish, what’s the best thing about your job? And two: what’s the worst thing?

The best thing is a happy customer. We recently held a webinar with AcruxKC and they were so effusive. So excited still about the functionalities, and the future of the company with our tool. So that’s obviously amazing to hear.

I’m lucky to have an amazing Customer Success team and product: 100% no code. Cheap, compared to others on the market. Award-winning. Our customers see an ROI 5 times faster than other digital process automation services. That makes my job a lot easier.

FlowForma is the leading provider of no-code automation solutions. Its mission is to empower organizations. FlowForma customers can design, automate, and manage complex workflows without the need for coding skills. Try FlowForma for free.