4 Ways You’re Slowing Down Your Workflow Without Realizing It

Navigating a complex workflow can be a struggle regardless of the type of your organization. When you’re juggling endless responsibilities, it’s easy to settle for a process that’s just good enough. Instead of becoming complacent, it’s important to always be reflecting on how to make processes better no matter what kind of organization you’re in.

Here at FormAssembly, we want to help you take your workflow to the next level. The first step in doing this is recognizing what’s holding you back from maximizing your organization’s productivity. We dug into our case studies to compile some of the main pain points our customers have experienced with their workflow process. Here’s what we know doesn’t work:

Enforcing Outdated Methods of Data Collection (aka Paper Forms)

In a world where technology has reached a level that was previously unimaginable, forward-thinking data collection methods have truly become the obvious choice. If you’re still drowning in an endless sea of paper forms, it’s time to re-evaluate the processes you have in place. Stop and think about all the time (and physical storage space) you could save if you didn’t have to print out forms, distribute them to be manually completed, and then go back to the computer to enter in countless pieces of information.

Still not convinced? Consider the last time your organization ran an event: how much data was being collected at each step of the process? From registration and logistics planning to capturing attendee contact information and post-event feedback, imagine how much simpler it would be if all this was automated.

Does your organization utilize any applications (e.g., staff applications, customer support requests, product feedback forms) in your day-to-day activities? Those can also be digitized.

Forget giving out pages of documents for your customers or employees to fill out. Instead, you could create a beautifully designed form to be sent out to an extensive list of people at the click of a button. Not only will this streamline an otherwise tedious process, but will likely result in a much higher response rate — an online form that allows typed responses is far less intimidating than pages of paper to write by hand.

Aside from the negative impact that using paper forms can have on your organization, don’t forget the significant environmental effect: Paper accounts for 25 percent of landfill waste and 33 percent of municipal waste. Americans use 85 million tons of paper each year, while recycling 1 ton of paper could save around 682.5 gallons of oil, 26,500 liters of water, and 17 trees.

Save the trees. Save your workflow. Use digital forms.

Having a Decentralized System of Data Collection

If finding important data seems like an impossible task, it may be time to reevaluate your data collection system. Keeping your data scattered in multiple places, rather than in one centralized location, can not only be frustrating, but could also lead to lost information that may negatively affect your organization or customer relationships. Imagine this: instead of using several different types of data collection software, what if you found one streamlined solution that could directly funnel all information into Salesforce?

What would this mean for your organization? Only unparalleled consistency, efficiency, and access to what you need, when you need it. A seamless Salesforce integration allows you to link forms to custom objects and existing records in Salesforce. All your historical information is in one place and you can easily find records and edit them at any point. Just think of what you could accomplish with all that free time.

Not Prioritizing User Experience and Multi-Platform Capabilities

Regardless of your data collection method, conversion rate is one of the key metrics you use to evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy. The higher your conversion rate, the more data your organization has to work with.

A big mistake we often see here is under-valuing the experience your target users have when they’re filling out surveys, applications, registrations, and other forms you send out.

Modern users are constantly bombarded with information and can afford to be selective with what they choose to fill out. A form that is visually unappealing and frustrating can quickly harm your conversion rate. The standards for a user-friendly experience are at an all-time high, meaning that bad design can quickly turn people off from your site if it’s not up to par.

Form design can truly make or break it when it comes to conversions, meaning it’s worth it to find intuitive software to help you make your forms both functional and beautiful. Incorporating branded design, conditional logic, and repeatable sections are all ways you can enhance the user experience while maintaining brand consistency.

Finally, you’re missing out on significant customer potential by not being able to collect data on-the-go. With users spending 4.7 hours a day on their phones on average and US workers taking 488 million business trips a year, mobile functionality is crucial. Do yourself and your users a favor — switch to a data collection platform that has an app-based component and find out just how limitless your information intake can become.

Using Unsecure, Non-Compliant Data Collection Software

It should come as no surprise that data security is a major priority when collecting information from your customers. People want to know that their private information is in good hands and safeguarded against any vulnerabilities or attacks. When considering software to use for your data collection, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the software company trustworthy? Who on their team has access to sensitive customer data and how are these individuals vetted?
• How often has the software company been audited, and do they have systems in place to identify breaches when they happen?
• If it applies to your organization’s needs, is the software HIPAA and/or PCI compliant?

Not considering these factors is a serious misstep and can lead to your organization losing clients or even legal ramifications, should any security breach or lack of managing sensitive data arise. The integrity of your data should not be sacrificed just to be able to collect more information.

If any of these workflow missteps apply to you, you may be feeling pretty overwhelmed right now. Luckily, all these issues our customers faced were resolved by switching to our form-building software. To learn more about how we can help you invigorate your workflow, head to our website to learn more and start a free trial today!

Written by Shira Beder