Tech Tuesday - Automation

The term “automation” may spark up some fears of the Robot Overlords and machines taking all of our jobs. While we are still a far cry from robots doing everything for us, we shouldn’t fear allowing machines to handle some of our more repetitive administrative takes. We know that the labor coefficient is one of the most expensive elements of running a business.

One of the ways that we handle automation here at PFC is using services like Zapier and Integromat. These systems are based on IFTTT (If This Then That) logic, using triggers and actions to connect different apps and services. For example, this means IF a checkbox in our CRM, Salesforce, for “Places Orders” is checked, Zapier will trigger a series of actions in Shopify (our web store platform) to create a new user here in PFCorders.com. Both of them offer really easy to use interfaces and allow you to connect thousands of apps. As another example, when you place an order here on PFCorders.com, a note is put into our CRM letting our team know that you’ve already placed an order so they can make the next communication with you more meaningful instead of asking for an order you’ve already placed. 

When you fill out a form to get set up for our new PFC University, Zapier handles checking to see that you are a contact in our system and then makes sure that you and your club are set up and linked together. Not having to do this manually saves us a ton of time. 

As we all know, meetings are happening virtually more and more these days; if your trainers are scheduling meetings with clients, you can use tools like Zapier to listen for new appointments and add it into your calendar, set the Google Meet session, email the client with the link to the meeting and send an invoice through Stripe or QuickBooks. This list of apps just provides an example of how you can streamline this process without having to be on the phone or glued to your computer all day just to set up appointments or meetings. Let technology do the work for you!

These tasks individually don’t take much time, but combined each can take 15 minutes per client and as you rack up clients, that time really adds up! Leave the reps to your Smith Machine and get back to working with your clients using automation.