Everybody uses paper processes. So competitively, it’s an even playing field, right?
Not so fast. According to Mobility in Motion, 21% of businesses globally still use paper forms that need to be manually filled. Furthermore, 41% have already begun moving away from paper-based processes via digitization.
And according to executives, the top benefits of digitizing paper-based processes are greater efficiency, faster time to market and exceeding customer expectations.
If you’re part of the 21%, you’re falling behind competitively. Here are five disadvantages you need to overcome.
1. Bad User Experiences
Why are paper forms unreliable? It starts with the design. Paper forms that are poorly designed, cause the following outcomes:
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People don’t take time to understand them.
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They rush to fill them with minimal effort.
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Mistakes are made.
This puts you at a competitive disadvantage in two ways. It’s a negative experience for whomever is filling them out. That negative experience delivers incorrect data.
That, in turn, impacts performance. The business is now making decisions based on incorrect data. It’s estimated 45% of operating expenses are wasted due to data errors.
That’s money not spent on innovation, talent, etc. All because of a poorly designed paper form.
2. Untracked Approval Processes
According to statistics, globally, 72% of organizations believe business at the speed of paper will be unacceptable. For time-sensitive processes such as approval workflows, paper-based processes should be avoided. Here’s why:
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Paper documents must be printed, costing time and money.
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Documents must be hand-delivered to the approver.
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Follow-ups are required to ensure deadlines are hit.
Need additional approvers? For each added approval, the time required to get it doubles. No wonder 92% of missed deadlines can be attributed to approval delays.
Think about all the business processes subject to approvals: Sales requests, vehicle safety inspections, etc. Should it really take hours, days or even longer to provide approvals?
Waiting for approvals will slow down business operations. And that’s the moment your competitors are taking action. An approval delay is the difference between making a sale or losing a customer. It’s the difference between getting trucks on the road or keeping them stuck in the parking lot.
3. Paper-Based Process Inconsistencies
Picture a form where location is an optional field for users to fill out. Some users write down the city they’re in, while others write the province or state. Some may decide to write the street they’re on and the rest don’t write anything at all.
The same applies with things like dates and times. It’s inconsistent data you can’t leverage. Your options are:
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Manually standardize the data after it’s been collected. For example, changing dates to a consistent MM/DD/YYYY format.
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Use the data as-is without making any standardization changes.
Option one takes time and personnel. Plus, for every 100 manual steps, 10 mistakes are made. There’s no guarantee data will be standardized properly.
With option two, there’s no guarantee you’ll use the data correctly.
Poor quality data can cost your business 20% to 35% of its revenue. What’s the bottom-line impact of such a loss?
Plus, competitors who have digitized processes identify trends before you and enjoy better, faster and more reliable data analysis. They learn more about their critical business and customer operations than you learn about yours. They get ahead while you stand still.
4. Higher Operating Costs
A single sheet of paper costs pennies. So why is it $20 (USD) to file a single document?
When you factor in the expenses of printing, processing and physical storage, the costs accumulate.
Printing expenses can chew up to 3% of your annual business revenue. But if your competitors have digitized their paper-based processes – and you haven’t – that’s 3% more revenue available to them and not you.
Using $10,000,000 as an example, 3% is $300,000. That’s $300,000 you could spend on things like:
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Leading digital transformation.
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Incorporating AI into business operations.
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Improving security to reduce risk.
Or you could spend it on paper and end up with lower bottom line revenue. Up to you.
5. Excessive Paper Usage
U.S. businesses print 750,000 sheets of paper every minute, with 70% (525,000 sheets) wasted and 7.5% (56,250 sheets) lost.
This harms the planet. And your business isn’t immune, either. Consider:
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84% of consumers say poor environmental practices alienate them from a brand or company.
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69% expect companies to solve sustainability issues.
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25% actively track government regulations around sustainability and its impact on their favorite brands or products.
Consumers are paying attention and making decisions based on sustainable business practices. Or, based on what they perceive to be poor sustainability initiatives.
The more paper you needlessly print, the more likely your customers will discover it and abandon you for your competitors.
Digitize with SOTI Snap and Get a Competitive Advantage
SOTI Snap eliminates poor user experiences associated with frustrating paper forms. It makes approval processes easy to track. It puts an end to painful data inconsistencies. It reduces operating costs and paper usage.
And SOTI Snap does it by making digitization quick and easy with an AI powered form builder and drag and drop interface.
Want to discover the SOTI Snap advantage? Here’s how:
