Music & entertainment
Music industry agencies
Automation for agencies
We help agencies in the music industry automate repetitive work, freeing small teams to spend their time on artists instead of administration.
Process automation
Process automation
Process automation for your business workflows
Process automation hands repetitive, rule-based work over to reliable, monitored software, so your team's time goes where judgement is actually needed. We automate workflows across the systems you already use, and measure the time saved against a baseline.
Discuss your processWhat process automation is, and what it solves
Process automation means letting software carry out the steps of a process that follow fixed rules: copying data between systems, checking it, routing it to the right person and reporting on it. Business process automation is not about replacing people. It removes the precise, dull and expensive work that keeps them from the work that needs their judgement.
Done badly, automation becomes a fragile script that someone has to babysit. Done well, it runs unattended, handles errors, keeps a log of what it did and escalates to a person when something unexpected happens. The second kind is the only kind we build.
Which work is worth automating
Good candidates for workflow automation are tasks that happen often, follow clear rules and currently depend on someone copying, checking or chasing. For example:
Work that needs real judgement, or a process that is still unclear, is not a good candidate yet. In that case we usually start with process optimisation, because automating a broken process only makes the problems happen faster.
- Invoices and orders arriving by email that are retyped into the ERP
- Customer or product data kept in sync between systems by hand
- The same report assembled from several sources every week
- Status updates that someone has to chase or pass on
- Approvals and notifications that depend on someone remembering them
How we build process automation
Automation follows our five-phase method: understand, diagnose, design, build, and embed and improve. In practice that means:
You get the right to use what we build in your own business, and you understand how it works. Handover is part of every delivery, so there is no dependency on us unless you want one.
- We map the current process with the people who run it and record a baseline of volumes, time spent and error rates.
- We select the steps that are rule-based and frequent enough to justify automation, and check whether a simpler procedure would already solve part of the problem.
- We design the automation around the systems you already use, such as your ERP, CRM, mailbox or spreadsheets, rather than adding a platform you don't need.
- We build in short cycles with error handling, logging and a clear escalation path, and test with your team on real cases.
- We document the automation, train the people who work with it and measure the result against the baseline.
What process automation delivers
The return is measured, not assumed. Because the baseline is recorded before anything changes, you can see the effect in hours and errors rather than impressions.
Just as important, your team gets time back for customers, exceptions and improvement: the work software cannot do.
- Hours of manual work removed per week, measured against a baseline
- Lower error rates on data entry and transfers
- Processes that complete in minutes instead of days
- A log of every run, and an alert when something needs a person
Frequently asked questions
What does process automation cost?
It depends on the number of steps and systems involved, the quality of the data and how many exceptions the process has. The first phase is small and fixed-price, and produces a validated map of the process and what it costs you. After that you get a clear scope and price for the build, before you commit.
Does automation work with our existing ERP or CRM?
Usually, yes. We build automations that integrate with the systems you already run, where possible through the connections (APIs) those systems provide. If a system offers no reliable way to connect, we tell you upfront what that means for the approach.
What happens when an automation goes wrong?
Every automation we build has error handling, logging and a clear escalation path to a person when something unexpected happens. You can see what ran and what failed, and nothing is silently lost. That is the difference between automation you can leave unattended and a script someone has to watch.
What is the difference between process automation and web process automation?
Process automation covers work inside and between your internal systems, such as invoice intake or data synchronisation. Web process automation focuses on what starts on your website: forms, bookings, quote requests and orders that should flow straight into your CRM or other systems. The approach is the same; the starting point differs.
Should we optimise the process before automating it?
If the process is clear and stable, we can automate soon after mapping it. If there are unclear handovers, duplicate approvals or rework, we fix those first. Automating a broken process only makes the problems happen faster.
Is automation worthwhile for a small team?
Often it is, because in a small team repetitive work weighs heavily on each person. We help agencies in the music industry automate repetitive work so their small teams can spend time on artists instead of administration. Whether it pays off for you depends on how often the work happens and how long it takes now, which is exactly what the baseline shows.
In practice
Technology & ticketing
CM.com
Live optimisation of the ticketing process
With CM.com in Breda we optimised the ticketing process live: finding where friction occurred and removing it while the process ran.
Process optimisation · Process automation
Find out what can be automated
Describe the work your team repeats every week, and we will tell you honestly whether automation is the right answer.
Discuss your process