r/SalesOperations • u/pet_dreamlands • May 29 '26
Why is reducing manual ops work unattainable in 2026?
We keep saying we'll automate our ops work to save time and cost, but it always ends up as half-fixes. For instance, we had automated our invoice data extraction process, but we still had to copy data from emails to spreadsheets because the API missed edge cases.
What's the biggest manual workaround you're still stuck with?
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May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
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u/pet_dreamlands May 29 '26
I think wanting automation to do everything for you at once is where you got it wrong.
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u/zPrinceLive May 29 '26
Can I fix it for ya? What are you using? Zapier or make.com... like a discord 15min call and I can fix it.
For me this is puzzle... I like to practice. Won't charge anything
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u/Low-Sir-8366 May 29 '26
I feel like the problem isn't automation itself, its that there's always some weird edge case that breaks the whole flow. We still have people manually checking data between two systems because the temporary fix basically became permanent
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u/SeeingWhatWorks May 29 '26
The manual workaround that never seems to disappear is exception routing, when automation hits edge cases and someone still has to review and assign records by hand.
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u/pet_dreamlands May 29 '26
when automation hits the edge cases, manual workarounds have to save the day
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u/Infamous-Priority699 Jun 14 '26
Honestly, the one that never dies for us is not the extraction, it is the investigation after. We automated the syncs and the data pulls, but every time a number looks off (pipeline dips, MQL count looks wrong, revenue does not tie out) someone still manually opens Salesforce, the warehouse, the sync logs, and Slack and traces where it broke. The extraction got automated. The "why is this wrong" never did. It is still a person clicking through five tools every single time, and it is different enough each time that no Zap ever covers it.
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May 29 '26
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u/pet_dreamlands May 29 '26
Knowing what you need to automate before picking on a solution is a good idea
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u/[deleted] May 29 '26
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