Digital transformation isn’t just an option in today’s world; it’s a must-have in order to stay relevant and competitive in an ever-changing landscape. For business owners, digital transformation means changing business models and creating innovative products that truly resonate with their customers. However, digital transformation isn’t easy—it requires complex changes and a huge level of commitment from your team as well as your customers. Here are six pillars of digital transformation that will set you up for success
1) Security
On a day-to-day basis, business owners and consumers often don’t think about cybersecurity.
But as we saw recently with WannaCry and ransomware, one simple attack can quickly impact millions of people—not to mention that many hacks go undetected for weeks or months.
While it might seem like these incidents only occur at massive companies, even small businesses need to take steps to ensure their information is secure. If you don’t yet have an IT department, it’s time to learn about how cyber security threats work and what measures your business can take to prevent them from becoming a problem. And if you do have a team in place, it’s important to make sure they’re aware of best practices and staying up-to-date on new trends.
In short: There are no excuses when it comes to protecting yourself against cyberattacks. Protecting your digital assets (which also means customers) should be top priority for any business owner who wants their company to survive long term. Here are some additional resources:
2) Analytics
One of Google’s top executives once told me, Analytics is overrated. The #1 thing businesses need to do right now is market research.
But a plethora of data comes from sources beyond your marketing and advertising efforts. If you’re operating a business in 2018 or later, you’re likely spending hundreds or thousands (or more) on marketing technologies that collect data about how people are interacting with your products and services.
This data has tremendous value—and it’s often ignored in favor of analytical methods that are less actionable (but much sexier to talk about at parties). Look at all your online analytics software and pull any meaningful business metrics for deeper analysis.
3) Workforce Solutions
Recruiting and hiring are vital components to keeping your business running smoothly.
Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most expensive aspects for many businesses. One study found that HR and recruiting costs take up as much as 15 percent of a company’s budget.
You need to develop an in-house recruiting strategy that lets you find candidates quickly, hire smartly and work with them effectively once they’re on board.
Workforce solutions can help by providing everything from pre-screening applications to screening interview questions to ensuring a smooth onboarding process when new hires start working at your company.
4) Customer Service
There’s no way around it. If you want to be successful, you have to keep your customers happy.
It might seem strange that customer service would fall under digital transformation, but it does. Customer service is a part of business operations, which are a critical aspect of digital transformation in today’s climate.
In order to meet customer expectations and continue serving them better than anyone else, your business needs a clear idea about what its customer experience goals are; then you need to make sure your employees follow through on those goals.
Connecting with customers directly through social media (and maybe even instant messaging) will likely have to be another part of reaching those customer-service targets and keeping pace with digital transformation..
5) Human Resources
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist or a management expert to realize that you have to begin your transformation journey with people. After all, it takes people to do people work.
However, you may not know exactly how to go about building a digital workforce strategy and ecosystem that blends today’s technology and HR needs for tomorrow’s workforce.
6) Marketing & Sales
In a digital era, marketing is everything. That’s because there are so many more ways to communicate your message and reach customers online than ever before. For example, if you want to sell tickets for an event like your company’s annual trade show, it used to be enough to buy a classified ad in a newspaper or magazine.
But nowadays, prospective attendees may use social media like Twitter and Facebook to find out about last-minute discounts or deep discounts on group sales.
With so much information available on nearly every mobile device in existence—in text, audio and video—it pays to think creatively about how you can tailor your message for today’s audience.
7) Digital connections
Technology transformation should focus on digital technology, including IoT and Big Data. In fact, 55% of executives said that IoT is a significant driver of digital transformation.
These technologies are changing how we live, work, and connect—and as a result, they’re changing our expectations for how businesses will operate in today’s market.
To create more meaningful connections with customers and transform your business accordingly, consider leveraging both technologies to create repeatable foundational components that will propel your transformation.
The Conclusion
You can’t ignore digital transformation. Technology has completely changed how consumers interact with companies and each other. The days of pushing products or services on customers are gone—and if you haven’t realized that yet, it’s probably too late for your business. Today’s business environment is complex, dynamic, and highly competitive—so in order to succeed, you need to be proactive and embrace digital transformation as an essential element of your long-term strategy.
To become a true disruptor in today’s marketplace, a company must challenge existing business models and implement new strategies while simultaneously embracing technology innovation.
At its core, digital transformation requires businesses to shift from doing things manually to automating processes so they can operate faster and more efficiently. If your business doesn’t adapt quickly enough, competitors will pass you by before you even realize what happened.
Remember: Any successful business starts with visionaries who think differently than their competitors. So instead of asking how do we keep up? ask yourself how do we stay ahead?
It all starts with adapting to change and leveraging technology innovations at every opportunity.