BLOG

 

Business shifts technological practices and tools in surprisingly split-seconds. However, many companies fail catching up to this entire phenomenon, simply because they are not aware, or they are just trying the wrong tactics.

International Data Corporation (IDC) have the prediction that by the end of 2017, two-thirds of Global 2000 companies will prioritize digital transformation in the core of their corporate strategy. By 2020, 60% will multiply their productivity by two in digitally transforming business processes from human to software-based delivery.

It is noteworthy that executives are the most optimistic when it comes to the idea that digital will shape businesses in the future. As a matter of fact, 46% of executives surveyed believe that in less than five years, digital will create impact on half of the sales. By 2020, those executives predict that 47% of the revenue will be influenced wholly by digital efforts.

Unlocking the Digital Transformation comes in three tactics

Jen Sieger, the Senior Business Strategy Analyst, Worldwide Partner Group in Microsoft, collated some of great interviews from Intellinet CEO Mark Seeley, Leap Consulting Managing Director Zaun Bhana, and Preficient Marketing Manager Cate White.

These interviews neatly outline all takeaways and tremendous advantage in forwarding your business into the Digital Transformation trends. These tactics will surely catapult any business in the frontlines of Digital Transformation competition:

1. Make time to understand customers. Understand them by recognizing their needs, challenges, business objectives, and priorities. This does not only entail trust and credibility, but also makes your company relatable to the customers. Think of it as their personal brand.

 

• Companies should recognize where the customers are now versus where they want to be.
• Business should evaluate their digital maturity and ability to act on business process initiative, especially in the integration of new technologies.
• Build a strategy roadmap and gap analysis to have clear objectives and priorities

 

2. Create the vision where you want to take the customer. Having the vision on what to do next is as much as important in creating the vision. Relaying this to customer would bolster customer confidence with your product.

 

• Create a vision that totally fits for the customer
• Provide innovative solutions that bridge the gap
• Have a clear definition of Customer Experience Strategy
• Take advantage of innovative digital solutions
• Your business should help clients evolve their business
• Start everything with a plan – it gives customers confidence that there is a way forward and what would that look like

 

3. Share your vision with the executives. Drafting a digital transformation plans but not letting the word engage in the higher-ups is just like letting it go down the drain.

 

• Plans stagnate if there’s no enthusiasm in the top levels to start with
• Include executive team in building transformation plan
• Drive alignment: Include the levels down the ladder, roll out the vision to the staff
• Align executive vision with the people in business and IT roles
• Make sure executives’ business concerns and goals are clearly addressed in the plan
• CMOs and CIOs should know a great deal about digital transformation and have agendas in place.
• The company should decide on which trends they should zero in: mobile-first experience, development strategies, internet of things, and customer-centric marketing
• Have the ability to collect and analyze large amounts of customer data and to proliferate the latest digital marketing tools

 

Riding the Digital Transformation requires these qualities

According to Akshita Deora Puram in her blog, “Building Digital Dexterity – The Essential Ingredient for Sustained Success in the Digital Era,” these tactics are hand-in-hand with quality that every company should be achieving: digital capability and digital dexterity.

For excelling both qualities, companies that have these outperform their competitors on key performance indicators. Surprisingly, only 7% based on research relish these qualities.

The qualities are based on five key attributes that help to help unlock the digital transformation in the company:

1. Identify expertise as needed. Find and utilize the most relevant expertise.
2. Establish partnerships. Understand the importance of outside expertise.
3. Respond to customers’ individual needs and preferences. Embrace digital as a tool to zero in to customers’ needs.
4. Detect emerging trends. Pulse new technologies, business models, and market changes.
5. Possess the ability to self-organize quickly. Bring together the organization in one piece around the new digital initiatives.

 

Catapulting businesses is not an easy endeavor. Digital transformation trends make the business world go around. In the end, it is up to the business to pursue the trend or not. Time only will tell that would make the companies say, “We should have done this earlier.”