All organisations should evolve and develop over time, and being stuck in a stability mindset – focusing solely on steady but consistent revenue – can result in missed opportunities for growth. If your organisation is not taking advantage of the following areas to keep your business moving forward, you risk being left behind.
Digital transformation
You can allow your business to be overwhelmed by the current advancements in technology, or, you can embrace them and set yourself apart from the crowd. Digital transformation allows you to integrate and streamline your technological processes in line with the changing expectations of customers in a digital age.
By choosing to ignore digital transformation, your business is at risk of being left behind as your customers begin to outgrow your services. The first step is to create a transformation roadmap, followed by a new operating model that details how you will deliver new technology solutions to help you achieve improved performance overall.
Implementing digital transformation will require your organisation to radically rethink your current business models. The key to success involves; determining who your customer is and what they want, understanding the problems they have and how to solve them, plus aligning your entire organisation so that each individual understands their role within the transformation.
Automated intelligence
In an era dubbed the new industrial revolution, intelligent automation is transforming the way modern businesses are run by transcending conventional processes to deliver unprecedented levels of customer service. Replacing manual effort with automated processes can remove the time and, therefore, cost that it takes for a human to conduct a task. AI can work for 24 hours a day, doesn’t take breaks or sick days, and provides accurate results every time.
When artificial intelligence and automation are combined, the potential for your organisation to create efficient and effective processes increase significantly. Intelligent automation, when done properly, will help your business run faster, smoother and with a greater competitive advantage.
With considered intelligent automation technologies, not only will you be accelerating productivity by driving more value from data, but you will also by freeing employees from mundane, repetitive tasks so they can focus on activities that require human intervention and add value to your business.
Customer experience
Customer experience (CX) refers to the ways in which your customers view your brand. It is impossible to run a customer service based business successfully without placing the overall experience of your customers at the forefront of the agenda.
CX should take into consideration the entire journey a customer goes on when engaging with your brand and includes multiple touch points; from marketing, purchase journey, product experience, value for money, customer service and more.
Focusing on CX gives you an opportunity to view your brand through your customer’s eyes. It places the customer – not the organisation – at the forefront of the planning process, and businesses who make this shift find that customer loyalty improves.
Loyal customers are not only more likely to stay, but are also more willing to speak highly of your business. Therefore, an engaged customer base results in customers who will stick around for longer and will also be more willing to actively promote your business.
It takes patience and commitment to execute a CX strategy, however, the benefits (as highlighted above) are worthwhile. The process of implementation can be murky territory, and the lack of an overarching strategy can result in chaos, so it’s important to ensure there is a proper plan in place.
Summary
If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s change, but knowing what to change to and how can be an incredibly difficult puzzle to solve.
Use technology to empower the most important people in your organisation. Not just to iterate and refine systems and processes but to connect more deeply with customers and create brand experiences that truly resonate.
Consider engaging a Change Management consultant or perhaps attend a change management workshop to help better understand the processes involved.