Ensure the Success of the Digital Transformation of your Organization with these 8 Key Factors.  Establish a new perspective for your business and race ahead.

Customers today want a consistent experience when dealing with organizations. It doesn’t matter which channel they use – online or offline: they want a unified experience. Sadly, organizations often deliver a disconnected experience, making their customers feel disengaged.

It’s no surprise that a recent study revealed the following:

• By the year 2020, customer experience will emerge as the key brand differentiator, overtaking pricing and product quality.
• A sizeable 86% of consumers today are willing to pay more if a brand offers them enhanced customer experience.
• Moreover, 73% of customers state CX (Customer Experience) plays a key role in influencing purchase decisions, and 65% believe a positive experience interacting with the brand works more than advertising.

This entirely means that organizations who continue with business, as usual, are on the verge of losing out. To stand out in the hyper-competitive market space and to deliver customer expectations efficiently, organizations have to embrace digital transformation.

The Challenges of Digital Transformation

Any transformation is hard, and digital transformations are no exception. Studies by McKinsey reveal that less than 30% of companies experience a successful digital conversion. Moreover, a mere 16% of respondents state that digital transformations helped them improve performance. Additionally, 7% of respondents indicate that while digital transformations improved performance, they were not able to sustain the improvements in the long term.

Critical Factors for a Successful and Sustainable Digital Transformation

Taking a “technology-first” approach to digital transformation is NOT the right recipe for success. Instead, businesses should focus on digital transformation with a customer-centric goal in mind. We present a few key factors that help you achieve digital transformation in the best possible way.

• Orientation: Begin by establishing a new perspective to your organization. If your business has been focusing on internal practices, then it’s time to prioritize your focus on customer demands, expectations, and needs.
• Objectives: Define the purpose of digital transformation. Set overall and granular goals – what specific areas do you want to improve by going digital? What metrics are you planning to use to measure results? By setting quantifiable objectives, your digital transformation process becomes easier.
• People: Move your business from a goal-based organization to a people-based one. Start by understanding the behaviors, expectations, and values of customers. Digital transformation success is only possible when it occurs at all levels – right from the leadership to the management team to the employees. Ensure that your entire company is aware of and aligned with your digital goals and strategies.
• Processes: Assess your operations and infrastructure, and update technologies, policies, and processes to match your digital strategy. Begin with the customer service team. Make it unified, collaborative, and technology-driven to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
• Structure: Create a dedicated digital experience team with specific roles, responsibilities, and accountability to give a structural approach to digital transformation. Ensure that the team is aware of your digital objectives.
• Data and Insights: Gather and apply data to help guide your digital transformation. Data plays a crucial role in enhancing customer experience journeys. Additionally, data also enables you to evaluate the success and results of the digital transformation, helping you make changes wherever needed.
• Technology: Re-evaluate all your technology – back-end as well as the front-end – to deliver a seamless, integrated customer and employee experience. Technology is your biggest ally in meeting and delivering increasing customer expectations. Look for technologies that are sustainable and work out in the long term.
• Execution: This is where you implement the digital transformation. Remember that you may have to adapt and modify your implementations to keep your organization ahead of the rest and to meet all your digital goals.

Digital Transformation Is More than Technology Revamping

Digital transformation is an all-around transformation of your business, gearing it to meet the present and future demands. When planning your digital transformation strategy, keep these crucial factors in mind and help your organization handle it successfully and sustainably

Sources:

Hortense de la Boutetière, 2018, Unlocking success in digital transformations, Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/unlocking-success-in-digital-transformations

Walker, 2017, CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT, Retrieved from: https://www.walkerinfo.com/knowledge-center/featured-research-reports/customers-2020-a-progress-report

Chander Sharma
Founder and Managing Partner,
bizXL Solutions