What can digital transformation do for your business?
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is well-hyped, but as far as tech buzzwords go, the idea is simple: it means adopting technology and upskilling your people to take full advantage of digital business opportunities. Streamlining your workflows and offering your teams digital training will improve both employee and customer experiences.
A digital transformation strategy puts your business on a proactive footing so you can be competitive in a swiftly changing future; the arrival of 5G alone will cause an explosion of technological opportunities. If the cost of making digital upgrades puts you off, remember the cost of delaying it may be greater.
What does digital transformation look like?
Customer experience
An e-commerce store lets customers buy your product anytime, anywhere – a huge boost to customer satisfaction. Chatbots can answer your customers’ queries and complaints more efficiently; and live chat is an alternative for complex interactions. Automation speeds up delivery to your customer, further increasing satisfaction.
Market penetration
Smarter data with instant AI analysis gives you rich customer information so you can discover new markets or product opportunities.
Automation
Automation streamlines repetitive and error-prone processes. Automating payroll and HR admin, for example, frees up time to grow your business.
Cloud adoption
Using the cloud makes businesses more agile, giving your staff flexible work options and access to online training tools. It also increases capacity for data gathering and machine learning.
Digital transformation in the real world
New Zealand company Fine Wine Delivery Co. combined their extensive wine industry knowledge with AI technology to deliver new customer experiences and boost sales. Their new virtual assistant can offer wine recommendations tailored to customer preferences. As a result, their online sales increased by 70 percent.
Countdown New Zealand launched its chatbot Olive in September 2019, receiving 1,000 enquiries per month until lockdowns began, sparking 300,000 conversations in April 2020 alone. Having Olive in place before Covid-19 hit put them in a great position to support new online shopping customers.
When Fonterra moved their data from on-site data centres to the cloud, they could use Internet of Things (IoT) technology to optimise processes, monitoring milk vats and the health of their cows in real-time.
Internationally, Porsche fed customer data into a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). Every interaction was logged, giving them a rich, accurate picture of each customer – they could target their communications to those who were ready to buy a new car.
When Disney wanted to enter the television streaming space, they bought a stake in a streaming technology company and acquired 21st Century Fox. Digital transformation doesn’t always mean building tech in-house from scratch.
How to start your digital transformation
Have a strategy. Bring in a consultant or hire a senior digital technology manager to set up your new approach. Being strategic is better than making ad hoc changes because projects will be tailored to your business needs without costs bloating unnecessarily.
Invest in digital leadership and the development of a digitally skilled workforce. An IBM Cognitive Enterprise Report recommends digital transformation leadership that combines business and technology expertise in a culture of continuous learning.
The results
Businesses that develop their digital potential will create products, services and experiences that delight their customers. Employee satisfaction can also be increased with training and development opportunities, flexible working, and the automation of repetitive tasks. Automation reduces errors in critical processes like payroll and will improve the accuracy of data analysis. An agile business can flex and shrink according to business needs, reducing costs. Digital transformation will also benefit your sustainability goals by reducing waste and boosting efficiency.
We worked with Auckland-based GN Construction to streamline their operations, including a website migration and implementing Office 365 – read more about how we supported GN Construction’s operational efficiency. No matter where you’re at in your digital transformation, Brightly can help. Let’s chat.