In today’s digital era, most businesses have redefined the rules of the game. Whatever the niche or size, your business cannot survive without its online equivalent. Startups need to embrace new technologies to ensure they are in a position to compete with global heavyweights. And time moves quickly – what was a great idea one year ago may be already absolute. Therefore, the way you respond to the evolving market will determine the success of your business. If you’re struggling in this journey, here are 5 ways to kick-start digital transformation.
1. Embrace the feedback of your customers
For your business to achieve the next stage in growth, you have to connect with your audience at a personal level. This flips on how you engage, interact, and retain customers. Whether it’s on a website or social media, you have to acknowledge the opinions of your clients. Today, customers demand more attention and personalization. They are quick to stick to brands that give solutions in real-time even if it’s at an extra cost.
Customers can either complement your business or leave negative feedback. While the latter is always a risk, you should acknowledge it. But, if you choose to ignore it you could end up losing the chance to repair or change the situation. This is one mistake you can’t afford to make. On the upside, negative comments will help you pinpoint the challenges/product flaws and then work towards improving your business.
Believe it or not, one comment from a dissatisfied customer is more helpful than dozens of positive comments. The key here is to listen to your customers and then respond appropriately. A client will always come back for the same product or service if you handle the negative situations well.
Another area worth considering is to ensure your products and services are based on data-driven consumer insights. You should turn your data into a competitive advantage by understanding the purchasing patterns. That way you can predict what your customers are like to purchase next.
2. Be innovative
Innovation is very much the same thing other businesses are pushing. The success of your brand will come from the creative core. While change is often met with resistance, it can be what sets your business apart from the competition. To embrace innovation, you must change the way you build relationships with your staff and clients. When you develop a healthy appreciation for people you’ll have a strong team. Secondly, you must get your brain into the trenches. This means you have to be on the lookout for ideas- not necessarily siphoning from others.
Focus your attention on coming up with innovative products/services. This is quite easy if you have the right people on board. You should always ensure that your innovation gives maximum benefits at minimal cost. Aim for technologies that deliver services that can be embedded in the everyday life of your customers. To make the new product or service irresistible to customers you should come up with an interactive social app. For a small business, you have to invest heavily in research and development. Of course, you should have the right tools to push your business where it needs to be.
3. Optimize your business using Google reviews
It’s estimated that more than 60% of users check for online reviews before making a purchase. For this reason, you have to ensure your business has some good reviews. But how do you do this? First, you have to provide excellent customer service. When you offer great services there is only a small margin of error that your customers will leave negative feedback. It’s important that you ask your happy customers to write something about their experience with your business.
Apart from that, you have to verify your business on Google. The area that deserves the most attention is `add business description’. Google only gives 750 characters to describe your business. You should include all the relevant information about business history and location. Be careful not to overdo it. To learn more on how to optimize your business using Google reviews visit https://www.getweave.com/google-reviews/. You may also want to use your website to showcase awards, testimonials, or validation.
4. Simplify human resources services with automated/ self-service workflows
As more people become technically savvy, human resource services need to be streamlined. When much time is wasted on administrative and tactical tasks, it’s unlikely you’ll concentrate on the critically strategic responsibilities. The employee experience should be made easy by having the right applications to manage schedules from their first day of work. Additionally, you can replace the cumbersome paper processes with employee self-service functionality. To put it succinctly, all employee records should be put in a centralized location to allow for easy access at any time.
Workflow automation will help you view issues surrounding your business by type, employee, and department. And if you want to have an auditable trail of actions with the names of those involved, the procedures can easily be followed. If you already have a website, ensure there’s easy navigation and everything is digitized. Your goal should be to improve the customer experience. When they are satisfied with your services, they’ll keep coming back.
5. Use predictive modeling to assist sales
Data can be used to transform your business and empower your sales team. Predictive modeling is using past data to predict future outcomes. The main benefit is that it prompts the salespeople to suggest additional products or services the customers need. Also, marketers can accurately predict the likelihood of converting a customer based on the activities of the existing clients.
With predictive modeling, you can easily figure out the right offer for the client since there is no guesswork. This, in turn, helps you make the right offer at the right time. Lastly, it’s a great way of retaining customers. Unlike converting new customers where you have to show the value of product or service, you’ll only need to ensure customers get the same value they got from the last sale. Note: you can use this strategy to move new clients into your sales funnels and later convert them into paying ones.
In the business arena, every wave of technology comes with benefits and challenges. The easiest way of keeping up with the current tempo is boosting your online presence. Your business must be flexible to allow the ever-evolving digital challenges. The secret is to create an effective model to run your company. Other than that, you should see all the pitfalls and implement constant innovation time and time again. You may want to embrace the above ideas to give your business a competitive edge.