Will you let Digital kill your business?
It was Jack Welch who said, “Change before you have to.” Yet for many businesses it takes a demand from the client, downturn in profit, the loss of a major customer or some sort of crisis to force them to make changes. Well, now they will have to change because digitisation is attacking every industry………on all fronts!
There will be leaders out there that know they really ought to make some changes to secure the future of their business. What stops them from taking the digital plunge? Here are a few reasons I’ve heard in the past:
- I don’t like the terms digitisation and omni channel – it’s jargon (some people are unnecessarily frightened of the various technological advances available to them)
- We don’t have digital expertise
- Were a face to face business – technology can’t help us
- We can’t afford the technology
- We can’t make changes without renegotiating our SLA’s with the client
- We‘ve only just completed the last change
Deep down inside these Leaders know that none of these issues are insurmountable. The ride might be a bit uncomfortable, but with a bit of savvy business and digital change expertise your business can be transformed quickly and more safely than you think. Get a digital agenda and get it fast.
Here is my Top Tip to drive digital improvement
Ask each one of the Senior Team to research and present a review of how digital might improve their department, the customer journey or operational excellence. A very simple example might be to consider how digital document management or customers uploading scanned images to a portal might transform your their transaction. Another example would be how voice technology may be able to help understand the emotional roller coaster the customer goes through when making a complaint or how mobile technology is being used by other companies in other industries.
Don’t just concentrate on the operation, include HR, Marketing, Finance, Facilities and so on. Once you and your team have combined your research you may find that it prompts a company wide digital programme to prioritise how artificial intelligence can advance your business. Build continuous digital development into the business DNA and continually adjust and take advantage of technological advances.
Finally, consider the business graveyard. City Link, Athena, HMV and even good old Woollies were once great brands but failed to adapt in time to ever changing markets. They are history.
Are you going to do something or nothing to make you business a brilliant one?
Ruth is the owner of The Change Directors. We’re brilliant business transformers who will make your business a brilliant one. Call now for a chat about the issues you are facing and we’ll give you some brilliant advice.
