As the world of commerce becomes prevalently digital, many businesses are starting their own digital transformation. Think of a digital transformation as a total makeover of the online brand identity as well as the digitization of behind the scenes systems.
The reason why so many businesses are taking on the challenge: it is a must! Digitization increases speed and reduces costs, and without it, the business will start lagging behind the competitors.
The main goal of a digital transformation is improving the efficiency and agility of the existing systems. Customer data, transactions and other information are already received electronically and an automated sorting and processing system is by far the best way to handle them.
Speed is of the essence and both employees and customers can feel the difference after a business has gone forward with a digital transformation.
In most cases, the development of these streamlined systems requires the cooperation of employees and external agencies. Teamwork is a must like the product of the digital transformation needs to serve the company for years to come, requiring only minor updates and tweaks from time to time.
Building something like that is no easy task and the creative teams have to solve current problems and anticipate future ones.
That is why focusing on the right elements is important. No two companies have created the same system, because of their internal needs, as well as the needs of their customers, differ a lot. Also, certain components are sometimes already developed, serving as the baseline for the new additions.
An example would be a company that already has a great website, so they would only add small changes to improve its design language. Meanwhile, they would need to build coordinating systems for customer data-collection on the back end that are framed around the existing channels.
The human element is key in the process. These systems are built by humans, for humans, and as such require empathy in the creative process. The creativity in digital transformation is focused around the customer: optimizing the system so the company can satisfy their needs better and faster.
While the focus is primarily on optimizing interactions in the digital world, most companies also have face-to-face interactions with the customer. Improving the systems adds value to these real-world interactions as well, because it enables the customer experience to run more smoothly and efficiently.
Ultimately, a digital transformation is an organized system of creative solutions to gain new customers. Improving speed and efficiency mean that the company can focus more effort on growth and further improvement.
Digital systems tap into new information about the customers, providing new ways of meeting their needs in a faster, more accurate way. They also increase the sufficiency of the response employees give to the customers, allowing them to focus on the important things now that the technical tasks have been cut to a minimum.
Digital transformations have the potential to radically change business performance. By improving efficiency, your business will strengthen existing relationships and engage with new customers and markets. You will gain a competitive advantage and breakthrough innovations that will further set you apart from the competitors, all as a result of this customer-driven digital innovation.
