Analysts and industry experts have been talking about Digital Transformation and what it means cross-industry for years, from workforce-mobility, connecting customer experiences, big data, to multi-cloud/hybrid-cloud. Unfortunately, that’s all it was… talk. Until this recent pandemic; industries like oil and gas, healthcare, and government services have been notoriously slow to adapt to new technologies. With business practices and revenue streams shifting to virtual/contactless, some companies were quick to adopt solutions for robust issues, while other companies left their customers hanging.
This is not a future-looking idea any more. If you aren’t actively thinking about how digital advances can grow your business operations and enhance your customers’ experiences- you are behind your competition. And if your business relies on face-to-face interactions for revenue, you have to use technology to re-create those experiences while mitigating risk for your customers, or you stand the chance of losing your customers for good.
For industries that have been focused on digitally transforming their business (industries like technology, banking, customer service, and manufacturing), this pandemic was merely a hiccup. Companies like Microsoft and Twitter could enable thousands of employees to work from home in a day’s notice because they were already preparing with things like secure VPNs, messaging systems that work on desktop and mobile, project management tools that allow everyone to collaborate from different locations.
Even grocery stores, like Texas grocer HEB, are taking digital transformation seriously. Back in February 2020, HEB purchased Favor (a food delivery app) which positioned them well to respond to the COVID pandemic. According to their blog, HEB and Favor introduced 2-hour delivery windows for Texas residents.
This isn’t about changing all of your conference room meetings to Zoom, connecting your CRM to your marketing automation system, or automating sales outreach (although you should explore all of these things). This is about using technology (holistically) to find and enhance efficiencies in your business, give you the data you need (in a readable/meaningful way) to make decisions and to provide a better experience for your customers both online and in-person. The best question to ask yourself is, are you using data and technology to add value to your business? We can work with you to assess where you are on the path to digital transformation and provide actionable recommendations for achieving higher efficiency and measurable results.