Coping with digital trends

Many businesses still equate having a website, period, as the extent of their digital presence.   But today’s customers are expecting much more.  We asked Pancho Reyna, our resource person on digital transformation in business, to give us three benefits that show how digital transformation is worth the investment.

Better customer experience

With the fast pace of life, customers do not have time to wait and figure things out. If you want customers to transact frequently with you, ensure that the experience of the customer is easy and fast.

For example, chances are your customers have a smart phone, and they would prefer to engage with you through this device, whether inquiring about your service, buying a product or just scanning options.

If your customer’s experience is not smooth enough for them, they may or may not look for other ways to interact with your business.  Either way it means you have to ask yourself how to improve your customer touch points through technology. If digital options are not available or customers are unaware, you may be losing out on customers looking for a more modern experience that is reliable.

Fast and reliable indicators to view the business’ health and performance

Entrepreneurs and business unit leaders always ask: is my business unit maximizing sales and profitability?  It is mostly a mathematical question and to answer it you will need numbers, and then you will need time to measure and analyze. These numbers should go beyond sales and stock—it should also include employee performance, turnaround time of processes, mishandled and recurring issues, and many more. To analyze these numbers, we will first need to relate, integrate and most of all ensure that we can get our hands on all the data necessary.  It is a tedious process that if done frequently may result in errors (and fatigue).  There are also uncertainties with regards to the data being reliable and/or available.  Using software would ensure that we get the most accurate answer as to what the current state of our business is.

Be more technologically advanced than competitors

Most businesses are competing for market share, and some businesses are quick to adapt to technology to retain or even gain a larger share.  Not all businesses can be “disruptors” of their competition, but at the very least, businesses should protect their interests from these so-called disruptions, most of which are technology-based.  The key here is to adapt.

If a competitor enabled online payments system for their micro-transactions, enable yours as well.  Go the extra mile to cover all bases and integrate with payment centers if they have the software for that.

If a competitor reduced prices by reducing operational costs through a new robotic process or software, why not explore applying that same improvement through your production line.

In the future, you should be the first one asking, “What can this new technology do for my business?”

Reyna will conduct the “Digital transformation: Maximizing technology to enhance customer experience, improve operational efficiency and expand business models” workshop on Sept. 6-7.

The workshop is highly recommended for business owners and IT professionals who would like to expand their information technology capability to the next level. Functional department leaders who are looking to leverage technology for their respective department’s objectives are welcome to attend.

The Inquirer Academy is at 4168 Don Chino Roces Ave. corner Ponte St., Makati City. For more information about the workshops or if you would like to add your input on the article, you may email [email protected], call (632) 834-1557 or 771-2715 and look for Jerald Miguel or Judy Bondoc, or visit the website at www.inquireracademy.com.