5 Ways How Digital Transformation Helps

Digital Transformation is hot. Pundits at the buzzword factories are busy churning new terms, proposing new methods, and crunching numbers to bring out jaw-dropping figures. Gurus profess that the world will change at the speed of light with digital technologies. So far so good. But does it help – you ask.

Flying way below your radar in a garage next block are people busy creating the "next big thing". Their innovation will change your industry forever. The market you once owned will play by the new rules almost overnight. You will feel like an Alien on Earth.

Digital Transformation helps and here are 5 ways how.

1. Rewrite the Rules. Raise the Bar.

You think you’re safe because your Industry is "untouched". You’ve got all the tools to alert you well in time. You keep a close watch on the industry pulse. And everyone’s happy - investors, customers, employees, and suppliers. This is exactly the problem.

You’re so comfortable in your position that your radar fails to detect people quietly rewriting the rules of your game. Those fancy alerts will pop-up only after the lightning has struck. Think what Netflix did to Entertainment, Amazon did to Retail, AirBnB did to Hospitality, Uber did to Transportation, Spotify did to Music, Salesforce did to Software, and the list goes on. Neither an alert popped up nor was all of this expected and still all this happened. Result was that small or big, local or international, businesses closed down. Across the world, people are putting digital technologies to unique never-imagined uses. Your "untouched" industry will soon lose its immunity to the disruption and transformation their digital innovations will cause. It’s anything but a smart choice to wait and watch industry outsiders or your own competitors to disrupt the industry and make you feel like an Alien on Earth.

Digital Transformation will help you put digital technologies to innovative uses in your industry. Your innovations will disrupt the industry and produce dramatic results. Digital Transformation gives you that very opportunity to rewrite the rules of the game, if your industry remains untouched. And if your industry is experiencing or already experienced disruption, then you’ve got only two choices – close down (hope not!) or raise the bar.

2. Create new & unique experiences. Continuously.

You’ve got the best sales people and they’ve been performing consistently year after year. People buy from people, right? Wrong. People buy based on their (or others’) experiences from people – your sales people. And these "people experiences" are never consistent. There are days when the Sales Rep is just not in the zone and Customers are almost always unforgiving.

Customers want consistent experiences because they’ve got used to it. Think how the successful chain stores look anywhere in the world. Alike. Think how they place their wares in each store. In a very similar and predictable manner. Think how their sales people always ask you the same questions in that very same order. It’s all about giving Customers, like you and I, a consistent experience. And now with those little computers on your wrists and palms and bigger ones on laps and tables, your Customers even more hungry for and sticking to consistent, always-on, and in-the-moment experiences. Like it or not, Customers have already bought your product (or moved away from it!) even before they talk to your Sales Rep. These little-big computers have changed the sales process. It now begins with your Customers’ devices – watches, phones, tablets, digital assistants, laptops, & desktops, and ends with your sales team. "OK Google", "Hello Alexa", and "Hey Siri" are although simple phrases but are rewriting the way your Customers search products & services, read reviews, experience, and buy them, in that order. There’s a reason why so many retailers are now e-tailers on Amazon! Consistent digital experience regardless of the e-tailer with constantly learning and changing algorithms.

Digital Transformation will help you create new, consistent, always-on, and in-the-moment experiences around your products and services. These experiences around your products and services will be a whisper or a touch away from your Customers. With time, your Customers will transform into your "Fans". People will buy based on the experiences you create around your products and services - continuously.

3. You too can Innovate. Not just the tech guys.

You’ve got a great tech team. They keep the lights on and come up with some mind-blowing ideas. You’ve concluded that "innovation" is their cup of tea. True, if you’re a tech company because almost everyone you got is a techie. False, if you’re not. Which is the case with most.

Innovations might reside in a data center or on cloud, they are unquestioningly envisioned on ground-zero. The innumerable unanswered 'whys' and 'why-nots' from the experiences of operating on ground-zero drive people to imagine the unthinkable. In a non-tech, or brick-n-mortar company, Tech remains far away from the reality of business. It might be the custodian of your data, but it is the business that analyzes, draws meaningful interpretations, and takes action. Tech provides the tools and makes sure that those tools are always available, rightly accessible, and heavily reliable. Umpteen non-tech entrepreneurs have made it big and set examples. Take inspiration from Aaron Levie who dropped out of business school at USC and co-founded Box. Rashmi Sinha is a trained Neuroscientist with a Ph. D. and founded SlideShare that was acquired by LinkedIn. Evan Spiegel, the youngest billionaire in 2015, studied Product Design at Stanford, left school early, and co-founded the insanely popular Snapchat. Logan Green, who studied Economics and got a BA from UC Santa Barbara, along with John Zimmer, who studied Hospitality at Cornell, co-founded Lyft. Former financial analyst, Tim Chen, and former JPMorgan Chase banker, Jacob Gibson co-founded NerdWallet.

Digital Transformation will help you uncover and unleash the innate potential to innovate in you and your entire workforce. It’ll help you come up with innovations that will result in meaningful, wide, and deep impact. It might even change the world! Don't forget the tech – you'll need them to develop those meaningful innovations and make sure that the lights are always on.

4. Create a new industry. Insure your business.

You offer products that have a "pull" in the market. It’s been like this for years and will remain so for years to come. Customers will continue to buy your products & services anyways. There’s nothing to worry. Think about the last time you got your trousers, shirt, or a suit stitched. It’ll be hard to remember. Think the last time you visited the local library to "search" for information. You get the point.

A product or service that is relevant today, may soon be totally irrelevant to your Customers with the introduction of an innovative product. Most people don’t call a cab, they Uber or Lyft. Most people don’t buy Music CDs or Movie DVDs, they buy or rent it from an online streaming service. All such industries are a result of your Customers’ stickiness to powerful portable always-connected computers and increasingly affordable bandwidth. These industries have created new jobs, fostered new skills, and generally fueled the demand. They have pushed unassuming businesses to make very limited choices – come to terms with the fast-paced innovations powered by digital technologies or perish. These industries drive the digital under-currents to an such an extent that the only way to keep your position is to run and innovate at the same time. Regardless of the industry, products, and their "pull", your ability to create a new industry is your new insurance.

Digital Transformation gives you the power create new industries, new jobs, new skills, and steer the demand towards you. It helps you attract and keep your Customers’ attention. Bottom line – you write the rules and you play the game. It doesn’t get better than this. Go ahead and create a whole new industry, be the industry leader, and the "gold standard" that all others will look up to. Who thought dog walking could be an industry?!

5. Build the Community. Give back.

You’ve been sponsoring the local charity ball for years and recently started supporting the downtown run-4-fun. Ever wondered if your brand is commanding respect or buying respect. Or is this give-back just a "feel-good" excuse to engage with your Customers and sell to your Prospects. Ask your Customers – they are smarter than you think.

Customers recognize brands who give-back to the community by supporting a cause – in thoughts, in words, and in actions. And they start respecting the brand when the supported cause is meaningfully linked to its core business. Imagine a footwear brand sponsoring a food festival. Or worst still would be a pizza chain sponsoring a fashion show. Disaster. Reimagine the same footwear brand supporting the cause of a healthy lifestyle by sponsoring a walkathon. Or that pizza chain supporting the cause of healthy eating in kids by sponsoring a kid chef competition. Respect is a powerful magnet that few can resist. Close-knit communities are formed when you catalyze the bringing together of your Customers, your Cause, and your Brand without any obligation whatsoever. Whole Planet Foundation, Whole Kids Foundation, and Whole Cities Foundation by Whole Foods are inspiring examples of meaningfully linked give-backs and building close-knit communities.

You’ll have an ocean of data after you’ve created a new industry by rewriting the rules of the game using new unique innovative experiences. Digital Transformation will help you identify currents in this ocean across a wide range of subjects. These currents will help you identify causes that are important to your Customers as well. It’ll help you find those emotional chords that will push your Customers and your competitor’s Customers to want to be a part of your close-knit community.

Digital Transformation = Innovations + Speed. It sure helps and is here to stay. So how does one go about it, you ask.

Shut-down your denial-mode. Restart in acceptance-mode. Click "Digital Transformation". :-) It's easier said than done. Watch out for my next article on how to go about Digital Transformation at your organization.

Source: - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-ways-how-digital-transformation-helps-deepak-jain/

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