Digital transformation is a top priority for business development

Business owners and managers have long understood that a company that does not grow has no chance of survival. However, only some know that business development and digital transformation are the same. It is only possible today to move to a higher level of customer service with digital solutions. Maintaining high-quality order fulfilment, with higher order volumes, without technological support would also be challenging. Therefore, regardless of the industry, every company must become a technology company. Otherwise, competitors will overtake it, running more efficient processes, implementing more efficient solutions, and acting and reacting faster to changing circumstances.

As the head of a company or a high-level manager, you have heard about digital transformation and even have some solutions already: a website, email, and an IT system (from a decade ago)? Great! That’s already 1% of digital maturity. However, to catch up with others, you still have many opportunities and serious challenges ahead of you. 

Digitizing your business = making your processes more efficient

Let’s start with the basics. As a rule, all companies are interested in growth. And, in every organization, we can see recurring phases of business growth. From micro-enterprises fulfilling a few simple orders, more extensive organizations emerge where the number of orders assumes impressive proportions. On the one hand, this is good news, as more revenue appears. However, the joy lasts only briefly if gigantic costs are created in the aftermath. More orders, after all, means more work to be done. At some point, it comes to increased employment, making it even more expensive. Margin drops, and profit is less than the first results promised. So comes the idea of raising prices. And everything would go on if not for the fact that the competition is not raising them at all. So what’s next? Cuts? Cost reductions? Reduction in staffing levels? Fewer orders or worse quality?

And this is where the solution comes in. It is the digitization of the company. Thanks to it, companies increase the efficiency of their processes. They can handle more inquiries and orders without raising labor and related costs. Look at how many activities are done manually in a company and how many are repetitive. Companies successfully replace them with technology, freeing up their employees’ time and allowing them to devote more energy to creative, unique tasks and those that ensure the uniqueness of a given assignment.

Companies whose growth does not include digital solutions are increasing the distance to those becoming technological every day, and this is true regardless of the industry in which they operate. In the short term, this distance is practically imperceptible. Still, with each passing month, quarter, or year it will become so significant that it will eliminate inefficient players from the market, that is, non-technological companies.

The Various Stages of Company Development and Digital Transformation

The stages of a company’s development can be predicted and described because they are typically repetitive for most organizations. There’s always a phase focused on the development of the company, full of commitment to creating new products or services. Then comes the coordination and organization phase in individual structures, followed by the refinement phase. The future largely depends on how the processes were organized in the company before.

Founding phase, or start-up

This is the birth of the company. The first concept, seeking investors, verifying the idea, and testing the market. Due to the constant search for the best solutions, uncertainty, and new actions – this is also a phase of creativity. Companies that started several decades ago and couldn’t benefit from today’s technological advancements, should now be creating a technology-based company from the very beginning, at every stage of development.

Growth phase

This is a revolutionary stage where the size of the organization changes, the number of employees, transactions, and customers increase – the company grows. At this time, the direction of development and forms of operation are refined. This is a phase focused on growth, so it’s extremely important to start organizing processes, learning to make decisions based on data, and also take a serious approach to collecting them.

Maturity phase

This is another stage of company development. The company records an increase in market share, and can boast of achieving initial stabilization. This stage certainly requires strengthening of the strategy, as well as constant development of procedures, so that the business generates increasing profits and does not create chaos resulting from the increasing number of orders. At this time, attention should be paid to any excessive fragmentation of the company’s operations.

Decline phase

Although the organization’s age at this stage is often long, it does not guarantee further development. Customers leave, competition operates more efficiently, new companies emerge. Previous management mistakes, such as lack of decision-making freedom for employees, lack of product and service development, intuitive forecasting instead of using data – now result in the liquidation of the company or its restructuring.

Rebirth phase

This is the phase of transforming the company and its return to the market. This stage of company development does not concern all organizations, so it is often overlooked. It requires setting a new direction of action. At this time, focus should be put on eliminating development discrepancies so that the next crisis does not shake the company too hard again.

Enterprise digitalization as a stage of company development

Let’s go back to 1 more level: that is, to the search for orders. The increase in orders doesn’t come out of nowhere. Even the best product requires proper promotion and reaching the right audience. How efficiently a company executes this part of its business will determine its growth rate. The faster a company reduces the time and cost of acquiring new customers, its competitive position will be better. Suppose you want to reduce the time spent talking to customers, constantly answering the same questions, or reduce the cost of ineffective advertising. In that case, it is worth looking for technological solutions. This area is covered by marketing automation, which is a system of tools that collects data about recipients and allows you to quickly reach potential customers with the right message, in an automatic and at the same time personalized manner.

How to use digital tools to improve efficiency?

Marketing automation uses a great many channels of communication, such as email, sms, mobile apps, an elaborate website, a simple Landing Page, and social media. Each can be further divided into many branches; for example social media is Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and many others. All of them offer different forms of communication, which significantly accelerate communication. Take, for example, how a new device or product functionality works. 

Who will do it more efficiently? A company where salespeople spend hours explaining the same thing to each customer, or an organization that prepares a good video, publishes and promotes it on its channel? It is also worth asking yourself which forms will be more transparent to the audience.

The same will be true of serial e-mail versus individual pieces of information haphazardly transmitted by different people, who, in addition, will not be able to measure the effectiveness of their mailing without aggregating data on the number of opens or clicks on links contained inside the e-mails. 

The above examples are just a microscale of all the possibilities. For the whole thing to be practical, it requires the proper coupling of individual activities to form an effective marketing funnel. The second challenge is the right choice of tools to fit the specific company, its customers, and the nature of the industry. A company wanting to introduce fitting digital solutions needs an entire digital transformation strategy that will allow a reasonable estimation of the needs and directions that will most quickly lead it to the desired results.

Digitization of processes key to efficiency

The marketing or customer service example has shown what efficiency can be achieved through digitization. But what if we looked at other processes in the company? After all, the time spent on them is also an actual cost, which on the scale of the entire company, has a considerable impact on the bottom line. The digitization of processes directly translates into the profitability of the whole enterprise. Regardless of the type of business, a company that streamlines all areas digitizes most procedures, and continuously improves the efficiency of operations becomes a technology company. These are not just IT companies, but companies in the medical industry, education, insurance, or, more generally put: manufacturing, retail, service…any! And it is these companies, becoming technology companies, that are genuinely growing, leaving others far behind.

How to make improvements in a company through digitization?

The possibilities for increasing efficiency in an organization through digitization are countless. Not only that but what we know today will be enriched with many new solutions tomorrow. That is why being open to change and new options is so important. However, some areas are worth noting, as they are subject to digitization extremely often, given the number of companies that opt for it. Building a marketing funnel, analyzing the customer journey, or collecting and analyzing data are absolute must-haves for those prioritizing company growth. 

Building a marketing funnel streamlines the sales process, which becomes incomparably more efficient thanks to automation. Customer journey, thanks to digitalization, not only facilitates a more accurate understanding of all points of contact between the customer and the brand but also allows to optimize of underdeveloped aspects or to take full advantage of opportunities at each stage of contact with the brand (personalized promotions, conscious navigation to the appropriate thematic subpages, tailored to the customer’s interests). On the other hand, decision-making in every area of a company’s operation is all the more accurate when it is based to a greater extent on the correct data. The answer is Business Intelligence, a system for transforming data into information, and information into knowledge, which is the basis for making accurate business decisions.

Company development strategy

Digitization of a company is an activity that involves many areas of the company. It’s the gradual transformation of the entire organization into a technology company that has a chance to grow – in today’s rapidly changing world. Digital transformation is changing how we think, manage, and work in every industry. It’s looking for better opportunities to implement known issues. However, it is essential to carry out digitization consciously and thoughtfully, tailored to the nature of the company. Experience and technological knowledge, often lacking in many companies, is also of no minor importance. 

If you are looking for a specialist to guide your company through the digital transformation process, contact Digital Forms. We will guarantee the best digital solutions for your organization.