Digital transformation, which can be defined as the use of technology to improve processes, innovate and expand, offers a unique opportunity to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or businesses (SMBs) as they do what they can to stay ahead of the game.
Whether your business has been running for years or is newly established, agility is the key to success and what will ensure that your business will survive.
The Benefits of Digital Transformation
Depending on the size of your SME, your goal may be to attract new customers or stay competitive in an ever-changing world where resources are stretched to breaking point in your bid to increase profits while reducing costs. But how can digital transformation benefit your business?
Here are a few benefits that may resonate with you:
- Growth
- Remaining competitive
- Operational efficiency
- Increased revenue
- Cutting costs
- Business acquisition
- Customer acquisition
- Customer retention
Ultimately, your business capacity and key focus areas will guide which of the above areas are a priority for the immediate future and this, in turn, will home in on which digital transformation strategy is best suited to your needs.
Go Digital
Businesses of all sizes have noticed distinct benefits to going digital and taking paper out of the equation as far as possible. The days of quotes and invoices that are printed off and filed are more or less a thing of the past as email takes the lead role in almost all business communication.
Not only is this paperless solution more environmentally friendly, but having all your digital files in a remotely accessible location like the Microsoft Cloud, makes it easy for the right people to refer to necessary information when they need it, while also providing a system that can be searched at the click of a button.
This strategy even extends to internal communication where employees can collaborate as they work together on projects while using a Slack or WhatsApp group to thrash out ideas, interrogate objectives and establish solutions.
Unique Customer Experience
Customer engagement is mostly automated in larger organisations. For example, scheduled email newsletters can be linked directly to the e-commerce site where customers can place orders and check out while making payment using a secure gateway. This then extends to the dispatch email that links them directly to the tracking of the parcel, until they eventually sign the courier’s tablet at the door. These systems are no longer only available to large-scale enterprises - they can be easily, and cost-effectively implemented by small businesses too.
From the business side of things, your company has access to exactly how many people open and read the newsletter, click on the links, follow through to a completed sale and which other parts of the site caught their attention as they navigated through the process.
This insight into customer behaviour is invaluable and could lead to exponential growth as you unlock the potential of a personalized customer experience - small businesses that have overlooked this opportunity may be surprised to find out how easy it is to set up and run.
Of course, not all SMEs have the budget or expertise to make this happen using the resources they have inhouse. But this, too, is easily remedied. Simply contact us and we will be happy to chat about how we can partner with you as a Managed IT Services Provider to unlock these important skill sets and resources to get your business growing.
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