Digital transformation. It’s the phrase on everyone’s lips. You realize it’s imperative for your service-based business to participate in this transformation but you’re not quite sure how, or more importantly, why.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. As catchy as the phrase is, many business leaders don’t really know what digital transformation means and how it applies to them. We’re here to discuss this and help you understand that we’re talking about more than just a buzzword. We’ll discuss how digital transformation can help service businesses and also share some tips on how you can manage the process within your organization. Let’s get started.
What is Digital Transformation?
“Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure.” – The Enterprisers Project.
In short, digital transformation is less about specific technologies and more about using business processes and strategies to build a competitive business that leverages digital technology to achieve organizational goals.
Together, these changes allow for a fundamental rethinking of service delivery, business models, and operations that generate value and improve efficiency.
As The Enterprises Project puts it, “You may not love the term. But love it or not, the business mandates behind the term – to rethink old operating models, to experiment more, to become more agile in your ability to respond to customers and rivals – aren’t going anywhere.”
How Digital Transformation Can Help Your Business
Let’s take a look at how digital transformation can help services businesses:
Opens up new opportunities
Digital transformation opens up opportunities for your business to interact with stakeholders in new ways. It also helps your business expand its reach across multiple touchpoints, thus extending sales channels.
Unifies organizational workflow
By making use of professional services automation software, your organization can unify and automate the workflow across the organization. All data can be centralized in one hub, making it easier for the entire organization to collaborate on projects and deliver a more unified result.
Enhances privacy and security
Your customers are becoming increasingly aware of cybersecurity and privacy. This means, there is an increased preference to work with organizations who are priortizing cybersecurity and data privacy improvements within their digital transformations.
Improves customer experience
Whether it’s a better business process, a more advanced service offering or a new tech update—ultimately, any improvements within your organization due to digitral transformation will lead to one purpose – an improved customer experience.
Getting Started with Digital Transformation for Service Businesses
So where do you start with transformation within your service business? Follow these steps:
Identify the type of transformation
Digital transformation can vary for different organizations. The first step for you is to identify the type of transformation your organization needs the most. This could mean a transformation of:
- Business processes: Everyday business processes stand to benefit the most from digital transformation. This type of transformation could mean automating tedious processes such as invoicing or could even involve digitizing traditionally analog processes such as data collection
- Business model: This type of transformation takes the previous type and goes larger i.e. the transformation sets out to change how a business generates and delivers value. For example, it could mean revamping service delivery methods from analog to completely digital.
- Cultural/organizational: This might sound the same but it’s different. Organizational transformation is about long-term business transformation. It focuses on change that will propel business growth. This could mean a digital transformation of internal processes and/or operational mindsets.
- Domain expertise: This involves leveraging existing expertise and investments to expand an organisation’s reach into entirely new areas of business. This means, an organization that has previously only operated in one area may consider new areas of business, therefore offering one of the most significant opportunities for company growth.
Get C-suite buy in
With a clearer picture of the type of transformation in mind, it’s time to convince the leadership team of the need for transformation. Getting support from the top is significant for changes to be realized down the track.
In some organizations this may be hard, however most businesses understand the need for a digital transformation. Change managers simply need to present a valid case and present viable solutions.
Have a clear vision
Planning is crucial for effective digital transformation. While you must remain flexible as changes can and will happen, it’s important to start out with a clear vision. You should know what you’re trying to achieve as a result of this digital transformation undertaking.
Create a project roadmap, plan out your resources, identify gaps, allocate budget and try to build as clear a picture as possible. Make us of agile and other project management methodologies to help you map out this process.
Be ready for cultural change
Any kind of digital transformation will change the way people work in your organization. This may not always go as smoothly as planned, and you must expect cultural change—positive and negative.
Your employees may be averse to change and this could hold back transformation. Or, as is the case in many organizations, working in silos often means people don’t have a full picture of why change is necessary or what your customers truly want.
Don’t let culture hold your business back from necessary change. According to McKinsey, “shortcomings in organizational culture are one of the main barriers to company success in the digital age.”
McKinsey asserts that, “Executives who wait for organizational cultures to change organically will move too slowly as digital penetration grows, blurs the boundaries between sectors, and boosts competitive intensity.”
Executives must be proactive in shaping and measuring culture, approaching it with the same rigor and discipline with which they tackle operational transformations. If done right, digitalization brings transparency and motivates everyone to work together and more collaboratively.
Remember that digital transformation is a complex undertaking for the organization and for all employees. It should be implemented gradually after strategic planning.
Manage your Digital Transformation with Mission Control
Transformations don’t happen in a day. Digital transformation at your organization is likely to be a long and iterative process. While it may seem overwhelming, remember that it’s necessary for your organization to grow and thrive.
You can make the digital transformation process simpler and more streamlined with the help of the right tools. It’s time to leave old legacy tools behind. They’re holding you back. A tool like Mission Control can help you apply the right methodology and manage the entire process in one centralized hub.
From strategy to program design, communication to change implementation—Mission Control can help you take control of the entire organizational transformational process in one location.
Request a demo today to see how Mission Control can become your digital transformation partner.
