There's no denying it: Digital transformation is the future of business. But, as a business leader, you may struggle to move forward on your digital strategy because of one thing: fear. Launching a new product or service in traditional channels is hard enough—now imagine launching something digital! You're unsure where to start, how long it might take or even if it'll work. You keep asking yourself, "is now really the right time?"
Having worked in the digital transformation space for over 12 years, we know what it's like. But let us tell you this: If your goal is to survive and thrive in today's fast-paced world, then yes—it must happen soon! Always think life - and therefore business is a game. If you are afraid to lose, you will never win.
There are five common reasons why leaders struggle with getting started with their digital transformation initiatives that could be holding back yours right now...
You lack the Internal Resources
If you're unsure what "internal resources" means, it's mainly people, money and technology. When you think about it, the most apparent reason for not launching a new digital product or service could be a lack of resources within your organisation.
For example, if your team doesn't have enough time to dedicate themselves to launching a new digital product, then that might be why there hasn't been any progress made on the project yet (or at least not as much progress as you'd like). Or maybe they just don't have enough expertise in certain areas, such as design or development. And you might not have the money to hire new people with experience or train your existing team to new technologies.
We've met many businesses with a vision and great ideas, but their situation was similar to our example above. They lacked the time, expertise or money and, in some cases, all. But, their need to save time and money with automation or improve customer experiences and provide better access to their business remained. This inspired us to create a Team Augmentation offering, which embeds our expert team of consultants, project managers, developers and creatives with our clients' teams. This enables them to launch new digital products and services fast and provide their team and management with valuable knowledge, expertise and resources.
So, no matter what type of resources you are missing, our team can help you build digital products and services that will elevate your business and move it forward.
You don't know what your customers and prospects want.
If you have an idea to improve an existing digital product or build a new one, how do you know your customers will embrace it? Have you ever wondered how best to find out what your customers need or want? The good news is that there are plenty of ways to do market research and get insight into what your consumers think. Here are some tips for getting started:
Know your target audience and their pain points. Before diving into any kind of research, take some time to really understand who your ideal customer is (and make sure they actually exist). You don't want to waste money on a digital product or service that doesn't solve a problem for anyone! Once you've identified this group, look at their challenges in life and how those challenges relate specifically to what products or services would help them most effectively.
Involve them in the conversation. Yes, we know it sounds challenging. You'd need a market research team to run focus groups or surveys, or you'd have to do it on your own, which would require resources. And because many of our clients experienced the same difficulties, we created a process to help businesses understand their clients, needs and expectations.
During this process, we invite members of your team, along with some of your key clients, to a workshop to understand what issues they currently face with your existing products and services and identify areas of improvement. During the innovation workshops, our clients have access to our team of first-class thinkers, innovators and problem solvers who guide them through brainstorming, prototyping, and testing and provide valuable insights and feedback.
You're too worried about change.
If you're worried about launching new digital products or services, ask yourself: what are my fears? Do they come from a place of uncertainty or a place of certainty? If your fears are related to uncertainty, that's okay! That means it's time for some research. But if the answer is "I know exactly what I'm going to do," then maybe those fears are more about not wanting things in your life to change than anything else. But change is inevitable. It isn't always good or bad; it's just change, and we can't stop it.
If you are afraid of the uncertainty or you don't understand why you should change, if have some resources for you:
- Marco Marsans' TedEx Talk on Embracing Change
- Find answers to your Digital Transformation Questions
- And we totally recommend taking our Digital Transformation Audit to effectively mitigate risks that are associated with change.
You're afraid to take the first step and see it through to completion.
You think that if something doesn't work out, it's over forever--and that's terrifying! It doesn't have to be like this, though: there are plenty of ways for digital products and services (and anything else) to succeed, even when they aren't perfect or fully formed at first glance.
You just need help from someone who understands what it takes for things like this to go well more often than not.
You're waiting for the perfect time to launch your digital transformation.
You're waiting for the perfect time to launch your digital transformation.
We get it. You want to ensure everything is in place before you launch a new product or service, but there is no such thing as a perfect time for this. If you wait until every detail is perfect, you'll never get anything done! The sooner you start working on these projects and getting results from them, the sooner they'll be ready for prime time and for customers--and potential clients--to see them.
Fail fast. As the former Chairman and CEO of IBM said:
"If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.
And if you are wondering if it's all worth it, think about the increased efficiency, improved customer experiences, expansion to a broader audience and gaining access to valuable insights. This will enable you to stay ahead of the game and achieve long-term success while saving on costs. Don't get left behind in the digital revolution – seize the opportunity to transform your business today.
How can I get started with digital transformation?
At Calls9, we help big brands and scale-ups launch, scale and build value through technology.
We have designed a process that helps you quickly see how your organisation can use digital to transform by understanding:
- How your customers and employees perceive your business to identify areas of improvement
- What the competitive landscape looks like, and what changes in your sector could affect your business
- How digital can enable new business models, better ways of working and improved customer experiences
At the end of the process, you will have a clear digital transformation strategy built around your specific needs and designed to help you improve your business, disrupt your market or enter a new one.
We then use this strategy to kick-start a programme of digital transformation.
Ready to start with a Digital Transformation Audit? Or do you prefer a quick chat with our team? Either way, we are here to help you kick-start your journey towards transformation!
