COVID-19 has had a profound impact on businesses all over the world. From forcing millions of people into remote work to disrupting the very nature of the product and service offerings, this pandemic has brought multiple challenges. For business leaders, the only long term solution to these challenges is transformation and digital is the way to get there.
How to digitally transform your business model
Digital transformation empowers businesses to enable new business models. It opens new ways of developing and offering their services using digital platforms to work and engage with their customers. It feeds businesses with novel insights about their customers' needs, helping them better understand them and being proactive. Digital is also transforming the way businesses make profits, changing traditional pricing models.
But how can you tap into these opportunities?
Providing the services of the future
Transforming outdated service offerings into digital-first and hybrid digital/physical offerings is what will differentiate businesses, improve customer satisfaction and create new opportunities for profit. Organisations that will invest in digital platforms that bring suppliers and buyers together are the ones that will survive and win in this digital age.
These platforms can work as networked marketplaces where your customers can access, interact and purchase your services on demand, work with your team in real-time and get support quickly, reducing the need for time-consuming calls and emails. Because of their digital nature, these platforms are global and designed for scale, bringing enormous opportunities for expansion to new markets. Digital platforms also create communities and networks where the provider becomes the go-to partner that offers timely expert and customised advice, helping customers succeed in their field.
Knowing your clients
From the survey Calls9 undertook with In House Community to in-house counsel in 2020, we found that in-house lawyers want law firms to improve in knowing their clients and providing tailored advice. This, of course, is not limited to legal services. People, in general, are now used to being offered personalised products, services and communications in their daily life and, they expect the same from all kinds of businesses.
Using digital platforms with sophisticated data capture and data analysis ability is the best way to really understand your customers' business needs in a very cost and time-effective way. Knowing your customers will help you improve and strengthen your existing services to match your customers' preferences, or introduce new services tailored to their needs.
Improving your revenue models
Transforming business models through digital platforms allows you to offer more flexible pricing to your customers. In this digital age, customers are demanding more dynamic pricing models, moving towards outcome or subscription-based models.
Imagine purchasing services the same way you shop from Amazon or choosing a service provider like you choose a driver from Uber's platform. It is easy, quick, flexible and cost-effective, exactly what today's customers want.
Keep in mind that "successful businesses have business models that allow them to fulfil customer needs at a competitive price and a sustainable cost." (Investopedia) Businesses that will survive and thrive in this age have innovative, agile and people-centric models that transform not only their business but also their sector.
How to start 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 business is perceived by your customers and employees 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.
