What Is Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation is a simple concept that reaps great rewards. It uses new technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing software to develop workplace process with the idea of doing one or more of three things:
- Boost efficiency and productivity
- Reduce costs
- Improve satisfaction levels for both company and consumer
The basic principle is that new technology is introduced to make sure business processes are optimised to be conducted in the best possible way. Business leaders will often consider digital transformation to enable company growth, but it can be used for sustainability, too. You may use digital transformation to replace legacy technology or non-digitised practices.
An Example of Digital Transformation
An example of digital transformation is the use of Logican software solutions to automate claims management processes. Instead of manually inputting data from consumers, our system takes digital forms submitted by clients and directly inputs them onto the businesses’ IT system. This reduces the time involved in task completion and removes the chance of human error, while also allowing consumers to provide and update data without having to deal with calls or emails. Through the use of such business innovation, the company can improve, as can customer service.
Why Develop Digital Transformation Strategy?
According to ZDNet, 70% of businesses are working digital transformation strategy, or have already implemented one.
The idea behind running a digital strategy instead of instant implementation is that digital transformation can result in major changes. Sixty per cent of businesses that have undertaken digital transformation strategies report adapting their business models to take advantage of the benefits they’ve seen.
What does this mean? It means if you don’t deploy a digitalisation strategy — and just plough ahead with introducing new technology — you could find obstacles and barriers that don’t work with your current business structure. Part of successful business transformation is business strategy. Effective business development hinges on good decision making and getting things right without disruption.
Digital transformation initiatives can mean big changes for companies, making best practices for improvement absolutely essential. Fail to incorporate strong digital transformation strategy, and you may find business processes actually suffer as a result.
How to Implement a Powerful Digital Transformation Strategy
The introduction of new technology is more complicated than you might have once thought. Understanding how to get it right is not easy, but don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll be the business that avoids problems. Adoption of digital technologies can add business value, but transformation efforts take time and a firm business plan. Invest in these digital transformation strategy tips, and you’ll see greater chances of success.
Assess Your Business Needs
Your starting point is an analysis of your current weaknesses. Where is your business failing to achieve success? Digital resources can always improve on areas that are already successful — making them more so — but one of the best ways to use them is to look for opportunities to develop weaker channels. Maybe one of your services is costing more than you are making on it, or you’re investing too much time on chatting to customers about simple topics that could be covered by artificial intelligence like Chatbots. Perform an analysis of your business and define areas of your enterprise that could benefit from a change.
With Logican software — and how our solutions improve life for claims management companies (CMCs) — we often find businesses are spending too much time on developing personalised data acquisition forms for the purpose of onboarding. Our software can automate these forms through templates that take into account customer information, allowing CMCs to progress claims faster. The forms are still personalised and allow the business to obtain the same information, but they’re drafted in a fraction of the time.
Digital solutions, such as the Logican client onboarding system, are also far easier to use and more accessible for consumers than draconian methods like paper registration. By evaluating your weaknesses, you may notice areas where you’re losing customer engagement (and therefore opportunities for acquisition) thanks to practices not optimised for the best customer experience. This can allow you to make changes that benefit your consumer journey, resulting in higher rates of customer conversion.
Align New Technologies to Company Culture
Businesses often forget company culture when it comes to making changes, but culture really does matter. The community that surrounds your business is what makes it work — without those individuals that make sure your business functions, you cannot see any kind of success. And that culture may not be ready to introduce new technology. The people that you work with — both internally and externally — may be used to the way you currently do things. They may like the status quo quite a lot and this can hinder your transformation effort. To simply disrupt all they know can not only be difficult, but be met with pushback, and can even destroy business platforms if you’re not careful.
Culture change is not easy. Culture is entrenched in your company and any adaptations need to be nurtured. It’s not impossible to change it, but it needs to be done with proper thought. It’s good to start by building confidence in new technology. Demonstrations of why digital transformation strategy might be necessary. Show them results and why they want to be a part of the change. Then, look at training and education. Guide them into your new work environment and ensure your communities know what direction the business is taking.
The bottom line? Prepare your culture for this shift in technology that is about to take place.
Identify Digital Technology Skill Gaps
Preparation of culture is one thing, but you can’t transition into using technology if nobody knows how to use it. The foundation of good digital development is built on computer skills, but if those skills aren’t present, you’ll be on your way to disaster. Make sure your business has the capabilities to implement digital transformation projects. This may involve new hires or providing formal training for your teams to get them ready.
Set Goals for Digital Transformation Strategy
Business goals are a core part of implementing technology. The entire point of a digital transformation strategy is to achieve something. Before you begin rolling out technology, outline the business goals you want to see realised as part of the process. You must do this early on, as it presents two opportunities:
- Knowing your business goals allows you to make changes to implementation if you notice potential pitfalls in achieving those goals by following your current path.
- Having set business goals quickly allows you to assess the success or failure of your implantation later on and develop a new digital transformation strategy to counteract any issues.
Goals that are part of digital transformation strategies are very much like traditional business targets. They can be specific, such as using Logican to drive up the volume of claims processed by X per cent, or they can be general, like increasing profits or lowering expenses.
Assess the Risks of Your Digital Transformation Strategy
Where there is reward there is risk, and digital transformation is no different. Integration of new tech is far from the riskiest business manoeuvre you can take, but that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter challenges. At this stage in your journey to digital transformation, you must assess any problems that may come about through changing your systems. We’ve discussed cultural shifts, but what about more practical applications of your current business processes?
If you were to bring in automated technology to manage stocks in a warehouse, how is that going to be reported and would it change how you communicate with suppliers? If you didn’t manage this, could supply orders be missed or could you find you’re buying too much? Look at the impact of your new technology on your entire business ecosystem and aim to locate any links between the application of digital transformation and potential for breakdowns in your workflow.
Locate Your New Digital Technologies
This is a very important step. You know what you want to achieve. You know what areas of your business you want to strengthen. You’ve thought about how implementation will affect company culture and employees. Now you need to find the digital platforms you want to incorporate into your operations. Create a list of all the new technology that will be part of your digital transformation.
Run Pilot Tests and Gather Feedback for Staff and Customer Experience
New technologies should be assets, but as part of digital transformation strategies, you may find that they aren’t. While you think you’ve just found an amazing new solution, others may not agree. Knowledge is power, and it lets you dodge bullets by avoiding implementation of potentially damaging tech. What you want to do is experiment with your digital transformation by running tests to see if the tech innovations you plan to adopt actually benefit your business. This could include having a select few staff members trial new systems, or using customer-facing products on a handful of clients. The idea is to eke out possibilities of failure if introduced on a mass scale and revise digital transformation strategy to include different solutions if your first attempts at improvements fail to develop results.
Stagger the Rollout of New Technologies
Even with the best digital transformation strategies in place, there will be times when the new technology you introduce encounters bumps in the road. Your organisation may not have provided effective training, or the communication between management and staff may not have been clear enough. Customers may struggle to get used to changes, or your team might not be as receptive as they first appeared. A complete overhaul of all technology in one swoop can lead to a myriad of problems on all fronts. Imagine launching ten new products at once. Unless you have endless resources, you’ll struggle to maintain all campaigns.
The solution is to go step-by-step. Implement one new piece of technology as part of your digital transformation strategy. Take the time to let it settle in and deal with any obstacles should they arise. Once you are confident that the framework has been laid successfully and no major problems are around the corner, move forward with attempts to introduce another tech initiative.
Regularly Revisit Digital Transformation Strategy
New technology is developed at a rapid pace. In a few years, your updates may be updated. At Logican, we’re always working to improve our software. Because of this, you should regularly review the opportunities available for new digital transformation strategy. Improving your business is not a one-time deal. There is often a new and better way of doing things. Keep your eyes open and don’t fall into the trap of stagnation. Take the mindset of constant development, and you’ll always see results.
For claims management companies, Logican software solutions are an essential part of any digital transformation strategy. To learn more about our claims management software or to arrange a demo, get in touch!
