Achieve more from a total digital experience
With 2021 on the horizon, (after the most unforgiving of years), I started this piece to encourage all to reflect and challenge themselves to do things differently when preparing their business plans. We know that if you change nothing, nothing will change.
On reflection, I am proud to say that ORCKID clients who have embraced total service design transformation have seen performances increase by an average of 30%.
These are businesses who’ve adapted their digital offering to remain relevant, empowering customers to self-serve on-demand and align their shop window with backstage operations – improving customer experience, employee engagement and operational efficiencies.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to share and help guide those looking to make a difference.
In an ever-changing landscape, businesses must remain relevant and shape their offering to customer demands, whilst working smarter for long term continuity.
Today our digital shop window has a more significant role to play as B2B customers seek more than just product offering. Decision-makers cite credibility, brand relevance, and customer service before engagement.
- 47% of B2B professionals will visit your website before making contact.
- 70% of decision-makers cite reputation online before doing business.
- 45% of technology buyers are millennials, the largest demographic who spend over 7 hours a day online.
Here is a thought-provoking stat; before COVID, 92% of businesses thought they needed to revamp their business model.
Recent customer-behaviour research shows that digital interaction with B2B customers is now two times more important than traditional channels (more than a 30 per cent hike since before the COVID-19 crisis).
My intention is not to create a COVID article, however, what strikes me is the need to drive change has always been there, and a possible approach is also of a similar mould. The onset of COVID has accelerated digital business by the necessity for many. However, I still see and hear some who have reservations, potentially as they’re riding the wave or understandably don’t know where to start.
Change is merely doing things differently for the better. It could be a straightforward action or focus that could set you apart in 2021, not necessarily an overhaul.
Change can be a daunting task, but this doesn’t have to be an overnight fix. Even with the best-laid plans, the likelihood is they’ll evolve as you continue to nurture and align experiences with customer demand.
To help simplify, and provide my clients with a direction of travel – I tend to focus on three key vectors; Performance, Optimisation and Management.
Performance is all about continuity and keeping our digital shop window open for business. A system health check that looks under the bonnet to ensure your digital infrastructure is robust, secure and scalable. A well-built and serviced engine will give you the foundation to adapt and evolve.
Optimisation explores the customer experience, monitoring and nurturing the user journey to proactively act upon potential bottlenecks or pivot and enhance experiences with on-demand tools to encourage engagement (anytime, anyplace, any device).
Management is to take a strategic view of the business, a deep dive into those behavioural insights that can help unlock customer trends and new opportunities for a competitive edge. Through careful ideation, we can adapt our offering for greater brand relevance and align with smarter ways of working for a rewarding end-to-end experience. Today, speed to market is critical – An 80/20 approach will help you manage and test proof of concepts quicker and adapt your business model with confidence. Remember the technology is the enabler, it is the ideation and application that will set your business apart.
A little more on data analysis to help guide your thinking. A combination of web traffic, with transactional and broader market trends, can unlock colossal potential, including customer profiles, behaviours, sentiments, and advocacy. I can already feel some readers dreading the prospect of more number crunching. However, this is vital as it will help you strategise and minimise risk. If you don’t know where to start here, message me directly, and I’ll intro you to my colleagues and a plug and play solution.
Join those dots and achieve more from a total digital experience.
To truly excel, look to join the dots and align the customer experience, with tools that enhance employee engagement and drive operational efficiencies. There is a tendency to focus on each area in silos. Connect all touch-points and deliver a total experience between the business and the customer and everything in-between.
Collectively the Performance, Optimisation and Management focus areas will help guide your thinking and provide you with the peace of mind and confidence to experiment and disrupt moving forwards.
