As a business owner or manager, you likely already have your hands full with running operations, supervising staff, planning out marketing strategies, watching finances, and much more every week of the year.
However, with the increasing digitalization of the world, and the fact that globalization means that you have to compete with other ventures across the country and even the world, it’s more important than ever to work out ways to stay ahead of the competition and build your business.
As you will have noticed, with the rise of big data and other technologically-driven changes in markets, customers now have more choice and more access to information than ever before. As a result, they vote with their wallets at every turn. Consumers don’t have to put up with limited product and service choices or sub-par customer service — instead, they can research, browse, and buy at any time of the day or night. They also expect to enjoy a comprehensive customer experience as they go, and won’t settle for anything less.
If businesses want to survive in the age of Amazon, social media, and mobile economies, they must not fight against digital transformation but learn how to take advantage of it and satisfy customers better than ever before. Read on for some tips entrepreneurs can use today to help their venture win in the age of digital transformation.
Be Clear on Your Point of Difference and Utilize It
Firstly, in order to compete with other businesses in your industry, it is important that you make sure you’re very clear on what it is that your venture does better than others, and what you offer to customers that your competitors can’t. Once you understand this unique selling proposition (USP), you can then use technology to showcase it.
For inspiration, take a look at one of the world’s leading entertainment businesses, Disney World. Disney had been lauded for many years for providing an excellent guest experience (something not many other ventures have come close to matching). However, in the mid-2000s the firm found its reputation starting to plummet as lines at the theme park lengthened and ticket prices increased.
Realizing something needed to be done to once again utilize Disney’s strength in customer service, the firm’s executives created an exploratory team. Known as the Next Generation Experience project, this team was instructed to focus on creating a more immersive, seamless, and personal experience for all customers. A few years later, Disney World is back on track to utilize their point of difference in the world of entertainment and is going better than ever, in large part due to the exploratory team’s interest in technology.
Today, Disney World boasts a “MyMagic+” experience for guests that uses a software platform to give regular visitors personalized trips to the theme park. The experience includes shorter wait times for rides, exhibits, and the like. There’s no more turnstiles to go through, and less need to constantly zigzag through the park.
The company’s specialized, RFID-enabled “MagicBand,” worn on the wrist, also acts as an all-in-one device. The band can function as a room key at hotels within Disney World, act as the visitor’s ticket, provide an optional payment account, and give users access to the FastPass ride and dining reservation system.
While you may not have Disney World’s budget, you can still make use of technology, especially through the use of apps and wearable tech, to really promote what your business does differently and draw in customers.
Provide a Top-Notch Customer Service Experience
There are also other ways to use the fact that we live in a digital world to create a memorable customer service experience for shoppers. In fact, consumers expect, these days, excellent customer service to be provided at all touchpoints in which they interact with a business, from stores and websites, to social media sites, newsletters, emails, phone calls, mobile apps, forums, and the like.
You can use the availability of big data to track, analyze and understand the customer’s journey to purchase within your industry and your specific business. Then, use this information to improve it. Try to not just keep up with your competitors, but to set a new industry benchmark.
Using now-accessible data, you can find out helpful information such as:
- Who your prime customers are
- What these people or organizations look for when they browse
- How and where they research and shop for goods and services
- What a consumer’s main pain points may be in the process
- What point they may leave a shopfront or abandon a cart
- Where your business interacts with users at each step along their browsing and buying journey
Once you have all of this information at your fingertips, use it to streamline and enrich the shopping experience for your customers. You can use the data to give clients a more personalized experience and to unify the various customer service channels you may have, such as those on social media sites, websites, emails and via the phone. Also, provide shoppers with easier access to timely and important information on smartphones and tablets.
